In shortUsuki tora-fugu in a 1905 ryotei with a garden — the house that made Usuki a fugu town. Reservations run in Japanese and are hard to place from abroad, so our Tokyo desk requests the table for you, by phone and in Japanese.
Price
Fugu courses ¥14,520–19,360, lunch-only mini course ¥11,495, kaiseki from ¥9,680 — all tax and 10% service included
Hours
Lunch 11:30–15:00 (last order 13:30); dinner 17:00–21:30 (last order 19:30), Sundays and holidays to 21:00
Closed
Tuesdays
Seats
Around 100–120 across four private rooms and a 64-tatami hall for up to 70
Payment
Cards accepted; 10% service charge; cancellation 50% the day before, 100% on the day
Getting there
JR Usuki, 6 minutes on foot; about an hour from Oita by train
Party size
No solo diners
Dress code
No dress code
Usuki is a small castle town on the Bungo Channel, the strait
between Kyushu and Shikoku where the tiger fugu run, and Yamadaya is
the house that turned that fish into the town’s name. The founders,
Asakichi and Tora Yamada, opened in 1905 in the old fishmongers’
quarter the locals called uontana; the second generation, in the
early Showa years, rebuilt the business around fugu, and the third
generation runs it today. The family later carried Usuki fugu to
Oita city and to Marunouchi in Tokyo, and Tabelog reviewers who have
eaten at both are blunt that the honten is the one that matters —
the house has held a Tabelog Award Bronze every year from 2020 to
2026. The Usuki original sits behind a garden the staff built by hand
in the 1930s, six minutes’ walk from the station.
What you eat
Tora‑fugu from the Bungo Channel, served year‑round rather than only
in winter. The fugu courses run from six dishes at ¥14,520 to eight
at ¥19,360 — starter, sashimi, karaage, fugu sushi, fugu hot pot,
rice porridge, dessert — with grilled shirako (milt) on the top
course only from December to March. A lunch‑only mini course is
¥11,495, and from May to October a fugu set lunch at ¥5,445 is
limited to twenty servings a day and must be booked by the previous
day. From July to September the hot pot gives way to a dish of the
chef’s choosing. Kaiseki without fugu starts at ¥9,680. Every price
includes tax and the 10% service charge, which is rarer than it
should be.
The booking reality
There is no release day. The house takes reservations by telephone
in Japanese, and Ikyu sells plans for the Usuki honten online for
those who prefer a screen. With four private rooms and a great hall,
a normal travel‑planning window is usually enough; reviewers describe
calling the evening before or a week ahead. Winter weekends, when the
shirako is on and Kyushu comes to eat fugu, are the exception and
deserve a few weeks’ notice. Our desk calls the house in Japanese and
settles the course, the room and the timing in one conversation.
Two things to plan around. Every course is for two guests or more
— the house does not publish a policy for a single diner paying for
two, so we ask on your behalf rather than assume. And the
cancellation terms are firm: 50% of the food the day before, 100% on
the day. Children are welcome and there is a children’s menu.
Travelers routing through Oita — Beppu, Yufuin, the stone Buddhas of
Usuki itself — who want fugu at its source rather than a Tokyo
outpost, and anyone who has read that fugu is a winter dish and would
like to be corrected in September.
The house's cancellation charge
From 00:00 JST, 1 day before50%
Same day, with notice100%
Same day, no notice (no-show)100%
Charged by the house, not by us. A plan's own policy takes precedence.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Ryotei Yamadaya Usuki Honten: common questions
Can you book Ryotei Yamadaya Usuki Honten from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone in Japanese, or an Ikyu plan online; no release day, two guests minimum. We call the restaurant for you, in Japanese, and the ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table — no seat, no fee.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
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Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
