Nothing says the great outdoors like fishing. Feels good to catch a fish yourself and then prepare it for dinner while you camp. Well, I can't fish well and I can't really prepare fish in an open camp fire. Why don't I go someplace where the fish are ready to be caught and it is prepared for me after I catch it? Welcome to Kitaibaraki's Masubuchi Gyoen (増渕魚園).
This enjoyable little fishing restaurant is located somewhere in the mountains of Kitaibaraki. It was a long but scenic drive from where I live. We arrived sometime in the late afternoon and were ready to fish.
The day was nice and cool when my wife, friends and I went to this serene place. There weren't too many people around, so we had the fishing ponds all to ourselves. (I heard on the weekends and holidays it gets insanely busy, so be prepared for that.) I looked at the ponds and if memory serves me correctly, there were about 6 or 7 different ponds to choose from near the restaurant. We walked up to the old wooden cabin looking building, which was the restaurant and asked for our fishing poles.
The fishing poles really surprised me. In Florida, where I am from, I usually did salt water fishing. I don't really have experience with fresh water fishing. During my salt water fishing trips, I had a pole, reel, a hook, line and a weight. This place gave me a stick with line and a hook. I immediately thought "this is going to break easily." But it didn't, nothing like that happened. We were given our bait, which was this crumbly stuff to put on the hook, (Yeah I don't know a lot about fishing) we picked our pond, threw in our line and began the waiting game of catching a fish. After throwing my line in, a thought crossed my mind, "this is going to take a while so I might as well.." before I could finish my thought I caught a fish. The surprise on my face on how fast I caught it must have been evident because my wife kept telling me to put it in the bucket while I stood there aghast, letting the fish flop around while it was on the hook. 20 seconds, that is a new record for me.
Speaking of my wife, she really dislikes fishing. Her reasoning is "いつも釣れない" which translates to, " I never catch anything." The minute I had finished putting my fish in the bucket, my wife yelled "釣れた!" Which translates to, "I got one!" Now she likes fishing...at Masubuchi Gyoen. The whole point of this is to let you know, if you are afraid you will not catch anything, there is a 99% chance you will. My friends also caught their fish rather quickly. If there is a slight chance you do not catch anything, the restaurant has you covered.
Our catch!
So we all had our fish and were ready to eat. I gave the bucket filled with our fish to the nice old Japanese man who was in charge of preparing the fish. Then we headed inside for our meal.
The restaurant felt like an old log cabin. Very homey and built with a lot of care. We sat at a wooden table that had that hand crafted feeling to it. I looked around and had a real appreciation for the place. The old Japanese ladies in the kitchen brought out hot green tea while we waited for our fish.
This place does not have a menu, it is a set course. And here is what you get .
My fish!
That's a lot of tempura.
We were given a Japanese feast with the fish we caught. The fish was cooked over a small flame with salt. It was delicious and a little crunchy. I do love the salty roasted taste from this way of cooking the fish. A word of caution, watch out for the bones. I am still traumatized from the time I got a bone stuck in my throat so I eat my fish carefully. We were also given white rice with miso soup and a variety of different Japanese dishes.
We had our konnyaku with ginger. How can I explain konnyaku...it is a very clear, soft potato... thing. It is extremely healthy for you and it is delicious with ginger and soy sauce. Make sure to have it with both the ginger and soy sauce, otherwise it doesn't taste like anything. But that wasn't all.
We also had a huge plate of tasty mountain vegetable tempura with our meal. There were carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and sansai (Japanese eatable leaf that grows in the mountains). Everything was so fresh and delicious. We sprinkled some salt on our tempura and ate it with delight. I really loved the sweet potato and pumpkin tempura. Biting into the pumpkin was great, a little crunch on the outside and creamy on the inside. I am not a fan of the sansai tempura, I think it has an oily taste which I am not fund of.
We were also given some Japanese mountain pickled vegetables like takuan which is yellow pickled radish. I actually love takuan, especially when I eat it with white rice. The perfect blend of rice with a hint of a salty crunch. There was also fuki which is a long edible mountain plant. Takenoko which are bamboo shoots. Finally, warabi which is an edible mountain leaf. Everything that we ate was amazing and healthy.
I don't remember the exact price but I want to say we paid around 1,500 yen for each person. For the amount of food we got, that is pretty cheap. I also want to say that there is a sashimi option for the fish you catch, but I have never ordered it and have no idea if that option is the same price. For my non-Japanese speakers, I did not hear one word of English from the old ladies and gents who work there, so make sure to bring a Japanese speaking friend. Or just point at the fishing pole, I am sure that will get the message across.
If you are ever taking a trip to the mountains of Kitaibaraki, check out this pleasant fishing restaurant. I believe this would be a great afternoon lunch trip for a whole family, especially if you have kids. Who knows, I might be in the next pond, fishing for my lunch and possibly catching it within seconds.
Enjoy!
Masubuchi Gyoen does not have a website so I am posting the google maps link and the phone number to the place.
Phone number: 0293-43-9210
Bonus!!
After you finish your lunch, why don't you take a short drive to Hanazono Shrine.
If I remember correctly, Hanazono Shrine is just a short 5 minute drive from Masubuchi Gyoen. It is a beautiful shrine surrounded by nature and the sound of a small river running in the background. Very peaceful and relaxing. I hope you can check it out after your fishing adventure.
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