Kanko Ryokan Yamatoya

Had a traditional Japanese lunch here and really enjoyed it.

The inn's annex seems to serve as a dining spot by day and a dining room for overnight guests in the evening. I stopped in after hearing lunch was available, and really liked the homey feel, more like my grandparents' house. My seat was in a tatami room just inside the entrance. After taking off my shoes, I sat at a long table alongside other guests, sometimes beside or across from them. It had the feel of a big family gathering on a holiday, which I found charming, lol. The menu makes use of the inn's location on the approach to the shrine in this temple town. Lunch is typical Nara-style Japanese food with local ingredients, seasonal wild vegetables, somen, and nyumen. I heard they make bamboo shoot rice in spring and matsutake rice in fall. Being able to enjoy ingredients sourced locally in each season says a lot about the inn. Since I visited in winter, I had a set meal with flavorful sweet-and-sour trout, warm noodle soup, ancient rice said to be good for keeping warm from a medicinal perspective, and local sesame tofu. It was all delicious and easy on the body, and left me feeling peaceful. It’s a handy lunch stop when visiting the shrine or wandering nearby, and it also felt like a special dining experience.

My wife went for the persimmon leaf sushi and somen set, priced at 1,150 yen, and said the sushi was delicious. I ordered the matsutake mushroom rice set for 1,200 yen, and it had plenty of mushrooms and tasted great. We also tried Miwa Somen nyumen, a local specialty. We had lunch at Tourist Inn Yamatoya on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2025, while visiting Choda-ji Temple. ♪

Shoes aren't allowed inside, and a shoe attendant puts them away when you leave. Meals are served in two Japanese-style rooms with sunken kotatsu tables. The food is mainly nyumen noodles with a delicious broth and sesame tofu.