Japanese Restaurant Itoya

Quiet and relaxing drinking

highly recommend line up before opening time. lovely Lady makes simple dishes tasty. tapas style dining with sake

Cosy place with delicious home cooked food and friendly and welcoming staff. We loved the language lesson and origami!

A lady guard familiar with English was nice.Oden is stinging and it is the best.

It's very cosy, the food is amazing and the hospitality is even better. Recommend it 100%

We found it by chance, one of the best places I've eaten in Japan. Not only for the food, but for the environment and especially for the owner of the place that is charming, we advised a great sake and even taught us some phrases in Japanese.Indispensable if you pass by Matsumoto!

Very quaint. Food is very good. If you don’t speak Japanese you will be handed a bunch of cards with available dishes kinda like in kindergarten. The oden is very nice. I recommend the natto. For the uninitiated this is fermented soy beans. The nato is spiked with seaweed and sesame which adds to the flavor. The proprietor is very friendly and speaks very good English.

It was a very calm shop. I went again.

A woman in a beautiful kimono welcomes her with a smile.Enjoy Shinshu ingredients and alcohol.wihi can be used.

Great place. Small with limited space but super good. Host is very friendly and great food. Excellent sake.

The cuisine was delicious, my mom was kind and I had a wonderful time. Thank you!

Quality meal, everything was perfect from start to finish!The small homemade dishes are very well presented and tasty.

I went with my wife to dinner, without any pretense, but it turned out to be one of the best nights and experiences of our trip. The owner, delighted us with her homemade dishes, all very rich and many that she did not know, despite being Japanese. He delighted us with his shamisen and we had a great evening together with a regular client of his. I recommend it, in order to experience a small part of Japan, a genuine and real site. It's a must, I'll come back whenever I can.

We loved the sake (tasting) and the food. The owner Kumiko is very kind and her English is good! We had conversations with locals via her. Great place.

Delicious food, and a wonderful host!

The meal in the form of Japanese tapas was super good. Kumiko taught us some words of Japanese. Very tourist-friendly!

Yup. Is it okay. I might come again.

Dining experience and drinks get five stars, but the food is an adventure and if you make the wrong choice, it can be disappointing. Restaurant owner is so lovely though, and her homemade umeshu is a must.

Traditional Japanese cosy interior with seats at the bar. The food was incredible, little plates of delicious freshly prepared Japanese cuisine. Amazing for vegetarians!! The owner will cater for vegans too. She was so friendly and took the time to talk to us and give us sightseeing recommendations.ありがとございます 😊

It is located in Nakamachi-dori where there are many built-ups in Matsumoto city, especially the atmosphere, and the location is very good.After eating and drinking in another shop, I wanted to do ladder sake, I was attracted by the atmosphere with an amazing appearance.I got the sweetfish africa and oden. "Ayu no Nara" is rare, is not it?The shop here was very international and the majamant corresponded with fluent English.

We visited this place and were delighted. Every dish is so delicious and unique.

The landlady is wonderful.The food is also very delicious.

Sake bar with 8 places and all sorts of dishes. The menu is a set of cards, with pictures and (English) text of what is available. The horse sashimi was wonderful, and also the miso soup. We had the tasting of three snake's choose by the owner / cook.

Homey atmosphere is good but oden runs out late

Small hidden place. Great to sample local sake and enjoy small bites. Very hospitable, English friendly and will teach you some Japanese. Cover charge is ¥500.

It is always the origin of Japan ❗

I started yesterday, but the landlady was very friendly and the food was delicious. It was the best.There were many foreign tourists, and it was surprising that the proprietress spoke in English and the customers spoke in English.It was a very good space so I would like to go again.

A very nice tourist version of local food with a fairly high price tag. The lady is super welcoming. The Sake is really good and you get a taste of some nice local cuisine other than the stapels of japanese food. The food is nice, but won't blow your mind. Still would recommend the experience if you don't mind the price.

Great food at this little Japanese restaurant with about 8 seats total. Kumiko seems to do all the cooking and serving herself and she speaks good English. After our meal she had time to chat with us for a few minutes and it really made it one of my favorite meals I've had in Japan. The pork, gyoza, and potato pancake all ruled.

The landlady is cool. There is no strange affection, and it is a comfortable response. Popular not only in Japan but also foreigners.

You can taste the global atmosphere.I think it is an adult bar that you can calm down and drink.

Best foodie experience in Matsumoto. If youre visiting, definitely a MUST.

Kind

I’m vegetarian and there’re many dishes that the owner could cooked for me. All the dishes looked simple but delicious. She is very nice and gave me so cute origami Japanese style doll too.

You can be happy with the delicious things of Shinshu! ! In addition, it is shop which can be friends immediately with local strangers!Ever since I liked it, I went to Matsumoto once a year at this store.When spring comes, I will come for a delicious Koshi Abraun rice!(Revisited)Excellent drink to a very delicious dish, even if it is delicious ♪ A wonderful girl! It's a great shop!

Great choice of local sake. Great bar food, high quality and local produce. Owner is lovely, welcoming, helpful. Put this place on your visit list, definitely.

Lovely traditional Japanese restaurant.Kumiko was incredibly nice with us, she speaks pretty good English as well. The food was really nice and, at the end of our dinner, she gave us a list of useful Japanese sentences (translated in English) to use in a restaurant. She also gave us some handmade origami, made by some of her family members. Best souvenir! Thank you Kumiko. We really hope to come back to Matsumoto one day and meet you again.

We stumbled upon this place and were really happy with the sake, food and hospitality.

I like the atmosphere. I want to go there again.

Itoya (local cuisine restraunt bar) is run by Kumiko Itoh who has good English skills and happy to help you learn Japanese with hand written notes. There was 10 people seated at the bar. We tried 3 sakes for 1200Â¥. The menu is set out with photos and an English description on individual cards (20+) so to order you can put the card on the bar, easy. Our best experience in Japan so far and would highly recommend paying Kumiko a visit. :-)

This a copy of my review on Tripadvisor but I do think that this place is worth the double review! My husband and I visited Itoya a couple of months ago in our short stay in Matsumoto. The food was so tasty and only made better by the friendly atmosphere of this izakaya. The owner was super friendly, can communicate well in english and goes above and beyond by providing vegetarian options with english names and photos so that it's easy to order. Needless to say finding vegetarian food is not usually as straightforward in Japan so we were really lucky to find this gem in Matsumoto. We had an amazing meal and a really good night out!

Delicious food with vegetarian options and friendly owner.

Remarkable. Small izakaya but good quality of food. Especially the boss is exceptional. From a huge kindness

The owner speaks very good English. She has visual cards for the menu and has homemade plum sake 梅酒

Great little authentic part of Matsumoto. We were made very welcome by the host, who’s English was very good, which helped with the choice of food....and Sake. The food was very tasty, and the tasting tray of Sake, with recommendations from the host, equally so. Would highly recommend you pay this place a visit if you are looking for something more traditional.

The food was delicious. The lady who serves is very friendly. It is a great atmosphere and felt like it was an authentic Japanese experience. The sake was great too. We loved it.

You can enjoy Japanese sake and Japanese cuisine easily. Especially oden is recommended. Alright atmosphere!

Nice place to eat just 8 seats at counter

Good Japanese food in a tiny place. The lady cook is very kind and makes delicious meals. You order multiple dishes and taste different things.