Where to Eat Champon in Nagasaki, Japan

When I was doing research for this trip, one thing struck me as odd about Nagasaki’s cuisine. It seemed to have so many influences.

For example, Castella Cake, which is one of Nagasaki’s signature food items, is Portuguese in origin. Shippoku, another of its core dining experiences, is a banquet-style meal consisting of Japanese, Chinese, and Western dishes. Go an hour north to Sasebo and you’ll find a Japanese-style hamburger called the Sasebo Burger. But oddest of all was this dish called toruko raisu. It translates to “Turkish rice” and is a bizarre mashup of pilaf rice and spaghetti topped with a pork cutlet drenched in sauce!

A prominent port city throughout much of its history, it seems there were many factors that contributed to Nagasaki’s diverse cuisine. It’s regarded as one of the most unique in Japan and offers plenty of interesting dishes, perhaps none more famous than champon.

Horaiken Bekkan looks like a Chinese palace. A little further…