Mataemu

We took our first family trip in a long time, and my parents, who love fish, were delighted and very satisfied. The meal was so generously prepared with care that we couldn’t finish it all, sorry about that. Thanks for giving us the best memories of the year.

The seafood was very fresh, and that’s the one thing I can praise. The presentation looks impressive in other people’s photos, but the platter is so wide that there isn’t actually much food on it. These days you can get plenty of fresh seafood in Tokyo, so I don’t think a trip all the way here is worthwhile. It’s cheap, I suppose, but it felt very much like you get what you pay for, and I was extremely disappointed. I won’t return. The service was far too sloppy even for a guesthouse. They attended to guests half-heartedly while doing other things, got our reservation date and time wrong, and handled email in a way I wouldn’t expect from someone in hospitality. The children’s dinner was worth less than one star. The rooms are old and the futons thin, and my body ached. Breakfast had nothing special apart from the miso soup made with spiny lobster broth.

The cooking as a whole is at a high level, not just the fish. The pickles, side dishes, tofu, and seasoning at breakfast had delicate flavors on par with high-end Japanese cuisine, in my view. I know some people complain about breakfast, but I think they miss that care. The food was exceptionally good, and this place has stayed in my memory as much as the most expensive lodgings I’ve visited. I first came seven years ago with just my husband. This time we brought our two children, and we’d like to visit again. If you see it as a place to stay focused on affordable seafood for fish lovers, rather than a traditional inn, the lack of hotel or luxury ryokan features may not bother you. That includes the parking lot, the proprietress’s service, especially at morning checkout, cash-only payment for direct bookings, set bath times, the fact it isn’t a hot spring, and the very low ceilings in the second-floor attic-like rooms of the main building. I’ve stayed at several places around Katsuura Onjuku, but this was my first visit back in seven years.

The boat-shaped platter was fantastic and delicious. I came with one adult and one elementary-school-aged child. I’d always gone to Shimoda, but it’s a bit far, so I was glad to find this place and would love to come back for spiny lobster. The guest rooms are upstairs and the stairs are steep. The second floor seemed quiet, with just guest rooms and dining rooms on it, though I saw other people using those stairs to go bathe, so there may be more rooms up there. I think it should be fine for pregnant people, older guests, and people without infants.