13 Best Kanazawa Restaurants & Cafes with Views 2025: From Kenrokuen Garden Dining to Historic Geisha Houses
Facing the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa flourished as a castle town under the rule of local lords from the 1600s to the 1800s and developed into one of Japan's leading cultural cities.
This legacy remains today, with numerous places where you can experience history and tradition, including residences where samurai lived, streets called "Chaya" where geisha entertained guests, and Kenrokuen Garden, counted among Japan's three most famous gardens.
This culture lives on in the cuisine as well, with traditional dishes using fresh seafood caught in nearby waters and local specialty vegetables popular among tourists.
Another attractive feature is the ability to enjoy food in spaces unique to Kanazawa, such as cafes renovated from traditional wooden houses called "Machiya" and restaurants standing in streets lined with Chaya.
While Kanazawa has numerous dining establishments, this time we'll introduce recommended Kanazawa restaurants and cafes where you can savor food alongside beautiful scenery - perfect for those seeking a Kanazawa Restaurant with a View 2025 experience.
Table of Contents
-3 Writer's Recommended Restaurants Where You Can Enjoy Meals While Viewing Beautiful Scenery
-3 Restaurants Where You Can Enjoy Exquisite Cuisine While Gazing at Natural Scenery
-3 Kanazawa Restaurants with a View Where You Can Enjoy Meals While Viewing the Beautiful Scenery of Kenrokuen Garden
-Historic Cafes and Restaurants in Kanazawa with Beautiful Architecture Where You Can Enjoy Meals in Retro Spaces
3 Writer's Recommended Restaurants Where You Can Enjoy Meals While Viewing Beautiful Scenery
Kanazawa has a well-established reputation for beautiful scenery, with historic streetscapes continuing from the 1600s and famous gardens.
From here, we'll introduce three carefully selected recommended restaurants where you can enjoy meals while viewing beautiful landscapes.
Source:Tabelog
"Gyokusen-an," a rest area in the historic garden called Gyokusen-in within Kanazawa Castle Park, is a place where you can relax while gazing at the beautiful garden scenery.
From the tatami-matted rooms, you can overlook the pond and greenery surrounding the stone walls, enjoying scenery from each season.
Actually, while this location has existed for a long time, the gardens and buildings that had been here for 400 years were lost through wars and other events, and the current building was completed in 2015 through a garden restoration project.
It recreates the appearance of gardens beloved by successive lords, allowing you to feel the history.
The menu centers on sets of matcha and Japanese sweets, perfect for when you want to take a light break while eating something sweet.
The Japanese sweets have delicate appearances with seasonal designs, and when photographed together with the garden as a backdrop, you can capture very Japanese-looking photos.
Also, on weekend evenings, the garden is illuminated, allowing you to enjoy a fantastical view different from the daytime.
<Information>
Address: 1-1 Marunouchi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: 9:00-12:30/ 13:00-16:30 (L.O. 16:00)
Closed: Only December 29th - January 3rd
Phone: 076-234-3800
Official Website: https://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/siro-niwa/kanazawajou/gyokusen-an/
Yamanoo
Source:Google Maps
Yamanoo is a long-established inn founded in 1890, standing on high ground in Kanazawa's Higashi Chaya District, popular for enjoying seasonal cuisine.
The inn's guest rooms are in a detached format, with each building separate, and the attractive feature is that outside the windows you can overlook garden greenery and panoramic views of Kanazawa's streetscape.
The cuisine centers on "Kaiseki," traditional Japanese course meals. The artistic delicate presentation makes use of locally sourced ingredients, and the seasonal flavors are high quality in all aspects of appearance, aroma, and taste.
You can also use it just for meals without staying overnight, and online reservations are available, making it convenient.
I had lunch, and the appetizers beautifully arranged on about 10 small plates were very photogenic. The taste was delicious as well, of course.
