A pre-wedding Honeymoon? (21 days around Asia)

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Day 9 (Part 3):

We eventually settled on an Izakaya above a Lawson just on the edge of Nishitachibana called Akenaya (sort of in Hotel MyStays Miyazaki) which was really quite good and we would recommend it to anyone in the area.

We were shown to a small enclosed booth as is common at a lot of these izakayas. Ordering was via QR code with our phones translating most of the menu. We ended up with a varied spread including Miyazaki specialties wagyu and chicken nanban.

All of the food was fresh and delicious and I'll emphasize that if you want to go and try the best beef in Japan in an affordable way then Miyazaki is the place to visit. We started with some delicious sashimi.



Followed by a salmon carpaccio.



Chicken Nanban, which has seriously grown on me since first trying it in Miyazaki in 2023.



And finished it off with Miyazaki A4 wagyu Shabu Shabu.



After the meal we went back onto the street with about 80 minutes until the last train. Given the limited services that run along the Nichinan line, it was also the only train left to depart. In order to kill some time we looked for a bar on the way to the station.

We walked past a block of containers which had been fashioned into shops, restaurants and bars and headed up into the blue glow of Cafe&Bar Bios. We were the only people here so chatted with the bartender (with great assistance from google translate) and enjoyed a few drinks.



The bar was quite interesting with a number of fish tanks around the space, including all along the right hand wall above. After paying up we realised we were a little further from the station than we first through with only 10 minutes until the last train departed. Not wanting to have to get a fairly expensive taxi home we hot footed it the 800m or so to the station, quickly purchased the tickets necessary for the return trip and jumped on the train with about a minute to spare.

We made it back to Kodomonokuni around 11pm and made a quick pit stop for dessert before calling it a night.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 10 (Part 1):
After a pretty late night we still woke bright and early to a beautiful sunrise over the ocean right outside our window. This view is seriously hard to beat!



With the wind beautifully still I was eager to get out the door. Given the swell direction we unfortunately weren't able to surf directly outside the hotel but it was only a short drive to a spot called Kisakihama to find some fun little waves.






As you can see from the shot below we really weren't all that far from the hotel.



After finishing surfing we drove back past the hotel to the centre of Aoshima and parked up to find some breakfast and coffee. We ended up at Aoshima Coffee where we had some BLT bagels and iced lattes.



Next was some retail therapy at one specific store we knew we had to revisit. Aoshimaya is a big collective of mostly local goods with some other Japanese favourites thrown in. Primarily we were after Hyuganatsu dressing which is nearly impossible to find outside of this region, but utterly delicious on salads. We grabbed a few bottles amongst a couple of other things however I'm still kicking myself for not picking up a bottle of Hibiki Blenders Choice for 16500yen ($175aud) when it retails for around $400aud here.



After making our purchases we headed back to the hotel to unpack the car and prepare for a little road trip to a highly anticipated lunch we had booked.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Day 10 (Part 2):

Last time we visited Miyazaki we met up with a friend of a friend - Masa, who showed us a bunch of spots in southern Miyazaki and that we surfed with. Masa and his wife, Tomo, have since opened up a beautiful Italian restaurant in Nango called Tsuyano Fresca. A few days before our arrival I messaged Masa and he made a booking for us to come and try their new place.

We left Aoshima and drove an hour south through Nichinan and Nango and up into the coastal hills. The scenery up around the restauarant was vibrantly beautiful.


We arrived to what is essentially their home and found the small parking lot off to the side. Thank god for google maps and some well placed road signs by Masa as this place is well off the beaten path.



Once inside we were warmly greeted by Tomo, obviously aware we were Masas friends as not a lot of gaijin find their way up here. We were seated and presented with the set menu and given choice of pasta. Tomo had also written the menus in english especially for us which was appreciated as it's normally all on Japanese, but shows their attention to detail and hospitality. Honestly it's hard to find words to describe how good this meal was, so I'll just try my best with the photos below:



Starters were roast A4 miyazaki beef with a jus and deliciously light mashed potatoes, a cured salmon which melted in your mouth and had just a subtle hint of sweetness and a creamy corn soup with buttery notes. We also had their homemade yuzu and mint lemonade which on a 32 degree day was one of the most pleasant drinks I've ever had.



Next was some local Miyazaki oysters (not pictured) which were juicy and sweet but unlike their Hokkaido counterparts not the size of of your hand. In fact they seemed very similar to some of the south coast oysters you get in NSW given the similar climate variations and clean waters they share. After that was home made foccacia with local olive oil. It's very hard to beat warm fresh bread and the little salt flakes and olive oil were perfect accompaniments.



For pasta we ordered a puttanesca and a carbonara. Both were divine - the puttanesca had just the right amount of spice and a hint of smoke from the in house smoked chicken used. Similarly the carbonara had in house cured bacon and local eggs and was rich and creamy.



Dessert was a citrus panna cotta with mandarin. Again, divine, with just the right amount of sweet and sour notes from the fruit and sugar. This was served with tea or coffee. On my way in I spotted a very good looking espresso machine on the bar bench and asked Tomo if a latte was possible, and what came back rivalled the best cafes we have here in Sydney.

I must add as well all of this only cost about $35 per person, which was astonishing given just how good the food was. After lunch we stayed once the other patrons had left to chat with Masa and Tomo about their lives in rural Miyazaki and how everything was going. The restaurant has had quite alot of publicity and seems to be doing well and we would implore anyone coming to this region to seek it out! I also asked about the coffee machine and they mentioned that one of the biggest things they missed from their time in Aus was the coffees here, so they paid a pretty significant amount of money to import an italian machine to make good coffee in Japan, for which I was very grateful!

After saying our goodbyes we set off back towards Aoshima which provided a beautiful afternoon drive winding up the coastline.