Sadatasuke Annex ICHIJO

How many times has it been now—another indulgent stay at Kasumi Onsen. Because my wife has a shellfish allergy, we avoid the Matsuba crab season, but during the spring and autumn Kasumi crab seasons we make a special request to have her crab portion replaced with nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch)—we’re truly demanding guests. I enjoy the crab, while my wife is served an unbelievably large nodoguro, perfectly grilled with salt (and I get to taste a bit of it too). Even though we’re asking for two different meals for two people, the staff not only welcome us with warm smiles, but also stop by for a chat when they have time and tell us about caring for their rice fields and plum trees. In short, while we’re here they let us do whatever we like freely—and whenever we need help, they come right away. As long as this hospitality continues, a stay at ICHIJO is guaranteed to be delicious, fun, and delightful. Top-quality ingredients, wonderful料理料理?

At first, the parking area felt a bit scary. There are wheel stops, but if you come in with too much speed, it feels like you could end up in the river.There were three private baths, all a good size. If they were available, we could use them as much as we wanted, and one of the private baths even had a sauna. Amenities are the type you take what you need to your Room, and there was a wide variety. After bathing, they also had ice cream and black soybean tea available. Since it’s all-inclusive, drinks were set out on both the 1st and 2nd floors, which was convenient. On the 2nd floor where the Rooms are, there were two massage chairs that we could use freely.Dinner was a white squid course; it wasn’t live squid so it wasn’t at its sweetest, but there was still sweetness—and for two people it was more than enough quantity (half might have been plenty). We came for nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch), and we assumed one fish for two people, so we were surprised that each person got one. It was delicious.The Room was very clean, and the whole Ryokan smelled wonderful. Even though winter is crab season—and I expected everything to smell like crab—it felt very refined with a pleasant woody scent instead. There are no windows so don’t expect any views; however, the space with the sofa (with TV), bed, and washbasin area is very comfortable. The downside is that you can’t tell what the weather is like outside. But if you’re looking to enjoy an escape focused on eating and relaxing indoors, that may not be a bad thing.Breakfast was excellent across the board—the rice cooked in an earthenware pot was great, and so was the mirin-dried horse mackerel.On our way out we also tried grinding coffee with a stone mill for ourselves for once again enjoyed truly good coffee after a long time.