<Information>
Address: 1-31-25 Higashiyama, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: 11:30 - 14:00 (L.O. 13:00)/ 17:00 - 21:00 (L.O. Food 19:00, Drinks 20:00)
Closed: Irregular holidays
Phone: 076-252-5171
Official Website: https://yamanoo.jp/
Japanese Restaurant "Benkay"
Source:Official website
"Benkay" is an authentic Japanese restaurant on the 6th floor of Hotel Nikko Kanazawa, just a 3-minute walk from Kanazawa station.
While in the convenient location in front of the station, a courtyard spreads inside the restaurant, wrapped in a calm Japanese atmosphere.
An attractive feature is the variety of seating including sushi counter, tea room, and private rooms, allowing you to choose according to your usage scenario.
The cuisine offers abundant menus where you can enjoy sushi using fresh seafood caught from seas in northwestern Japan, Kanazawa local cuisine, and local sake, carefully preparing local flavors.
I like the window seats overlooking the garden. You can enjoy nature-filled scenery that doesn't feel like you're on the 6th floor of a hotel.
<Information>
Address: 2-15-1 Honmachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: 7:00-10:00 (9:30 L.O.)/ 11:30～14:00 (L.O.)/ 17:30～21:00 (L.O.)
Closed: Open year-round
Phone: 076-234-5430
Official Website: https://www.hnkanazawa.jp/restaurant/benkay/
3 Restaurants Where You Can Enjoy Exquisite Cuisine While Gazing at Natural Scenery
In Kanazawa, restaurants where you can enjoy meals against the backdrop of seasonal nature are also recommended, not just traditional streetscapes and historic buildings.
From here, we'll introduce restaurants where you can enjoy exquisite cuisine while gazing at natural scenery - essential choices for any Kanazawa Restaurant with a View 2025 guide.
HUNI
Source:Retty
HUNI is a dining bar with a modern atmosphere along Kanazawa's Asano River.
From the windows, you can view the river's flow, bridges, and streetscape spreading with trees, and at night the river is lit up, allowing you to taste a fantastical atmosphere with lights illuminating the water surface.
The cuisine centers on creative Italian food, with Japanese-style nuances added to menu items like pasta, risotto, and meat dishes.
There are counter seats and table seats, but counter seats are recommended as the view from the windows is easier to see.
The owner is a sculptor who also does work carving Buddhist statues, and in the tatami room seating on the restaurant's second floor, you can appreciate Buddhist statue sculptures and wood carving art created by the owner.
There's also a large selection of alcoholic beverages, so it's also recommended as a second stop after enjoying a meal at another restaurant.
<Information>
Address: 29-13 Zaimokucho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: 18:00-24:00
Closed: Tuesdays
Phone: 076-225-8012
Official Website: None
Italian Cafe Budou no Mori
Source:Google Maps
Italian Cafe Budou no Mori is a cafe restaurant operated by "Budou no Mori," which runs a grape orchard in suburban Kanazawa.
From the building's large windows, grape fields and abundant greenery that change expression with each season spread out, allowing you to spend calm time that can't be experienced in the city center.
The attractive feature is that precisely because of the location adjacent to the fields, you can enjoy meals while feeling nature's bounty up close.
The cuisine is based on Italian food, with a lineup of menus incorporating locally produced fresh vegetables and fruits, homemade charcuterie, and more.
The salads using vegetables grown in the on-site farm allow you to fully enjoy the vegetables' original flavors.
Desserts are also substantial, with the dolce plate utilizing cake and baked goods scraps generated at their own factory being especially recommended. While implementing food loss countermeasures, you can fully enjoy flavors that can only be experienced that day.
On the premises, there's also a confectionery workshop and authentic French restaurant, making it like a theme park for enjoying food.
<Information>
Address: Ha 50-1 Iwademachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: 11:00-20:30
Closed: Only January 1st
Phone: 076-258-0231
Official Website: https://www.budoo.co.jp/main/index.html
Japanese Tea & Coffee Pottery Cafe Touzan
Source:Google Maps
Japanese Tea & Coffee Pottery Cafe Touzan is a cafe with an attached ceramics gallery, nestled near Kenrokuen Garden.
