A wonderful seafood Izakaya located just a short walk from Hanshin Nishinomiya station.
Uokaji Sō is a seafood izakaya (Japanese tavern, or pub) which is well known for its delicious sashimi dishes, among others, which are all very tasty! That's not an exaggeration or an attempt at promotion, just an honest observation. Also, it's mandatory that izakayas in this area each have highly regarded dishes on the menu otherwise they can't survive. You could conclude that if an izakaya can survive in this area, it must be good.
Very fresh Uokaji Sō sashimi "Otsukuri no Moriawase" dish with a high standard of presentation.
One cannot just enter a seafood orientated izakaya and not order the sashimi. Uokaji Sō take great care to slice the various fish and squid cuts and arrange them on a platter along with trimmings such as Okura (Lady's Fingers), Daikon (Asian white radish) and even Edamame (young green soybeans).
Extremely tender cut of "Maguro" (Tuna) is the center piece of the Uokaji Sō Otsukuri no Moriawase sashimi dish.
The humble salad has been given the Uokaji Sō treatment to produce a very tasty dish that has to be tried at least once. Eggplant, pumpkin, Daikon radish, potato and roast chicken are included along with an delicious salad dressing which compliments the ingredients so well that we wondered if it was available in bottles that could be purchased... unfortunately it wasn't!
Nishinomiya is home to many, many izakayas and the overall standard for beverages as well as food is quite high, mostly owing to the area being home to some of Japan's best sake breweries so is somewhat of a magnet for these types of taverns. It's safe to say that all those izakayas will have sake on the drinks menu, with Uokaji Sō included.
One such sake beverage is the "Hakutaka Nishinomiya Highball". It's a highball beverage with soda water and none other than Hakutaka Rokusuien Brewery sake! This particular sake is made literally "down the street" from where Uokaji Sō is located. If you like Japanese sake, this is a fantastic way to enjoy it if you're wanting something a little different to try.
Uokaji Sō's "Hakutaka Nishinomiya Highball".
Other brands of sake are available of course, which are recommended to be tried on their own first to experience the flavor before trying mixed drinks such as highballs. The wonderful staff promptly answered all our sake related questions and offered some non-local suggestions as well, one of which can be seen below (Gakki Masamune 楽器正宗).
Time for one more dish and the "Tanba Jidori Gan'en"(Tanba chicken with rock salt) seemed like a nice companion with our sake. A feature of this dish is the wasabi and lime which might not be a combination that readily springs to mind as a companion with chicken. But sure enough, the hint of sourness from the lime juice and the sharp spicy taste of the wasabi compliments the salted chicken amazingly well! It's these kinds of original combinations of additional elements to dishes that really stand out at Uokaji Sō.
Uokaji Sō is only 4 minutes walk from Hanshin Nishinomiya train station so it's very easy to get to on foot from the station if you're in the area. Needless to say it's well worth a visit!
OEM Sōko staff thank you for your ongoing patronage!
Uokaji Sō opening hours:
| Thursday | 5:30–11 PM |
| Friday | 5:30–11 PM |
| Saturday | 5:30–11 PM |
| Sunday | 5:30–10 PM |
| Monday | 5:30–11 PM |
| Tuesday | 5:30–11 PM |
| Wednesday | 5:30–11 PM |