Turn down the sodium level please

Area: About a 3-min. walk from the east side of Nagoya station (Meitetsu train exit).  On the same street as the spiral tower.
Restaurant: For You Grill and Cafe
Map and info: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000748057/

A casual but modernly furnished cafe, it seems pretty popular at lunchtime.  For the daily lunch, you can choose from the daily special omelette rice, pasta, grilled item or curry.  I chose the simmered chicken in a rosemary tomato sauce (900円).  The thick sauce had lots of little chunks of tomato and other veggies in it, making it easy to coat and eat with the chicken.  The one complaint I have is one that I have of a lot of food in Japan; it was a bit too salty.  I now know why the Japanese like rice so much.  The saltiness of the main dish makes you crave something plain to accompany it.  I did however, enjoy the rosemary seasoning that matched well in the sauce.

This cafe seems to also specialize in omu-raisu (seasoned rice covered in an omlette).  They offer flavours other than the usual ketchup. Cream sauce omu-raisu, for example, in addition to a variety of toppings to choose from, you can build your own dish.

This ramen is different...in a good or bad way, you choose!

Area: Winc Aichi　ウインクあいち building, basement level (Around exit 7 of Unimall, attached to Crosscourt towers)
Restaurant: Roku-San-Roku　六三六
Map and info:  http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23033417/

This is ramen shop serves a dish slightly different than the regular ramen.  Normally ramen is made with a pork-based soup, but this shop's soup is fish-based, making the broth have a lighter feel to it.  Since it was a hot day today, I went with the rei-men (cold noodle soup, 780円).  Cold noodles and fish broth makes a refreshing combination.  I only wish there were more slices of cha-sui (grilled pork) on top since the flavour and cut of meat used is perfect for this ramen.  I'm sure there's a way to buy extra slices on the ticket vending machine.

If you're in love with pork broth ramen, you may find the ramen here has a little less punch, but if you're looking for something different or lighter, this is a good option.

I keep coming back here!

Area: About 200m on the east side of JR Nagoya Station (or exit 7 of Unimall)
Restaurant: Kirin City キリンシティ
Map and Info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23000231/

You've probably already guessed by the name, but this restaurant is centred around beer.  It has a western bar feel with both Japanese and western flavours.  I particularly like the sweet lamb saute (880円).  Anytime I feel like eating lamb, I come here since at that price, it's a great deal.  I love lamb, but since coming to Japan, I even find it difficult to find it in the grocery stores (and even then, it's quite expensive just for 3 small chops).  Kirin City's lamb dish is juicy and the thickly cut pieces are the perfect size for tasting the slight gaminess that I like about lamb.  Although the sauce is a teriyaki-like Japanese flavour, it goes well with the meat.  It's a small point, but the baguette is also delicious.  It's got a crunchy outer shell with a soft, but doughy centre (this hard outer layer is something also difficult to find in Japan as well).

Other interesting menu items include red wine hayashi (beef stew), and black beer curry.  You can actually taste the beer in the curry!  Also, I haven't tried it yet, but they seem to have a variety of sausages to choose from (and they look like actual sausages, not the so-called sausages that are actually wieners).

Buttery Croissant will make me come back

Area: 400m east of Nagoya Station (Hirokoji-dori)
Restaurant: Hare Cafe
Website and Map: http://hitosara.com/0006017610/map.html

The first thing I noticed when I walked into this cafe is that all of it's clientele were women, but that should give you an idea of the air of the place.  The decor, along with the wooden walls and furniture makes for a perfect place to chat with, and have lunch with a girlfriend.

The udon lunch (880 yen) included a cold tomato and shiso Japanese-flavoured udon (perfect for a hot summer day), a huge salad, and a house-made croissant.  The salad could have used a bit more dressing, but I was pleased with the volume of it. Next time, I'd be interested in trying their carbonara udon, or a more western flavoured udon.

The best part of the lunch was the croissant.  You know it's homemade when you get a whiff of the fresh-out-of-the-oven buttery bun.  The outside is crispy, but the inside is a nice chewy texture.  I could definitely eat more than one!

Nagoya, please take this off your list of local specialties

Area: Meichika メイチカ　(underground shopping area on the Takashimaya side of JR Nagoya station, between Unimall and Termina)
Restaurant: Belle Herald ベルヘラルド
Map and Info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23005237/

For those of you that know the Chateau Blanc cafe, this seems to be the same company, but a more run down older version of it.  What made me want to try it are the signs out front advertising their Nagoya specialty, Naporitan pasuta (pasta).  It's basically a tomato based sauce spaghetti on top of a thin layer of egg on a hot plate (780円).  I wish Nagoya wouldn't call this their specialty because there's really nothing special about it.  The only thing I enjoyed was the egg portion; it becomes browned and slightly burned on the one side, and soaks up the juices of the sauce making a surprising pleasant match.

So-called cafe closes early, beware!

Area: Exit 12 of Unimall.  Walk about 2-3 mins north of this exit.  

Restaurant: One Cafe ワンカフェ

Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23040436/

Lunch comes with a salad, soup, main, and drink (880円).  I had the ground chicken and basil saute.  The basil flavour was strong, but not too overpowering, which is why the egg went well with it.  However, the dish was salted way too much.  A little less salty, and the flavour would be perfect.  The soup was definitely a miss; the cream and the squash separated, and I felt like I was drinking milk.  

Despite being a cafe, they close at 2:30 and lunch last order is at 2pm, so if you want to take your time, be sure to get there early.  It does have a bright and modern cafe feel, so you'll want to take it easy and relax here.  

Bistro feel in the middle of nowhere!

Area: 7 min walk from the Bic Camera side of JR Nagoya Station

Restaurant:  Starfish Cafe スターフィッシュ　カフェ

Map and info: http://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230101/23031647/

It opens at 2pm as a cafe, and stays open late as a bar.  It has a bistro feel with a full bar and counter.  Table seating is available as well.  During cafe time you can order a crepe (1200円） or parfait/smoothie (600円）.  When I ordered the seasonal fruit crepe, I was offered a choice of liqueur to go with it, meant to be poured over the crepe and ice cream.  The apricot flavoured one went really well with the dish.

It would be a nice place to have a drink and share some plates with a friend during bar time, so I think I'll have to come back to try that.