【Chimoto】An 80-year-old dining establishment offering seasonal ingredients from the northern shore of the lake

Spend precious time with your loved ones

The popular Ayu and Eel Kaiseki Cuisine (from 6,000 yen) allows you to grill and eat live Ayu (sweetfish) that come from in Lake Biwa in a Japanese-style room. The thick eel, carefully grilled with a secret sweet sauce, is exquisite! In addition, pay attention to dishes such as sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and steak using the highest grade A5-ranked Omi beef.

Moreover, they also offer a delivery service for menu items that target the Nagahama area, such as Omi Beef Steak Bento (3,300 yen) and Shokado Bento (4,320 yen). From celebratory or memorial kaiseki cuisine for your loved ones, packed bentos and hors d’oeuvres for cherry blossom viewing and sports festivals to duck sukiyaki hot pot sets, rolled omelets, tempura, and more, a wide variety of single dishes are available.

Melts on your tongue! Enjoy the finest A5-ranked Omi beef in various dishes

You can enjoy the highest grade A5-ranked Omi beef in various dishes, such as Omi Beef Sukiyaki (7,700 yen), Omi Beef Steak Kaiseki, and Omi Beef Hot Pot Kaiseki. You can also choose your preferred cut of meat, such as marbled loin or healthy lean meat (reservations required). It has been said that “where delicious rice is produced, the water is good, and where good sake is produced, good beef cattle grow.”

The eastern shore of Lake Biwa, which nurtures Omi beef and Omi rice, is blessed with mineral-rich water that seeps into the Suzuka mountain range. Local farmers have repeatedly improved the bloodlines of beef cattle, giving birth to the highest grade Omi beef among Japanese black cattle. Omi beef is known for its beautiful marbling or “sashi.”

The Omi beef used at Chimoto is carefully selected from only female cattle raised by skilled specialist farmers. The sashi is very vivid, soft, and melts on your tongue. The unique sweetness of Omi beef spreads throughout your mouth with each bite. In addition, complementary foods for sukiyaki, such as tofu and konjac, are also prepared using handmade, carefully selected ingredients. They are made using natural underground water from the Ibuki mountain range, and the tofu has a charred surface from being grilled over charcoal called yaki tofu. The deliciousness of sukiyaki gently seeps into it.

Grilled ayu and fatty eel

You can enjoy the Ayu Odoriyaki Set Meal (2,200 yen), featuring live ayu grilled in the tatami room, and the Unajū (2,750 yen), which is a thick eel carefully grilled with a secret sweet sauce. Both ayu and eel dishes are exquisite! The ayu were born in Lake Biwa and then grow in a well with water from Mt. Ibuki.

For those who want to taste both ayu and eel, the Ayu Odoriyaki and Unagi Gozen (from 4,950 yen) is recommended! The eel is skewered on an iron skewer and grilled in the Kansai style, with a sweet homemade sauce applied repeatedly. The thick eel has an excellent compatibility with Omi rice, which is cooked with underground water from the Ibuki mountain range.

The rice used is exclusively Koshihikari Omi rice, grown with organic fertilizer by a professional farming family, the Nakajimas, in Nagahama. In order to avoid diseases and pests, each rice ear is planted to receive ample sunlight, and the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used is greatly reduced, making it a Shiga Prefecture-designated “environmentally conscious agricultural product.” The rice has a fluffy texture and is a perfect match for eel.

From November to the end of March, wild duck dishes, such as Natural Duck Sukiyaki (9,500 yen) are also available. They use carefully selected blue-necked ducks, which are considered the most delicious among mallards. These ducks arrive from Siberia with the onset of winter and return in spring, so the tasting period is limited to November through March. There is no heavy fat like that of farmed ducks, and along with udon noodles or rice cakes, you can enjoy it all.

Relax in a pure Japanese-style room where famous Showa-era actors stayed

They have a variety of rooms available, from calm and pure Japanese-style rooms to large rooms suitable for group banquets. In the courtyard, you can enjoy the seasonal plants and the atmosphere they create.

During the filming of director Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha, actors such as Tatsuya Nakadai and Tsutomu Yamazaki stayed at the inn, and autographs from famous Showa-era actors who starred in numerous classic films are displayed throughout the building.