Yukimoto – Iida Nagano, Japan

Decided to return to Yukimoto (Tabelog Gold, 4.59) for the start of matsutake mushroom season and this was just as good if not better than my last meal here in summer.

There were different types of matsutake mushroom served, along with other types of mushroom like maitake, kurokawa, etc. There were heaps of different preparations, and all of them hit the spot in different ways.

Also got the bear and matsutake sukiyaki which was really amazing despite it not being prime season for game meat (typically in winter). I think you have to ask to get this additional dish which is what we did.

Service from the okami and head chef were great, not stiff at all and they tried to chat with us using translation apps. They were very friendly and warm, which made our experience all the more better.

It’s quite hard to pick the standout dishes when everything was so good but I would have to say the
sukiyaki, grilled mushroom and oyaki were my favourites.

Full course was:
Shungiku (tong ho) vegetable with rice

Hassun
Iguchi mushroom
Maitake mushroom with sweet vinegar
Kurokawa mushroom with soy sauce and radish
Chestnut
Ayu
Tofu Matsutake salad
Baby matsutake mushroom
Akebi (chocolate vine) fried skin and jus

1-year dry aged matsutake mushroom Soup with fresh matsutake

Catfish sashimi with sake jelly, shiso, pickled mushrooms

Grilled matsutake mushrooms (each had a different nuance in taste)

Oyaki with matsutake and bechamel sauce

Walnut tofu

Gitaro chicken with yamadoritake mushroom and date

Suppon (turtle) with mountain mushrooms (tamagodake, sukita and more)

Koutake mushroom with Japanese mustard dashi

Fried matsutake

Matsutake mushroom rice with fresh gingko

Bear meat and matsutake mushroom sukiyaki

Koutake mushroom ramen with koutake oil and soft boiled quail egg

Chestnut mont blanc with milk ice cream, hazelnuts local, hojicha jelly

This place is one of my favourite places to eat at in all of Japan and would highly recommend people to try if they make the trek down towards the general area (or even to make the trip specially for this). It’s my second time dining here and they continue to amaze me…

Recently also had a matsutake course at Suetomi which was also very good (one of the best in Tokyo) but I think Yukimoto takes another step up and I would come here every time if it wasn’t so far.