From the large windows, Kenrokuen Garden's greenery spreads out, and you can spend leisurely time in a space where soft light streams in.
Inside the store, works of "Kutani ware," the traditional porcelain representing Ishikawa prefecture, are displayed.
Kutani ware is porcelain characterized by colorful painting, and the attractive feature here is that you can actually use vessels by famous artists while enjoying matcha, coffee, and sweets.
In the gallery, works are also exhibited and sold, and being able to purchase vessels you like becomes a travel memory.
Furthermore, you can experience Kutani ware painting and making matcha yourself, spending time that can only be enjoyed here while touching culture.
I also took home porcelain I painted and use it for daily tea time.
<Information>
Address: 1-16 Kenrokucho, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Touzan Pottery
Phone: 076-231-2008
Closed: Irregular holidays
Business Hours: 10:00-17:10
Official Website: https://www.yoshizakitouzan.com/
3 Kanazawa Restaurants with a View Where You Can Enjoy Meals While Viewing the Beautiful Scenery of Kenrokuen Garden
Kenrokuen Garden is one of Japan's Three Great Gardens and Kanazawa's representative garden, beautiful with seasonal scenery throughout the year and a popular tourist spot. The vast garden where ponds, bridges, and stone lanterns harmonize is truly a landscape that symbolizes Japanese culture.
Around Kenrokuen Garden, there are cafes and restaurants scattered where you can enjoy meals while viewing the lush green scenery. From here, I will introduce cafes and restaurants where you can enjoy meals while feeling the atmosphere of the garden—perfect Kanazawa restaurants with a view for 2025 visitors.
Kenrokutei
Source:Official website
Kenrokutei is a restaurant located inside Kenrokuen Garden where you can enjoy meals and tea in the best seats overlooking Japan's oldest fountain. From the large windows, the garden scenery spreads out, and you can enjoy meals leisurely while taking a break during your stroll.
It's a pleasant point that you can dine at various times: breakfast, lunch, cafe, and dinner.
There are various menus using local ingredients, but the set menu including Kanazawa's local dish "Jibuni" is especially popular. Jibuni is a traditional dish where duck meat is coated with flour and simmered with vegetables in a soy sauce-based soup with dashi. It has a gentle flavor and is perfect for cold days. It's also recommended when your body gets cold from strolling through the garden in winter.
The cafe menu is also abundant. I like the menu where Japanese sweets and chocolate come with your choice of drinks like coffee or matcha latte.
<Information>
Address: 1-20 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business hours: Breakfast 9:00-11:00 (※Reservation required)/ Lunch 11:00-14:00 L.O./ Cafe 9:00-17:00 (until 16:00 in winter)
Regular holiday: Irregular
Phone number: 076-261-3783
Official website: https://kenrokutei.com/
Tsutsumitei
Source:Official website
Tsutsumitei is located on a street near Kenrokuen Garden lined with shops where you can rest while enjoying tea and Japanese sweets, as well as souvenir shops. It's a restaurant utilizing a wooden structure over 100 years old, and is an ideal shop to stop by during your stroll through Kenrokuen Garden.
The shop's style is called "Chaya," which is a uniquely Japanese rest stop that has continued since the 1600s, inheriting the culture of travelers enjoying meals and sweets.
If you sit near the entrance, you can casually enjoy matcha or soft cream while watching people come and go. On the second floor, there are tatami mat rooms where you can also enjoy Japanese noodles like Udon and Soba, as well as dishes like Jibuni.
<Information>
Address: 1-15 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business hours: 9:00-16:30
Regular holiday: Irregular
Phone number: 076-221-2387
Official website: https://www.tsutsumitei.jp/
Kenjotei Tea House
Source:Google Maps
Kenjotei Tea House is a restaurant near Kenrokuen Garden established in 1913. The current building was designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, and its attractive point is the space where the traditional Chaya's tasteful atmosphere and modernity merge. It abundantly incorporates traditional crafts of Ishikawa Prefecture, such as gold leaf lighting.
