Joyfull

Joyfull is a family restaurant/cafe in the Nakagami district (close to Camp Foster). It’s big, bright and very welcoming. Staff are friendly, though do be prepared for a bit of a language barrier. They have several menus, all of which are in Japanese, but there’s a picture of the food so you can always do the “point and smile” if your Japanese is below par. I was lucky enough to dine with locals, and they pointed out the fabulous “all you can drink” offer. The drinks selection is insane. Lots of different sodas, hot drinks and teas (iced or hot). You certainly won’t go thirsty.

Now let’s get down to the good stuff. The food. As I already said, several menus. So big selection. It’s a good mix of Japanese and American. They have traditional ramen, as well as steaks, hamburgers and pasta dishes. I went with breaded chicken on a bed of rice and cabbage, which came with an egg (nice touch, lots of flavour), pickles and a side of miso soup (also french fries; I was pretty hungry!). Portion sizes are very generous, so if you walk out hungry I’ll be surprised! On a subsequent visit, I tried a dish consisting of rice, cheese, curry sauce, potatoes and asparagus, again topped with an egg. It was delicious, and tasted like gnocchi but with rice instead of pasta. Value is pretty good too; I paid just over 1,000 yen for my meal (that includes the all you can drink option).

Let me briefly mention drinks. They have all the generic sodas and a good selection of hot teas and coffees, but can I be bold and suggest you try the Uji Matcha? It’s a green tea latte drink, taken hot or cold (cold is amazing!) and it’s just so good! It’s refreshing, a little sweet but not overly, and, at least for me, slightly addicting.

Take the kids, take the better half, take your friends or business associates! Or be greedy and just take yourself! Either way I don’t think you can go wrong with this one.