7 Best Places to Eat in Kotohira Near the Shrine Approach

7 Restaurants and Cafes Near Kotohira Shrine and the Station

The seven restaurants and cafes below are the walkable core of where to eat in Kotohira, all within about a quarter mile of Kotoden Kotohira Station. Distances and price bands come from Tabelog's directory. Several of these listings carry the site's own accuracy disclaimer, so treat the numbers as a starting point and confirm before you go.

• Taishu Yakiniku Honetsukidori Kingyu Kotohira ten
  • The closest listed pick to Kotoden Kotohira Station, about 420 feet away per Tabelog's directory.
  • A grill-it-yourself yakiniku restaurant built around Kagawa's bone-in chicken alongside other cuts, suited to families or small groups.
  • Tabelog notes a designated smoking area and credit card acceptance; confirm current hours before visiting.
• Sanuki Meibutsu Honetsukidori Tanakaya
  • About 615 feet from the station, this izakaya focuses on Sanuki-style honetsukidori and other chicken dishes.
  • Tabelog lists a non-smoking room, a digital menu, and a lunch price band under ¥999, well below its dinner range.
  • Children are welcome, which makes it workable as a lunch stop before the shrine climb.
• Bimidokoro Kotobuki & Japanese Whiskey Bar 729
  • A bar and Japanese-sweets cafe about 620 feet from the station, useful for a drink after the stairs.
  • It is one of the few nearby listings where Tabelog notes smoking is allowed, and credit cards are accepted.
• Minato Kotohira ten
  • A Japanese-cuisine and yakitori izakaya about 690 feet from the station, with a dinner price band around ¥4,000-4,999.
  • Tabelog flags this listing with its own accuracy disclaimer and shows Monday closures, so confirm the schedule first.
• Yakitori Honetsukidori Tanakaya
  • A second honetsukidori-focused izakaya, about 1,190 feet from the station, on the far side of the walkable cluster from Sanuki Meibutsu Honetsukidori Tanakaya.
  • Tabelog lists Wednesday closures and a non-smoking room.
  • Useful as a backup if the closer Tanakaya location is full during busy shrine-visit hours.
• KOTOHIRA TERRACE
  • A cafe and soft-serve ice cream stop about 1,280 feet from the station, priced under ¥999 per Tabelog.
  • This listing carries Tabelog's own accuracy disclaimer, so treat its hours as a starting point, not a guarantee.
• cafe Mori to Yama
  • A cafe serving curry about 1,525 feet from the station, priced in the ¥1,000-1,999 band for both lunch and dinner per Tabelog.
  • Non-smoking and credit-card-friendly, and a fallback lunch option when the honetsukidori specialists nearby are full.

What to Order: Honetsukidori and Other Kagawa Specialties

Honetsukidori, literally bone-in chicken, is Kagawa's best-known grilled-chicken specialty, named directly in restaurants such as Sanuki Meibutsu Honetsukidori Tanakaya and Yakitori Honetsukidori Tanakaya. The honetsukidori guide covers how the dish is typically prepared and served. Kagawa is equally known for wheat noodles, with its own dedicated Sanuki udon guide. Beyond chicken and noodles, Kotohira Kadan's dining page names three further Kagawa specialties worth watching for on menus. They are Sanuki beef, Olive Pork, and Sanuki Cochin chicken, also called Olive Jidori. Setouchi seafood from the Seto Inland Sea rounds out the regional plate, though none of the station-area picks above are seafood specialists specifically.

• Honetsukidori (bone-in chicken)
  • Grilled bone-in chicken thigh, seasoned and served whole rather than sliced.
  • Named in two restaurant titles within the walkable station cluster above.
• Sanuki udon
  • Kagawa's signature wheat-noodle dish, covered separately in the dedicated Sanuki udon guide.
  • Kotohira Kadan's kitchen also lists udon among its regional dinner offerings.
• Sanuki beef, Olive Pork, Sanuki Cochin (Olive Jidori)
  • Kagawa's three branded meats, named on Kotohira Kadan's own dining page.
  • Olive Pork and Olive Jidori both come from livestock fed on olive by-products.
• Setouchi seafood
  • Seafood from the Seto Inland Sea, named as a regional highlight on Kotohira Kadan's dining page.
  • Not a specialty of the station-area restaurants and cafes listed above.

