Hida Beef in Takayama: Where to Eat It by Style and Budget

Hida beef in Takayama is the meal most visitors plan the trip around, and the town makes it easy to get wrong. The A5 sirloin that costs ¥9,680 at the old steakhouse on Honmachi turns up as a ¥2,190 weekday lunch set a few minutes from the station, and the most expensive shabu-shabu in town takes no walk-ins at all. This guide covers eight restaurants inside the city, sorted by how the beef is cooked (steak, sukiyaki and shabu-shabu, yakiniku, hoba miso) and by what you’ll pay, with hours, closed days and a map for each. It also explains what the producers’ council means by “Hida beef”, since the grade on the signboard matters more here than the name. Everything was checked on 4 November 2026 against the city tourism association’s listings and each restaurant’s own site.

What makes it Hida beef

The name is a certification, not a cut. The Hida Beef Brand Promotion Council (飛騨牛銘柄推進協議会), set up in 1988, defines Hida beef as Japanese Black cattle (kuroge washu) fattened in Gifu Prefecture for 14 months or more, whose carcass the Japan Meat Grading Association scores at meat quality grade 5, 4 or 3. Takayama City’s tourism site adds the yield condition, A or B, and the rule for anything that falls short: the same cattle at a lower grade are sold as “Hida wagyu”, not Hida beef.

The grade on the menu is two marks from that national system. The letter (A, B or C) is yield, how much saleable meat the carcass carries. The number (5 down to 1) is quality, judged on four things: marbling on the BMS scale of 1 to 12, meat colour, firmness and texture, and the colour and quality of the fat. The lowest of the four decides the number, so A5 means the best yield and a 5 on every count. A4 and A3 are Hida beef too, and at a lunch counter the difference is mostly how much fat you want at noon.

The herd traces back to one bull. In 1981 a bull named Yasufuku (安福号) was brought in from Hyogo; the council calls him the father of Hida beef, and the city’s page counts about 39,000 offspring in his lifetime.

Where to eat it by style and budget

Prices are what each restaurant or the city association published on 4 November 2026, tax included. A blank means the restaurant publishes no price.

Style	Restaurant	What it costs	Hours (closed)
Steak	Kitchen Hida	A5 sirloin 200 g ¥9,680	11:30 to 15:30, 17:00 to 20:30 (Wed)
Steak and lunch	Hida Takayama Meat Restaurant	sirloin steak from ¥4,180, steak-ju from ¥3,980, hamburger from ¥2,180	11:00 to 17:00 (no closed day)
Shabu-shabu	Jinya	from ¥12,000, reservation only	17:00 to 22:00
Sukiyaki, shabu-shabu	Nakabashi Wakachiya	not published	10:30 to 19:00, last order 18:00; evenings by reservation (no closed day)
Yakiniku	Ajikura Tengoku	weekday lunch sets ¥2,190 to ¥4,220; dinner from ¥5,000	11:00 to 14:30, 17:00 to 21:30 (Tue, 2nd and 4th Wed)
Yakiniku	Maruaki Hida Takayama	lunch about ¥2,000, dinner about ¥3,000 per its listing	11:00 to 21:00, last order 20:30 (1 January only)
Hoba miso	Suzuya	not published	11:00 to 15:00, 17:00 to 21:00 (Tue)
Hoba miso, set meals	Aji no Yohei	Hida beef gozen from ¥3,278	11:00 to 14:30, 17:00 to 20:00 (irregular)

The restaurants

Steak

Kitchen Hida has been a Hida beef steakhouse for more than 53 years, on Honmachi a short walk south of the old town. Its method is its own braise-then-sauté (ブレゼ＆ソテー), and the headline plate is a 200 g A5 sirloin at ¥9,680. The city association lists 11:30 to 15:30 and 17:00 to 20:30, closed Wednesdays; the prefecture’s listing gives shorter hours (to 14:45 and 19:45), so arrive early in each service. Two parking spaces out front and ten nearby.

Hida Takayama Meat Restaurant is the cheaper steak, on the second floor of the former Fujii art museum building on Kamisannomachi, the main old-town street. Sirloin steak starts at ¥4,180, the steak-ju (steak over rice, with salad and soup) at ¥3,980, and a hamburger that blends Hida beef with the local Pleasure Pork at ¥2,180. It runs 11:00 to 17:00 with no closed day, seats 54, takes cash and JCB, Visa, Mastercard, Diners and Amex, has English and Chinese menus, and books online through TableCheck.

