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Make a reservation first!

4 Posted on 10 / 20 / 2012

As the other reviewer stated before me, this place is a little tricky to find. I plugged the address into my GPS and it took an extra 30 minutes or so of searching to find it. I found the directions on the website afterwards and they're pretty straight forward if you can read Japanese.

More importantly, call ahead and make a reservation a day in advance! They're only open for lunch from 11-2 and only prepare enough for customers with reservations (limited to 10). I didn't know this before I stopped by last week, so I left empty handed and with an empty stomach. It is clearly stated on the Hiru Neko Cafe website and Facebook page, but I didn't do my research properly. I just found this place via the VegOut app on my phone.

I should mention that the woman I spoke to was very friendly and apologetic about not being able to serve me. I definitely plan on stopping by next week sometime.

Pros: Friendly staff
Cons: Out of the way, Reservations required

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great food

4 Posted on 10 / 05 / 2012

Very out of the way and truly hard to find unless you know where to look or can read the description of how to find it on the restaurant's website in Japanese. It's in an industrial-looking neighborhood about a half hour walk away from downtown Oita within the gates of a huge courtyard facility that appears to be a warehousing, commercial trading or shipping center. Find it among the shops hidden in a series of buildings along one side of the facility. You should ask someone in the facility for directions.

The food is great and the staff are very friendly. Set meal changes on a daily basis. Serves brown rice and some raw food items. Funky south-east-Asian-influenced atmosphere. Very pleasant. A little English spoken.

A bus line coming from Oita train station stops close enough to the restaurant to cut the walk from downtown to 10 minutes or less.

Pros: great food, nice atmosphere, friendly staff
Cons: very hard to find, very out of the way, lunch only