Cafes and Sweets Along the Sando

The sando, the approach street leading up to Kotohira Shrine, is where most pre-climb and post-climb snacking happens. Two of the walkable picks above sit right along this stretch. KOTOHIRA TERRACE serves soft-serve ice cream, a practical way to cool down after the stairs. cafe Mori to Yama offers curry alongside cafe drinks, useful for a lighter meal before the climb. For a deeper list of sweets shops along the sando, see the shrine approach sweets guide. Visitors who want to add a sake-tasting stop to the same walk can check the Kinryo Sake Museum Travel Guide for what to expect.

Ryokan Dining vs Public Restaurants: When Each Makes Sense

In-house ryokan dining is one Kotohira eating option most directory listings miss. Its dining page names Dining Keyaki as Kotohira Kadan's main in-house restaurant. Dinner runs 5:30pm to 10pm, with a last order at 8pm for food, and breakfast runs 7am to 9:30am. This is guest-only dining tied to a room reservation, not a restaurant the public can walk into. Overnight guests who want a slower, multi-course evening can stay in for kaiseki dinner instead of walking to the picks above. Day-trippers and anyone not staying at the ryokan should plan around the public restaurants near the station.

Day-Trip Options in the Wider Marugame and Kotohira Area

SAVOR JAPAN's restaurant search groups Kotohira with a much wider Marugame/Kotohira township area. That area also covers Marugame, Tadotsu, Zentsuji, Sakaide, and Kanonji/Mitoyo. Several of its own listings are labeled with these separate town names, which is the site's own signal that a result may not be near Kotohira Shrine. Treat any restaurant from this wider search as a car- or train-accessible day-trip option unless its address is independently confirmed to be in Kotohira town itself. One listing, Shikoku Konpira Minato, is worth a closer look before ruling it out, since Konpira is the shrine's alternate name. Its own SAVOR JAPAN entry places it in the Tadotsu/Zentsuji/Kotohira sub-area, not confirmed as being on the shrine grounds. Verify the address directly before counting on it as a pre-climb option.

Practical Logistics: Hours, Reservations, and Payment

Payment and smoking rules vary restaurant to restaurant, so confirm specifics before arrival rather than assuming a citywide standard. Most of the station-area picks above list credit card acceptance and non-smoking seating on Tabelog. Two exceptions stand out. Taishu Yakiniku Honetsukidori Kingyu Kotohira ten has a designated smoking area. Bimidokoro Kotobuki & Japanese Whiskey Bar 729 allows smoking throughout. Closures differ too. Yakitori Honetsukidori Tanakaya is listed as closed Wednesdays. Minato Kotohira ten is listed as closed Mondays. Tabelog offers online reservations for several of these listings, though accuracy is not guaranteed for entries like KOTOHIRA TERRACE, Tsurudaya, and Minato Kotohira ten. Call ahead or check each restaurant's own listing on the day of the visit, since directory hours can lag real-world changes.

Mistakes to Avoid When Planning Where to Eat in Kotohira

A few mistakes come up repeatedly when planning meals around the shrine climb.

• Trusting the Marugame/Kotohira search area as walkable
  • SAVOR JAPAN's search area groups Kotohira with Marugame, Tadotsu, Zentsuji, Sakaide, and Kanonji/Mitoyo.
  • A result from this pool needs its own address check before you count on walking there from the shrine.
• Expecting to walk into ryokan dining without a reservation
  • Kotohira Kadan's Dining Keyaki is built around overnight stays, not walk-in service.
  • Public restaurants near the station are the option for anyone not booked into the ryokan.
• Treating directory hours and prices as final
  • Several Tabelog listings above, including KOTOHIRA TERRACE and Minato Kotohira ten, carry the site's own accuracy disclaimer.
  • Confirm current hours and prices directly before building a schedule around them.
• Skipping a backup plan for the honetsukidori specialists
  • Two separate Tanakaya-named restaurants near the station specialize in bone-in chicken.
  • Having a second choice on hand helps if the closer one is full during a busy stretch.

How This Guide Was Verified

Food availability, access details, seasonal rules, and the time-sensitive claims in this guide were checked on August 22, 2026 against the official sources below. Independent restaurant menus, prices, opening days, and sell-outs can change, so confirm the operator's same-day notice before making a special trip.

• Kotohira-gu: Current Access Hours
• Kotohira Tourism: Konpira-san
• Nakano Udon School
• Kotohira Tourism: Konpira Udon