Izu Shoin

Izu Shoin sits near Shimoda Port in central Shimoda and presents the town's seafood through a kaiseki format, a multi-course structure more associated with formal Japanese dining than the casual seafood diners found around the port. The seasonal seafood kaiseki course changes with what the port lands, but kinmedai sashimi appears regularly as one of its centerpiece courses, and the tatami-room seafood tasting menu extends the format into a full sit-down experience served in traditional low-seating rooms. The dining room is composed and quiet, with tatami flooring, low tables, and shoji-style partitions creating private or semi-private dining spaces, a marked contrast to the port's more casual seafood diners; smart-casual to formal dress suits the setting. The drink program includes regional sake selected to accompany the kaiseki courses rather than a Western wine list. Given its fine-dining price range and course-based format, reservations are recommended, ideally made a few days ahead, since the tatami rooms limit the restaurant's total seating.