This is my first visit since February this year.
This time I stayed for two nights.
Instead of arranging dishes all at once, you can serve one dish at a time according to the progress of your meal.
It is designed to taste in the best temperature and condition.
Ryokan Yamakawa's cuisine is "Satoyama Kaiseki, a satoyama kaiseki restaurant that makes you taste the season of Aso and Oguni with careful work and beautiful production."
And it is said that the true essence of Itanaga is not simply the use of high-quality ingredients, but the 'power to express nature of Aso and Ogunigo in one dish.'
In addition to the ability to discern the seasonality of ingredients and the carefulness of the grilling, the staff at the Itaba are also able to display a sense of the seasons, and the hospitality typical of an onsen inn and a sense of unity in the cuisine.
The base of Yamakawa’s kaiseki cuisine is the delicate broth that shines through his craftsmanship.
For example, bowls, bean paste, and other seasonings with an elegant flavor of dashi broth will gently relieve the fatigue of travel.
While based on orthodox Japanese cooking techniques, the restaurant also uses dry ice to create a cool atmosphere depending on the season, making it more eye-pleasing.
The menu consists mainly of ingredients from the Ogunigo and Aso regions, such as Aso red beef, horse sashimi, Oguni rice, local vegetables, and mountain fish.
The ornate "sakigen" (appetizer) is a beautiful appetizer platter that makes you cheer, with time and effort put into each dish.
Kanayamaji miso is used for 'horse sashimi with miso'.
"Banshin (tomato) tangerine (lemon) ni" has a good soup stock, and elaborately crafted dishes such as "mozuku" (sea bream water cloud) and "sekge kashiwa (stone geisha) soaking" typical of a mountain inn are lined up little by little, and it is a prologue of Itanaga-musume (steamed meat) in which sake is also served.
The expression of tomatoes with barbarian and moss leaves, water clouds and asparagus with stone gebaku is also a sign of the board’s spirit in front of it.
The steamed dish doesn't have too much "coma tofu" broth on the front, and the aftertaste is beautiful to bring out the aroma and umami of the ingredients.
"Yakimono: Grilled broth with miso and grilled shrimp; grilled broth with miso and broth with broth and freshly fragrant leaves (young leaves of Sansho) are used to create a very seasonal and elegant Japanese dish."
It was plump and juicy because it was grilled with a cedar board and the fresh scent of cedar transferred to the fish, and at the same time it did not hit the open flame.
The simmered dish is 'eel sansho ni eggplant dashi maki tamago,' and the bowl is filled with bean jam stock with condensed umami flavor, and the rich sansho simmered eel sanshou with a sharpness of jitsuzansho (real sansho) is made to suck the umami flavor. The addition of a gentle-tasting dashi-maki tamago perfectly balances the overall flavor.
The balance of thinly sliced myoga is also excellent.
Daimono, 'Kuwayaki Ajisai Beef Chicken Local Vegetables' Ajisai Beef has a light aftertaste with moderate marbling, softness and no persistence.
For dinner the day before, I had "Aso Aka Beef." If you want to enjoy the strength of red meat, I felt it was Aka-gyu, and if you want to casually enjoy the softness of marbling, it was Azai-gyu.
The meal, 'sea bream, cooked rice with buds, red broth, pickled fish' is a very luxurious and tasteful dish that perfectly balances the umami of elegant and deep sea bream with the fresh aroma and bitterness of buds. The texture of the sea bream is soft and melts in your mouth, and the fresh texture of the buds echoes with every bite. This contrast between the textures of “Ji” and “Gyo” made the mouth feel more enjoyable with each bite.
