Visit Nara

This very popular restaurant specializes in kamameshi; a traditional dish of rice with seasonal toppings such as oysters, crab or chicken with vegetables, cooked together in an iron pot. You need to take off your shoes and put them in a locker at the front, then choose between chair or tatami seating. They have English menus which include instructions on “how to eat kamameshi." All dishes are cooked to order, so take around 20 minutes to arrive. It can get busy on weekends, so you may have to wait, but you can enjoy the pretty garden in front and they have maps and pamphlets about Nara in several languages. There is a sister restaurant closer to the National Museum, which gets very crowded.