“Thank you for the meal. See you tomorrow!” That’s what I heard a young woman say as she left the restaurant. “And on Fridays we say ‘see you on Monday!’,” said a gentleman seated inside. This is Izakaya Yorimichi, a small restaurant run by a mother and child. Here customers can order the daily special, a lunch plate with a variety of small side dishes for the price of 500 yen. “It’s a little bit out of the way, but we have a lot of customer who come here everyday.”

The various sounds that fill this small restaurant — the sound of chicken frying, plates being stacked, tea being poured into cups — each sound makes you hungrier. I arrived at lunch time, and found several regular customers sitting at the counter chatting happily with the owner while enjoying their food. In the back of the restaurant is a small living room style room where families can sit and eat together. “The low table in that room was made from the gingko tree that grew in our backyard. This counter was too,” said the owner. Perhaps that’s why it feels like you’ve entered someone’s home when you come here.

The daily special on the day I was there was Chicken Nanban with seven side dishes and miso soup. When I went to pour some soy sauce on the tofu, I noticed there were two types on the table – regular soy sauce and Cattleya soy sauce produced in Beppu. I decided to give the Cattleya soy sauce a try. Compared to regular soy sauce, it had a strong sweetness and a delicious aftertaste.

“I bought some new chopsticks for the restaurant,” said the owner to a regular seated nearby. Many of the regulars here come every day, so the owner has a special pair of chopsticks that she keeps for each of her most valued customers. Everyone who comes here loves the home cooked taste of Izakaya Yorimichi. Who knows, I might be back tomorrow.