Hiroshima-Shi, Japan

Hiroshima Prefecture has been nicknamed "mini Japan," and rightly so, for it sports the best of everything Japan has to offer. When it comes to food, Hiroshima is a virtual gold mine of culinary delights.

The city's location right on the Seto Inland Sea makes it a haven for seafood lovers but Hiroshima's specialty from the sea is without a doubt oysters. The month of February is devoted to oyster festivals (kaki matsuri). These are held both in the city and in every seaside town, where one can savor cheap, fresh oysters at outdoor stands. The famous tourist island of Miyajima is also a mecca for oyster lovers, with many shops specializing purely in oyster dishes. A visit to Miyajima must also include a stop in at one of the momiji manju shops, where one can try maple leaf-shaped sweet-bean cakes served warm with tea. The most famous momiji-manju maker in Hiroshima is Nishiki-Do. A box of their cakes makes a great gift.

Naka-ku

If the Nagarekawa scene does not suit you, try some of the options in other parts of Naka-ku, such as the more relaxed and spacious restaurant-bar atmosphere of Sam's Cafe 13 or Kemby's , two hangouts popular for their great American/Mexican-style menus and range of imported and local beers. As with any city in Japan, there is never a shortage of places to wile away your time snacking on local goodies and choosing from an array of sake types and vintages at places like Tsukiakari , one of Hiroshima's best-loved yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurants, where diners can grill right at their tables. And speaking of sake, Hiroshima is also home to the Saijo Sake Festival , where every October crowds throng the Higashi-Hiroshima town of Saijo to sample sake from its famous breweries.

Staying with local specialties, a trip to Hiroshima is not complete without getting a taste of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (literally meaning "as you like it"). This inexpensive dish is often described as "Japanese pizza." It is a doughy mixture filled with various meats, seafood and vegetables, cooked in front of the customer (or by the customer) on a hot plate at the table, and served with its trademark okonomiyaki sauce. It is eaten throughout Japan, but the addition of soba (buckwheat noodles) or udon (rice noodles) to the filling is unique to Hiroshima, hence its fame. In fact, a whole section of the downtown area has been designated Okonomimura (okonomiyaki village), a large building bursting with four floors of okonomiyaki shops.

For a more substantial meal, diners are spoilt for choice. In the Pacela shopping complex alone, four floors are devoted entirely to restaurants, offering anything from authentic Indian cuisine to high-class Japanese kaiseki-ryori, cheap Italian and all-you-can-eat buffets. Even a fine night of gourmet French cuisine is available at such formal hot spots as Restaurant Ogawa .

Hacchobori

Located on the North side of Naka-ku, Hacchobori is just one of the many parts of the central district that you'll want to check out if you're hungry. If you're a beer lover, don't miss Heiwa Koboh , which features two beers brewed in-house, as well as a selection of others, along with a host of Japanese and Chinese specialty foods, such as Oden and spring rolls. If you have a large group, Neko Matagi can accommodate groups of up to 50 people, and has a large, continually changing menu to match its equally impressive selection of beer and cocktails. For a local taste, Mitchan has several branches dotted around the city that offer a wide variety of options for okonomiyaki.

Nagarekawa

Hiroshima is infamous for the speed at which new eateries and bars appear and disappear. Even monthly publications have trouble keeping up to date with all the changes. The Nagarekawa district is a prime example of this, though this area is dedicated far more to drinking than dining. A maze of narrow backstreets filled with tiny, hole-in-the-wall snack bars and other adult entertainment, Nagarekawa is a navigational exercise in itself but it is worth all the wrong turns when you stumble across such popular nightspots as Jamaica , Snappers, Cross , Mac Bar or Twisters. Chokotto-Ya is a particularly tempting option if what you're looking for is food and drink, with as many as 150 local varieties of sake and a three-story izakaya (Japanese pub) that serves simple, unpretentious food.

Whatever your preference, you are guaranteed to find an array of tempting places to satisfy your palate in Hiroshima.