Sukiyaki and shabu-shabu

Jinya (飛騨牛しゃぶしゃぶ割烹 陣屋) is the splurge: a shabu-shabu kappo on Kandamachi, ten minutes’ walk from the station, founded in 1964 and run by a single proprietor at a sunken-hearth counter. Courses start at ¥12,000, it is reservation only, and it opens 17:00 to 22:00. The association lists no regular closed day, so confirm when you book. One parking space.

Nakabashi Wakachiya sits by the red Nakabashi bridge on Kataharamachi and does Hida beef sukiyaki and shabu-shabu through the day, 10:30 to 19:00 with last orders at 18:00 and no regular closed day; evenings are by reservation through its Instagram account. It serves on Hida shunkei lacquerware and also sells Hida beef skewers and nigiri, which makes it the one place on this list that covers both a sit-down pot and the street-food snack. It publishes no prices.

Yakiniku

Ajikura Tengoku (味蔵天国), the hero photo, is run by the JA Hida group, about 150 m south of the station, and is where the weekday lunch sets make A5 affordable: Hida beef kalbi set ¥2,190, lean-cut set ¥2,940, a three-cut tasting set ¥4,220, and the same three cuts with a mabushi rice set at ¥5,290. The association puts dinner from ¥5,000; the “four popular cuts” platter for two to three people is ¥13,380. Hours are 11:00 to 14:30 (last order 14:00) and 17:00 to 21:30 (last order 21:00). The association lists Tuesdays closed; the restaurant’s own site adds the second and fourth Wednesdays, so trust the site. A ticket machine handles the queue, banquet courses (¥5,600 to ¥7,700 a head) need a booking for four or more, and there’s a meat counter from 11:00 to 15:00 and parking for 13 cars.

Maruaki Hida Takayama is the butcher’s own restaurant: Maruaki is a Hida beef wholesaler and retailer, and the Tenmanmachi branch five minutes from the station runs 11:00 to 21:00 with last orders at 20:30, weekday lunch with last orders at 14:30, closed only on 1 January. The company warns that hours change with the season. Its HotPepper listing puts lunch around ¥2,000 and dinner around ¥3,000, and lists Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners and JCB, iD, PayPay, d-barai and Merpay.

Hoba miso beef

Hida beef on hoba miso, before the burner is lit. Photo: Gofukuji, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hoba miso is Takayama’s own way with the beef. The city describes it as miso, green onions and shiitake laid on a dried magnolia leaf and grilled over a small earthen stove, the Hida konro, at the table; meat and vegetables go on top, and you eat it with rice. With a few slices of Hida beef it becomes hoba miso steak, and it’s the dish to order when a full steak is more fat than you want.

Suzuya (民芸食事 寿々や), six minutes’ walk from the station on Hanakawamachi, is the classic hoba miso house: a folk-craft dining room with tables, tatami and sunken hearths, and a hoba miso steak on a house miso blended with sesame oil, sake and sugar. Hours 11:00 to 15:00 and 17:00 to 21:00, closed Tuesdays, five parking spaces. It publishes no prices.

Aji no Yohei (味の与平) is the restaurant inside the Funasaka Shuzo sake brewery on Kamisannomachi, so the beef comes with the brewery’s own sake a few steps away. The Hida beef gozen set starts at ¥3,278; hours are 11:00 to 14:30 and 17:00 to 20:00, with irregular closures, and the menu carries partial English and Chinese.

Reservations, queues and what you’ll pay

• Book ahead at Jinya (reservation only), at Wakachiya for the evening (via Instagram), and at Ajikura for a banquet course (four people or more). Hida Takayama Meat Restaurant takes online bookings through TableCheck; it’s the easiest table to secure from abroad.
• Queue at Ajikura with the ticket machine, and expect one at lunch: the weekday sets are the cheapest A5 in town. The old-town lunch places fill between 12:00 and 13:30; 11:00 or after 14:00 is calmer.
• Budget. Under ¥2,500 gets a weekday yakiniku set at Ajikura, a hamburger at the Meat Restaurant, or lunch at Maruaki. ¥3,000 to ¥5,000 covers the steak-ju, a sirloin at the Meat Restaurant, or the Hida beef gozen at Yohei. The A5 sirloin at Kitchen Hida is ¥9,680, and Jinya’s shabu-shabu starts at ¥12,000.
• Cards. Only two places on this list publish their payment methods: the Meat Restaurant (cash and the five major cards) and Maruaki (cards and the main QR apps). For the rest, carry cash; most old-town counters still prefer it.
• Closed days cluster on Tuesday (Ajikura, Suzuya) and Wednesday (Kitchen Hida, plus Ajikura twice a month). Yohei closes irregularly. The Meat Restaurant and Wakachiya have no closed day.

