This popular tourist destination has plenty of food choices, but these are my 3 must eat foods on Miyajima.
1. Momiji Manju
Shaped like a maple leaf (momiji), these delicious sweets can be found all over the island of Miyajima. 
While the sweet bean (anko) filling is the original flavor, there are many flavors to choose from now. I do love the traditional anko filling the best, but the custard cream and the chocolate are also my favorites.
A little shop called Iwamura Momijiya is my favorite place to get a traditional Momiji Manju. They only offer the anko filling, but you get a choice of koshi-an or tsubu-an. Koshi-an is more of a smooth bean paste, and tsubu-an is a slightly chunky bean paste. The Momiji Manjus here are always fresh, warm, and delicious! 
A very cool fact about Iwamura is that they are kind of the ones who started it all. I say kind of because they are a part of Iwaso Onsen and that is where the Momiji Manju came to be. It started out as the sweet that they served their guests with tea.
While walking around, you’ll see quite a few shops selling these delicious little cakes in many delicious flavors. Some places carry flavors that others don’t so have fun with it by stopping at a few different shops. Grab some manjus to take home and enjoy later.
For all of the fried food fans out there, you might want to try a deep fried Momiji Manju. There are a couple of places that sell them in the sometimes covered street with shops and restaurants.
2. Oysters
If you stand on the right side of the ferry on the way to Miyajima, you will see a large number of oyster beds in the ocean. There are oysters at pretty much all of the restaurants here. You can get them grilled, steamed, deep fried, and in many dishes like udon and curry. So many choices!
My favorite way to enjoy them is grilled, with cheese on top. 
There are some food stands that serve up grilled oysters with different topping and sauces. I love to bounce around and try the different oysters, but I always come to this spot for my cheese oysters. 
The best time to enjoy oysters is when it is cooler. The season begins in the fall and goes through the first part of spring. Oysters are available all year around, but in my opinion they taste better when it is cold.
Every February there is a big Oyster Festival on Miyajima that is also worth checking out.
3. Hiroshima Beef Steamed Bun
These steamed beef buns are made with local Hiroshima beef and they are pretty dang tasty! 
Just look for this place. 
I haven’t tried the eel, but I did try the yuba. Yuba is the stuff that is skimmed off the top when making tofu, and it is something I normally enjoy. However, I did not really care for this yuba steamed bun. It was literally nothing but yuba inside and I felt that it was missing something in the flavor department.
Those are my 3 must eat foods on Miyajima, but before I go I want to mention some interesting foods that are also worth checking out.
Deer poop ice cream. Need I say more? This is one of the places that sells it and it is located across from the little park at the ferry port. It’s in a perfect spot so you can grab one as soon as you arrive, or before you get on the return ferry.
Have you ever tried melon bread? It is a soft, melon flavored bread that usually has a crunchy cookie top. This place near the Momijidani Park sells warm melon bread ice cream sandwiches. 
They are very generous with the ice cream though which makes it really messy. I ask them to cut the amount of ice cream in half and that makes it perfect for me.
I don’t have any pictures of them, but there are also quite a few places selling fish cakes on a stick. Some are wrapped in bacon and some have other seafood, like crab, in them. Some of them are quite fishy tasting so if you’re not a huge fan of fish, you might want to skip this or just take a bite of someone’s so you can say you tried it.
Getting there –
You can either drive or take the train to Miyajima. By car it takes anywhere from thirty to forty minutes, depending on traffic. Route 2 can get pretty congested sometimes. There are a few pay parking lots right around the ferry port, but if there is something going on they can fill up pretty quickly. The one I usually use is ¥800 for the day. Then the ferry will cost ¥360 round trip.
If you decide to take the train, you can purchase a combo ticket for ¥1,000. This covers round trip train from Iwakuni Station to Miyajimaguchi Station, and round trip ferry. I like to use this site to check train schedules before I go anywhere.
**All prices listed in this post were accurate at the time of posting. Please keep in mind that all prices are subject to change.**
Leave a Reply