鰻重梅ランチ2500円 : Yuusuge

In this day and age, you can't find domestic eel at this price.
This restaurant uses eels from Shizuoka, and even though it's half a portion, this set with eel rice bowl and soba noodles is a great deal.

While waiting for my meal, I admired the river fish and eels swimming in the aquarium in the restaurant.

Soon, the set arrived on a tray: eel rice bowl, soba, seaweed salad, and pickles.

The eel is carefully grilled without any burnt spots, and the sauce is just right—not too sweet.

The soba is made from buckwheat harvested from the restaurant's own fields, freshly milled, and handmade.

I started with the soba; it was served ice-cold with a perfect texture and mouthfeel.

I think this set is an incredible value.

On the day I was discharged, I specifically aimed for lunchtime.
I thought a lot about what to eat, but due to various reasons, I decided on unagi (grilled eel).

While waiting for the unagi, of course, I had a drink. It had been a month since my last drink, and I could feel the effects quickly.

I chose the Take unagi for JPY 3100. The Matsunagi, which includes the tail half, was JPY 2600. A delicious liver soup, rich with umami, also came with it.

It arrived in about 15 minutes. The grilling was well done with minimal char, just the right touch. The sauce had a bit of a kick, and the rice was slightly firm, cooked to my liking.

I made sure to leave half the rice, and it was a great meal.
It was delicious.

I hosted an old friend from Tokyo with the fresh river fish of Shinshu, such as iwana, ayu, and haya.

This restaurant is always busy, so I made a reservation and arrived at 6 PM. We started with a toast to our old friendship and shared some nostalgic stories.
In fact, we've met more often overseas than in Japan, so it brought back fond memories.

The restaurant's specialty river fish dishes seemed to align perfectly with their tastes, and they were thrilled.

The service was outstanding, allowing us to enjoy a delightful time together.

Nothing beats this in summer! I excitedly headed to the restaurant.
I had a bad feeling when I saw the crowded parking lot, but once inside, it was surprisingly empty.

As water was served, I ordered without hesitation.
There were other attractive lunch options, but I stuck to my original choice.

It arrived in about 10 minutes, looking refreshing. I couldn’t help but take a photo first. The dish was almost entirely topped with sudachi, garnished with green onions and grated daikon in the center.

I usually don’t eat much soba in summer as its flavor tends to decline, but this was different. The acidity of the sudachi melded beautifully with the dipping sauce, creating an exquisite ponzu-like flavor that paired perfectly with the soba.

The tedious part was squeezing each thin slice of sudachi with my chopsticks to capture every drop of juice, which turned out to be quite a workout!

The soba here is made from buckwheat harvested from their own farm, ground in-house, and hand-crafted, providing an exceptional texture and smoothness.

It was so delicious that I indulged by drinking all the dipping sauce—definitely a guilty pleasure!

The meal includes rice, demi-katsu, three side dishes, and pickles, along with cold soba noodles.

Starting with the soba, the dipping sauce is incredibly chilled, and the noodles are handmade from buckwheat grown on the restaurant's own farm, so they are simply delicious.

The demi-katsu has a slightly sweet sauce, and the meat is thinly sliced and tender. I alternate between bites of demi-katsu and the three side dishes.

As always, the cost-performance is outstanding.

Today's special lunch includes a set meal of fried oysters and either cold or hot soba for JPY 900.

I entered before noon, but 80% of the seats were already filled, and shortly after I arrived, the place was completely packed.

As soon as I sat down, I ordered the special lunch. Given how busy it was, I braced myself for a wait.

After about 10 minutes, the meal arrived. It featured four plump fried oysters with tartar sauce and plenty of vegetables. Alongside, there were small bowls of simmered lotus root and springy vermicelli salad, pickles, and for dessert, coffee jelly.

I opted for the cold dipping sauce with my soba. This restaurant uses soba buckwheat grown in their own field, which they mill and make fresh noodles from, so the quality is authentic.

The soba had a wonderful texture and a hint of sweetness, making it excellent.

The fried oysters were crispy on the outside and tender inside, and they were absolutely delicious. I felt truly satisfied.

In winter, there's nothing like the rich flavor of grilled eel, so I visited the restaurant with a hearty appetite.

I ordered the grilled eel (shirayaki), grilled eel liver, and eel rice (matsu), along with some mushroom and grated daikon with kimchi tofu while I waited.
Of course, I also had two servings of warm sake.

We shared one whole eel for the grilled eel and I devoured a full eel rice dish by myself.

The sauce wasn’t too sweet, there were no burnt spots, and it was free from any unpleasant odor—everything was delicious. I have no regrets! (laughs)

This restaurant is located at the edge of R18, roughly midway between Nakakaruizawa Station and Shinano-Oiwake Station, specializing in river fish and hand-made soba.

I had known about this place for a while but somehow passed by it over a hundred times without entering. Today, while wandering around looking for lunch, I noticed this restaurant and decided to visit.

Outside, there are signs for river fish, eel, and hand-made soba. Upon entering, I found a tank on the left side with Iwana (sweetfish) swimming inside. The walls are decorated with many menu tags, giving it a lively impression.

The menu features eel and a variety of soba, followed by river fish dishes. Since eel and river fish might take some time, I opted for the Oroshi Soba (grated daikon soba) for JPY 850.

The interior has tatami seating and table seats, and there was only one other customer, creating a peaceful atmosphere. The sound of bubbling water from the tank supplying oxygen was audible.

Within five minutes, the Oroshi Soba arrived. The soba was thinly sliced and had a nice texture, reminiscent of a two-eight blend. The separately served grated daikon was surprisingly spicy, almost like the wasabi variety. The condiments included hon-wasabi and green onions.

As usual, I dipped a bit of wasabi and slurped the soba straight, enjoying its delightful aroma and sweetness. It was well chilled, offering great chewiness and smoothness.

Next, I tried dipping it in the soba tsuyu (broth) with grated daikon added. The tsuyu wasn't as sweet as I thought, but it was nicely chilled, enhanced by the spiciness of the daikon, and I imagined how refreshing it would be to eat on a hot summer day.

The soba-yu (noodle water) was also delicious, and when I sprinkled the sansho (Japanese pepper) available on the table for the eel, it provided a different yet pleasant flavor.

This place seems like it would also be great for enjoying some Japanese sake with river fish dishes at night.