Ryokan Minshuku Muroya

I was the first customer there, but the food still took a very long time to arrive. The seafood bowl was a shock too, since it had only white fish on it. The rice was soggy vinegared rice and I couldn't eat it. There were hygiene problems as well: a baby cockroach was sitting on the soy sauce container, and a container that seemed to have held soy sauce before was being used for barley tea. If you're worried about germs, I'd definitely avoid this place. I'm writing this so nobody else has to go through it.

The owner was easy to talk to and friendly, which I really liked. I stayed one night with both meals included, and the food was simple and suited my taste. There was plenty of fish, including rockfish sashimi and fried gurnard, and breakfast was filling too. The bath and washroom are a little old, but they were clean and comfortable.

The sazae donburi was much blander than I expected, with a slight thickness but neither much sweetness nor spice. There were fewer turban shells than I thought there'd be, so you could see the white rice through them. I arrived at Muroya in Suzu City around 1:30 pm after riding my motorcycle along the Satoyama Kaido road in 34℃ heat. The signature oyster donburi needed to be reserved the day before, so I went for the sazae instead. Two groups, who seemed to be locals, were ahead of me, and my bowl took over 20 minutes to come. Honestly, I'd rather have the classic turban shells grilled in their shells with a little soy sauce. The oyster bowl probably uses the same seasoning, and the actual dishes looked quite different from the photos in the brochures and posters. It seems all the dishes have recently gone up in price too. For what I paid, it felt poor value, and I left disappointed after expecting more.

It's a relaxed, homey kind of place, run by a grandmother and her son, and the service gives me that feeling of being on a countryside vacation. The dining room has a Showa-era local diner feel, nothing especially fancy (lol). Whenever I'm in Suzu, I stop here for lunch because the seafood bowl made with local fish is delicious. Even the mini bowl has around 10 kinds of fish, and the rock oysters are great in season. Food does come out slowly, so I'd skip it if you're in a hurry.