Yoichi LOOP

We stayed midweek as a couple in July for two nights, and ate at the restaurant one evening. Definitely recommend dining there. The kitchen team and service staff were first rate, and the manager and sommelier, Takashi Kuratomi, was welcoming, multilingual, and very professional. He and some of the staff speak fluent English. There were 14 covers the night we ate there, and the restaurant had a nice atmosphere. Everything on the menu was locally sourced, and they adjusted the dishes so my partner could choose alternatives to fish. (See picture.) The wines were all from Hokkaido, with an amazing selection of high-quality sparkling, white, red, and dessert wines. (See picture of our wine picks.) It's a destination restaurant and belongs on everyone's travel list. David W, July 2025

The room was spacious and had an open kitchen, and the wine and dinner were what we enjoyed most. We stayed at Loop for two nights and had a wonderful time. Kuratomi San, the service manager, helped us choose wine and told us about the history and story of wine production in Yoichi. It's not traditional-style wine, but each wine maker in Yoichi has their own style. The food was good, and I really loved the Hokkaido seafood. A big thank you to everyone at the Hotel for making our stay so comfortable. At check-in, a lady on staff tried to help carry our luggage up to the 3/F. I regret not asking her name. There is no elevator, so it's better not to bring large luggage. She also gave us very good dinner recommendations. I hope to see you all next summer 🙏🏻

We came to this hotel in October 2024 hoping to try wine from Yoichi, encouraged by the positive reviews of the produce. We booked through the hotel's website. The room cost 500 Euro and included dinner for two and wine pairing, with 40 ml per glass. Breakfast wasn't available, so we went in with high expectations. Coming from Europe, we may be too used to Mediterranean-inspired food like the chef aims to make, and to good wines, especially from France and Germany. We expected a similar level, perhaps with a Japanese twist. The nine-course dinner came with nine local wines. The food was just average and generally underseasoned, and some dishes had gone cold by the time they arrived. It was okay, but neither innovative nor memorable. The wines were the bigger problem. Several seemed undrinkable because of obvious flaws. The Takahiko we were looking forward to was Yoichi-Nobori Aihara Passetoutgrain, not the Pinot Noir, and made a strange foam in the glass, as if fermentation had continued in the bottle. Other wines tasted oxidized, leaving us with four glasses untouched. The oddest was an orange Pét-Nat attempt paired with squid paella. None of the wines had much length or elegance. The sommelier did his best to accommodate us. For example, he offered a much better Pinot Noir in place of an undrinkable Merlot blanc de noir, but couldn't rescue the evening. Taste is subjective and hard to judge objectively, but black mold in the bathroom and dust balls in front of the bed are clear mistakes for any hotel, especially in Japan with its hygiene standards. We're surprised by the many good reviews. Expectations, wine knowledge, and taste may vary across cultures. Unfortunately, we can't recommend this hotel or restaurant to food or wine lovers, especially at this price.

The hotel and town of Yoichi were both a delight, and Loop will be my first choice when I return. The good points outweighed the problems, and I'm confident the hotel will make suitable improvements. The location is handy, right next to JR even though we drove, and directly across from the Nikki distillery tour entrance. There are also a decent coffee shop, seafood market, bistro, and other places within walking distance. The meals were delicious: breakfast was Saba ramen, unique and full of umami, and the lunch tasting menu with Yoichi wine pairing was excellent. It's one of the few restaurants serving the legendary Takahiko, and the restaurant is tastefully decorated. Our studio twin had plenty of room for our family of three and our full-size luggage. There is no lift, which isn't unusual in Japan, and women may find it hard to haul full-size bags up to the 3/F. The staff were very keen to help. I suspect room cleaning is outsourced. Although checkout was at 12 pm, cleaners were already working when we returned at 11:30 am after our Nikki tour. They put our loose items in a rubbish bag and set it outside our room along with our bags. We told the front desk, and the staff apologized.