It features dishes using locally sourced seasonal ingredients, and you can enjoy both lunch and dinner.
I ate a dish with roast beef on top of rice, covered with gold leaf, which is a specialty of Ishikawa Prefecture, and the visual shining in gold was extremely impactful. You'll surely want to take photos.
There's also a cafe on the first floor of the building where you can enjoy coffee, matcha, and parfaits using matcha.
<Information>
Address: 1-19 Kenrokumachi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business hours: (1st floor) Cafe 10:00-16:30/ (2nd floor) Breakfast 8:00-10:30 Lunch 11:00-15:00 ※For breakfast and dinner, please inquire
Regular holiday: Wednesday (subject to change depending on season)
Phone number: 076-222-1600
Official website: https://kenrokuen.jp/
If You Have a Guide Show You Shops Loved by Locals, You Can Fully Enjoy Exquisite Food!
Since there are many attractive restaurants in Kanazawa, tourists often find themselves confused about which to choose. What's recommended in such cases is a gourmet tour guided by a local guide who can speak English.
The attractive point is that you can efficiently visit shops popular with locals that are difficult for tourists to find on their own. While walking through a traditional area where samurai residences are gathered and moving between shops, you can enjoy not only meals but also strolling through historic streets.
The dishes you eat at the shops you visit are all full of Kanazawa's character, including Oden, which is perfect for cold seasons with vegetables and other ingredients simmered in soup, dishes using local fresh seafood, and you can also taste Kanazawa's Japanese sake.
The guide will carefully explain the background of the dishes and how to eat them, so you can feel at ease even if you don't understand Japanese.
<Information>
Meeting point: In front of the clothing store "BEAMS" inside the Kohrinbo Ramoda Building
Tour area: Around Kenrokuen Garden
Start time: 18:00
Historic Cafes and Restaurants in Kanazawa with Beautiful Architecture Where You Can Enjoy Meals in Retro Spaces
Kanazawa has many cafes and restaurants that make use of historic buildings such as Machiya and Chaya. Dining in an atmosphere of charming exteriors and retro ambiance creates a special experience and becomes a memorable part of your trip.
When searching for a Kanazawa restaurant with a view in 2025, these historic establishments offer not only culinary delights but also stunning architectural beauty and scenic surroundings. From this point, I'll introduce recommended shops where you can enjoy food alongside beautiful buildings.
Geisha House Shima
Source:Google Maps
Geisha House Shima is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1820 in Kanazawa's Higashi Chaya District, where Geisha entertained guests from the 1600s to 1800s.
Called "Ochaya," it was more than just a place to eat—it was a social venue where cultural entertainment such as music, dance, and poetry recitation took place.
The building is still well-preserved today, and the latticed windows of the two-story wooden structure and tatami rooms retain the atmosphere of that era.
Inside the building, you can enjoy a set of matcha and Japanese sweets while gazing at the courtyard.
The Japanese sweets, made from beans cooked sweetly into a paste and shaped to resemble seasonal plants, are visually beautiful—like works of art.
<Information>
Address: 1-13-21 Higashiyama, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: 9:30-17:30/ Winter period (December-February) 9:30-17:00 Closed: Open year-round
Phone: 076-252-5675
Official Website: http://www.ochaya-shima.com/
Kifune
Source:Hitosara
Kifune is a renowned Japanese restaurant where you can experience traditional Japanese food culture in a quiet atmosphere.
The building is a renovated Japanese house built in the early 1900s, characterized by its calm, Japanese-style exterior that retains traditional architectural elements such as wooden beams and latticed windows.
The cuisine centers on course meals using locally sourced seasonal ingredients, allowing you to enjoy the flavors of each season.