All eight are within a 15-minute walk of the station; the getting-around page has the bus loops and the station’s lockers if you’re eating between trains.

Hida beef dinner at your ryokan

The best Hida beef meal in Takayama for many visitors isn’t in a restaurant at all. A ryokan kaiseki here usually builds its main course on local beef (a hoba miso steak, a small sukiyaki pot, or a stone-grilled fillet), served in the room or a private dining room with no queue and no closing time to watch, and the price folds into the night’s rate. That is the high-ticket way to do it, and the one that fits a day that ends with an onsen. The stay hub lists the properties as we verify them. To search now, open Takayama on Agoda or Takayama on Booking.com, filter for ryokan, and pick a plan that includes dinner; the plan’s menu notes will say whether the beef is Hida beef.

The street-food side

The same beef sells by the piece in Sanmachi: nigiri sushi, skewers, croquettes and steamed buns from counters that mostly close by late afternoon. Wakachiya above sells skewers and nigiri beside its pots, and the brewery at Yohei pours tastings. The full walk, with each stall’s hours and closed day, is a separate post coming to the Must eat hub, along with Takayama ramen.

FAQ

What is Hida beef? Beef from Japanese Black cattle fattened in Gifu Prefecture for at least 14 months and graded by the Japan Meat Grading Association at yield A or B and meat quality 3, 4 or 5, certified by the Hida Beef Brand Promotion Council. Lower grades from the same cattle are sold as Hida wagyu.

Hida beef vs Kobe beef? Both are Japanese Black. Kobe beef must come from Tajima-strain cattle, a heifer or steer, with a marbling score (BMS) of 6 or higher, yield A or B and a carcass of 499.9 kg or less. Hida beef sets no marbling floor beyond its minimum quality grade of 3, so the range on a Takayama menu is wider, which is why the grade printed next to “Hida beef” matters: A5 Hida beef sits at the top of the same national scale.

Where is the best Hida beef in Takayama? It depends on the style. For steak, Kitchen Hida (A5, ¥9,680 for 200 g); for shabu-shabu, Jinya (from ¥12,000, book ahead); for a cheap A5 lunch, Ajikura Tengoku’s weekday sets from ¥2,190; for hoba miso, Suzuya.

How much does Hida beef cost in Takayama? From about ¥2,000 for a lunch set at Ajikura, Maruaki or the Meat Restaurant, to ¥9,680 for an A5 sirloin and ¥12,000 and up for a shabu-shabu course.

Do I need a reservation? For Jinya, yes, always. For Wakachiya’s evenings, yes, through Instagram. Elsewhere, no, but expect a queue at Ajikura at lunch.

Where can I eat Hida beef sukiyaki or yakiniku in Takayama? Sukiyaki and shabu-shabu at Nakabashi Wakachiya by day and Jinya by night; yakiniku at Ajikura Tengoku and Maruaki, both near the station.

Is Hida beef on the menu at a ryokan? Usually, as the main course of the dinner plan. Check the plan’s menu notes when booking through the stay hub, Agoda or Booking.com.

Sources

Checked on 4 November 2026.

