Hida Beef Yakiniku at Ajikura, Takayama

This restaurant is very easy to find. The location is very closed to JR takayama station. It's on the left hand side of Washington Takayama Hotel. The same direction to Daily supermarket. The restaurant will be on your right hand side after you walked pass the gas station named "Dr.Drive". It's very easy to find. Just remember the picture of the front door. You are not going to miss it.

For our drink tonight, we want to get plum wine but we got red wine instead. It's a little bit difficult for us to communicate with the waitress. Most of them do not speak English. Luckily, they have English menu.

Takayama is famous for Hida beef. IMHO, the quality of the Hida beef is comparable to Kobe beef. The one I recommend tonight would be "Super Premium Hida-Gyu beef rib Korean BBQ style".

We ordered both the super premium and the premium grade. IMHO, they don't make a big different but since we are travelling this far, we will definitely order the best one that they have on the menu.

Like any yakiniku place, they will provide several kinds of sauce on your table including lemonade and gochujang (a type of korean hot chilli sauce). The customer will mix the sauce themselves so they can adjust to the taste they like most. Some people may prefer to eat the beef with a little bit of salt. That's all.

Don't forget to order the side dishes. There are several side dishes on the menu but we love mixed vegetables korean style (Namul). Don't remember the name of this dish at the restaurant. The taste is just right.

You can also order an extra plate of raw vegetables to grill with the beef if the one that come with it are not enough. There are other items on the menu that look really good but we didn't get a chance to try it. Since our main interest tonight are only Hida-Gyu beef rib and beef sirloin.

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Restaurant Name: Ajikura
Location: Takayama
Price: 4,000 Yen/Person
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A ryokan experience in Takayama: Hanaougi-bettei Iiyama

We stayed at this place on our fourth night in Takayama. This onsen place can be reached in 5 minutes by car. They provides a free shuttle bus service in front of the JR Takayama station. It is quite convenient for us since our previous hotels located near JR station.





















Pictures of the walkways inside the ryokan. It lines beautifully with trees and small japanese garden.







There is an irori near the check-in area. The guest will be served with a finest green tea for a welcome drink together with a small sweet, which goes very well with the tea.







Our room locates on the first floor near the front area of the ryokan. This is not a problem for us since this place is not crowded. You can sit and relax on the private porch area outside your room.







If you don't like staying in the rooms near the front area, you may have to mention this to the hotel at the time of making reservation. Our room is room no. 207. The good thing is it is quite close to the private onsen, which we had already reserved for only our group. The hotel charges 3,150 yen extra for 50 minutes for a private onsen. The color for men public onsen will be in blue while a lady side will be in red. I think they will change the room every night so the guest can try different onsens during their stays.












A picture of a private onsen. It has the right size, not too big, not too small. There is a shower area before entering the onsen area. The fresh towel and bath amenities are provided as well.





Our room for tonight has two living rooms and 2 separate toilets and a separate shower area. It is quite big to accomodate three person. Since this is a modern ryokan, you don't have to worry about the bathroom.

























































The snack that provides on the table inside our room tastes so good. But since it is closed to our dining time, we should save some spaces for a big meal that is waiting for us.




The dinner was served in our room. I tried to count the total dishes that served tonight. They are probably 12-13 dishes including the dessert.





A tonight meal starts with 4-5 appetizer dishes, a soup and a drink. Among these dishes are sashimi, eal sushi, and tofu.

Then, our main course tonight starts with grilled hida beef and local vegetables. The beef tastes so good. It melts in your mouth. I wish that they serve a bowl of rice together with it.

The char-grilled salted Ayu (river fish) is fulled of roes. The Ayu here tastes better than the one we bought at the takayama morning market. It is probably because this one has the sauce comes with it.

After we finished the grilled hida beef and Ayu, then the cooked rice was served togher with pickles, soup, and cooked salmon.

One of the living room was turned into our bedroom for tonight. We don't need to make the bed ourselves since this is a 5 stars ryokan. The ryokan staffs will take care of us since we stepped into this property.

Our breakfast starts with a full course meal again. There are around 6-8 dishes. IMHO, the rice here is probably one of the best rice I had.














Here is a small souvenir from the ryokan. A sweet in a sarubobo print bag.

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Ryokan Name: Hanaougi-bettei Iiyama
Location: Takayama
Average Price/Person: 20,000 Yen (including breakfast and dinner)
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