Yesterday, July 9, Shachomi from Nishi2 went to the “Ara Ebisu Night Festival Ebisu Beer Festa” held at Nishinomiya Shrine. If you’re going today, 7/10, use this as a reference.
It’s a rare festival where tons of local Nishinomiya shops set up stalls, so I’ll introduce almost all of them.
Around 5:15 p.m. This was the scene in front of the Red Gate. Some kids came in yukata too.
Venue map ↓
Numbers 11 to 19 are in the pine grove area.
Just inside the Red Gate. It had only just started, but it was already packed with people. The ground was wet after the rain.
Right after entering, Taniya Seian, known for Ebisu kintsuba sweets, was selling shaved ice.
Apparently the shaved ice machine broke down partway through. But they were selling summer-festival-only strawberry kintsuba chilled on ice. Definitely check them out!
This is Bomaye from Imazu. The curry smelled incredibly good. I never thought we’d get to eat it at Nishinomiya Shrine too!
“Chichukai Shokudo Time” also had a booth. Look at this line.
The paella here smelled absolutely irresistible too.
“Tachinomi Nihonshu Bar Matsuri.” They were selling all kinds of things.
Menu ↓
They had plenty of items that would go great with beer, like fried chicken and edamame. I think this may have been the only place selling yakisoba.
“TORIKARA STAND” from along Route 171 was here too!
First, I’d want to try the mild chicken karaage, then the spice curry too! If you like spicy food, go for the chili pepper.
Of course, cotton candy was alive and well! It was huge.
There were also the familiar summer festival stalls lined up around the South Gate.
The candy apple stall owner seemed really fun.
They also had grape candy and strawberry candy.
Oh. Ebessan is being protected from the rain.
This spot.
Right after entering from the South Gate ↓
Here you’ll find the shrine that gives this festival its name: “Ara Ebisu Shrine.”
When you pay a visit…
You can get a stamp rally card. Collect three stamps and even if you don’t win, you may get a discount coupon, or sometimes even a free beer ticket!
Still, look at this crowd. It’s been the first time since 2019.
This line of junior high and high school students.
It’s that shop everyone from Nishinomiya knows. Can you guess?
That’s right! It’s Sanpoya, Nishinomiya’s iconic baby castella shop!
When you think of festivals, you think of baby castella, right? I broke my collarbone and want to get more calcium, so I’m really happy about this.
JA Kinan had umeboshi and processed plum products.
What is this that both kids and adults were watching so intently?
It was monkey performance. So smart.
There was also super ball scooping,
and goldfish scooping.
Smart Ball was really lively too.
At “Shanghai Ryori Chinsankaku” in Toda-cho, they had lots of chimaki, black sesame dumplings, spring rolls, and more.
From “Kushizen” near Hanshin Nishinomiya Station, there was a five-skewer set of deep-fried skewers.
At “Yakiniku Kacchan,” familiar from in front of Ebessan, they had festival must-haves like shake-shake fries, edamame, and seared pig’s feet.
This is called beef fuwa karaage. It’s beef lung. It has a soft, fluffy, chewy texture.
At “Izakaya Kasuga” in Toda-cho, they were also serving tonkotsu ramen from their affiliated shop “Chukasoba Botan.”
They also had fried chicken thigh, chicken cartilage, and shredded squid tempura. I think the best deal is the three-fried-item assortment.
So,
Today’s main dish? Main drink?