• Hida Beef Brand Promotion Council, 飛騨牛銘柄推進協議会 (“１４ヶ月以上肥育された黒毛和種の肉牛である”, “肉質等級５等級・４等級・３等級と格付けされたもの”, “公益社団法人日本食肉格付協会が実施する牛枝肉格付”, “昭和63年、飛騨牛銘柄推進協議会が設立されます”, “昭和56年、のちに”飛騨牛の父“と呼ばれ、ブランドの立役者となる「安福号」が兵庫県より導入され”): hidagyu-gifu.com; the council’s directory of certified restaurants: hidagyu-gifu.com/hidagyu/eat.php
• Takayama City tourism site, Hida Beef (English; “raised in Gifu Prefecture for at least 14 months”, “Yield Score of Grade A or B”, “Firmness and Texture Grade of 5, 4 or 3”, lower grades sold as “Hida Wagyu”, Yasufuku in 1981 and “39,000 offspring in his lifetime”): hida.jp; Local Food (hoba miso: “miso paste, green onions and shiitake mushrooms are placed on a dried magnolia leaf and grilled over a portable stove on the table”, the “Hida Konro”): hida.jp
• Japan Meat Grading Association, 牛枝肉取引規格 (yield grades A, B, C; quality grades 5 to 1 on 脂肪交雑 by B.M.S. No. 1 to 12, 肉の色沢, 肉の締まり及びきめ, 脂肪の色沢と質; “最も低い等級に決定”): jmga.or.jp
• Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association, Classification (“heifer or a steer of Tajima Beef”, “BMS (marbling index) No.6 or higher”, “yield score A or B”, “Gross carcass weight of 499.9 kg or less”): kobe-niku.jp
• Hida Takayama Tourism Association (hidatakayama.or.jp) restaurant listings: キッチン飛騨 (本町1-66, 11:30-15:30 and 17:00-20:30, 水曜日, “サーロインステーキ 飛騨牛A5等級 200g 9,680円”, 53 years, parking 2 + 10): detail_3219; 飛騨牛しゃぶしゃぶ割烹陣屋 (神田町1-12, 17:00-22:00, “12,000円～”, “完全予約制となります”, 昭和39年創業, parking 1, 10 min from the station): detail_5290; 中橋 わかちや (片原町88, “10:30〜19:00 L.O.18:00”, 定休日なし, “夜は予約制”, Instagram, 飛騨牛串 and 飛騨牛握り): detail_5946; 焼肉ハウス 味蔵天国 (花里町4丁目308, 11:00-14:30 and 17:00-21:30, 火曜日, “ランチ1,980円～”, “ディナー5,000円～”, JAひだグループ, ticket machine, “JR高山駅から南へ約150m”, parking 13): detail_3025; 民芸食事 寿々や (花川町24, 11:00-15:00 and 17:00-21:00, 火曜日, 朴葉味噌ステーキ with “ゴマ油、酒、砂糖などを合わせた自家製味噌”, 6 min from the station, parking 5): detail_3105; 味の与平 (上三之町105, 11:00-14:30 and 17:00-20:00, 不定休, “飛騨牛御膳 3,278円より”, inside 舩坂酒造店, partial English and Chinese): detail_3022; 飛騨高山ミートレストラン (上三之町69, 11:00-17:00, 無休, “ランチ1,980円～”, English and Chinese menus): detail_3020
• Gifu Prefecture Tourism Federation listing for キッチン飛騨 (11:30-14:45 and 17:00-19:45, Wednesdays), as shown in its search summary on 4 November 2026; the page itself answered 503 that day: kankou-gifu.jp
• 味蔵天国, official site (hours “11:00～14:30（L.O 14:00）17:00～21:30（L.O 21:00）”, meat counter 11:00-15:00, closed “毎週火曜日、第2・第4水曜日”): ajikura.jp; menu (飛騨牛カルビ定食 2,190円, 飛騨牛赤身定食 2,940円, 飛騨牛３種味比べ定食 4,220円, 飛騨牛３種味比べ＋まぶしセット 5,290円, 飛騨牛厳選人気４種盛り 13,380円, 宴会コース 5,600 to 7,700円 from 4 people, weekday-only lunch sets): ajikura.jp/menu
• 飛騨高山ミート, official site (“上三之町69(旧藤井美術館)”, “【2F レストラン】 11:00～17:00 定休日：年中無休”, “サーロインステーキ￥4,180(税込)～”, “飛騨牛ステーキ重（サラダ・スープ付）￥3,980(税込)～”, “ハンバーグ デミグラスソース￥2,180(税込)～”, “現金、クレジットカード（JCB/VISA/MASTER/Diners/AMEX）”, 54席, TableCheck): hidatakayama-meat.jp
• 飛騨牛の丸明, restaurants (飛騨高山店 “岐阜県高山市天満町6-8”, “11:00～21:00（ラストオーダー 20:30）”, “平日ランチ／ラストオーダー 14:30”, “元日を除き年中無休”, “営業時間は季節によって変わります”): hidagyu-maruaki.co.jp/restaurant; the branch page: restaurant_hidatakayama; its HotPepper listing (budget, “VISA､マスター､アメックス､DINERS､JCB”, iD, “PayPay、d払い、メルペイ”, “高山駅より徒歩5分”): hotpepper.jp; coordinates from NAVITIME’s listing for 株式会社丸明 飛騨高山店 (36.14258, 137.254165): navitime.co.jp
• Coordinates for the other seven restaurants: the tourism association’s detail pages above, as recorded in this site’s content plan on 3 November 2026

Photos

Hero: raw Hida beef yakiniku cuts with vegetables at Ajikura Tengoku, Takayama. Photo: fullfen666, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Body photos credited under each image.