Craft Circus Awaji, the popular cafe overlooking the Seto Inland Sea underwent a major upgrade in July 2022.
The facility on the north-west coast of Awaji Island now boasts two mouth-watering restaurants, a local produce market, global goods shop and dog friendly area. All this along with a gorgeous front garden, stunning views of the inland sea and plenty of Insta photo spots. As a bonus, at dusk on a clear day you can see spectacular sunsets.
The Restaurants
Craft Circus has a large open floor plan with two top decks. When you enter, you can basically sit anywhere so help yourself to a table. On the weekend be prepared for the front tables near the water to fill up quickly. If you have a dog, head to the south side where you can enjoy your lunch on the dog-friendly terrace.
The Seafood Market Restaurant or Kaiou Ichiba 海王市場 serves a variety of fresh seafood dishes including sushi, sushi rolls and seafood donburi. It specialises in seafood BBQ sets which start at ¥4800 and serves between 2-3 people. There are fish tanks around the main chefs area where you can watch them catch and prepare your meal.
Make sure you are sitting at a table with a BBQ grill in the middle if you order the barbecue set. Likewise, if you are not ordering a barbecue set, keep these tables free.
Craft Kitchen クラフトキッチン is home to the large 40cm “Island Pizza” range, the Awaji Beef Mega Burger and a seafood paella which is prefect to share. There are also a handful of sides and desserts. I had the Awaji onion teriyaki chicken pizza when I was there and it was delicious. It had a fresh slightly zingy taste which seemed to go perfectly with the atmosphere and view.
Craft Kitchen offers more casual dishes which are a bit more reasonably priced than Kaiou Ichiba but, the good thing is, as it is a self service system, you can order from both restaurants. You have to pay separately at each place and you’ll get a buzzer to tell you when your food is ready to pick up. This can be a little troublesome especially if you have kids to take care of.
Lunch times on weekends and public holidays can get busy, especially on fine days.
The Shops
There are two shops at Craft Circus. Craft Marche sells fresh local produce and food items from Awaji Island and Hyogo Prefecture. There is a baked good stall and gelato corner. A perfect place to buy a little bit of Awaji to take home with you.
Global Market has a range of goods and clothing, mostly beach themed, from around the world. You can pick up some interior goods or handmade Awaji items as souvenirs.
Access
Craft Circus is located on the northwest side of Awaji Island, just across from Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. There is free car parking for about 50 cars and you can also use the nearby Hello Kitty Show Box parking.
Buses to Awaji run from Shin Kobe, Sannommiya, Namba and a couple of other spots. Get off at Awaji Interchange and catch the free shuttle bus.
Another alternative is catching the ferry from Akashi to Iwaya Port. Again, a free shuttle bus will pick you up at Iwaya and take you to Craft Circus Awaji. Timing a crowds can be an issue with the shuttle bus so give yourself plenty of time to make it here.
Final Word
The recent renewal has provided a well needed facelift for Craft Circus. If you have been to Craft Circus in the past, it is well worth another visit again to enjoy the refreshed menu, more picturesque garden space, insta-worthy photo spots and overall a better dining and shopping experience.
More information can be found at the official Craft Circus Awaji website (Japanese).