The beautiful presentation is also an attractive point that pleases both the eyes and palate simultaneously.
I especially recommend the menu item called "Morikomi," where various dishes using abundant seasonal ingredients are plated in small portions on a single dish. The content changes each time, making you want to visit every season.
It's completely reservation-only and all private rooms. It's featured in the Michelin Guide and is a popular restaurant that's quite difficult to book.
<Information>
Address: 1-9-69 Hikosomachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: Lunch 11:30- (L.O. 13:30)/ Dinner 17:30- (L.O. 20:30)
Closed: Wednesdays, 1st Tuesday of the month
Phone: 076-220-6131
Official Website: None
Ichirin
Source:Tabelog
Ichirin is a Japanese restaurant located near the entrance of Higashi Chaya District.
The building is a renovated Machiya that was the residence of American printmaker Clifton Karhu. Works by Clifton Karhu are also displayed inside the shop.
At night, soft light from street lamps and windows leaks through the latticed windows, creating a photogenic scene that blends into the old townscape.
For cuisine, during dinner hours they focus on courses featuring locally sourced seasonal ingredients, with beautifully plated dishes of seafood sashimi, simmered dishes, and plates using seasonal vegetables.
They also have a good selection of Japanese sake, allowing you to enjoy pairing with the food. There are many creative dishes, such as unusual ingredient combinations, and when I visited, I enjoyed pairing various sake from Ishikawa prefecture with each dish.
They also have a lunch menu, so you can visit during convenient times between sightseeing.
<Information>
Address: 2-6 Kazuemachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: Tuesday 17:00-22:30/ Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 11:30-13:30, 17:00-22:30/ Saturday, Sunday, Holidays 11:00-14:30, 17:00-22:30
Closed: Mondays (open on holidays)
Phone: 050-5589-7449
Official Website: https://www.ichi-rin.com/
Yusura
Source:Official website
Yusura is a cafe bar in Kanazawa's Nishi Chaya District, housed in a building that was originally a Chaya and has been renovated.
With its calm appearance blending into the traditional townscape, it exudes a retro atmosphere.
The interior maintains a Japanese atmosphere while being modernly arranged, creating a comfortable space where you can casually stop by during sightseeing.
The food and drinks have a cafe-like lineup, including homemade sweets like pudding and cake, coffee, matcha, as well as popular light meals such as curry and hearty sandwiches.
The sandwich contains fried pork cutlet and has been featured on many Japanese TV programs. I ordered the set that included this sandwich, a soft drink, and a mini-sized sweet, and was very satisfied as it was delicious and filling.
<Information>
Address: 2-24-4 Nomachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Business Hours: Cafe time 10:00-17:00/ Bar time (reservation only): 18:00-23:00
Closed: Wednesdays
Phone: 076-220-7037
Official Website: https://yusura.cafe/
If You're Visiting Kanazawa, a City Where Japanese Tradition and History Live On, Enjoy Exploring the Town Too
If you're visiting Kanazawa, I recommend an approximately 5-hour walking tour with a local guide who speaks English.
You can efficiently walk around representative spots such as Kenrokuen Garden, Omicho Market (known as "Kanazawa's kitchen" with 300 years of history), samurai residence ruins, and the Chaya districts, allowing you to fully experience the charm of the city even with limited time.
The guide thoroughly explains the background of buildings, cuisine, and customs, so rather than just looking around, you gain a deep understanding of the city of Kanazawa—an attractive point indeed.
Along the way, you can enjoy Japanese sweets and matcha, taste Kanazawa's local cuisine, and experience both sightseeing and food at once.
For lunch, we plan to visit Kenrokutei, which I introduced today, where you can dine while viewing Japan's oldest fountain—truly a Kanazawa restaurant with a view for 2025.
<Information>
Meeting point: In front of FamilyMart + Drug Komeya Kanazawa Musashi Store
Tour area: Omicho Market, Kenrokuen Garden, Higashi Chaya District, etc.
Start time: 10:00
