Yanagawa Shirayui-so

[The elegantly sweet “Seiromushi” is very popular]

From the outside, the restaurant has a modern design. However, once you step inside, the large windows reveal a Japanese garden that stretches out in front of you. The garden, called a “chisen kaiyu style” garden, depicts the changing scenery of the seasons, with a pond connected to the waterway of Yanagawa at its center. The proprietress said of the garden, “It was originally the garden of our home, but we thought it would be a shame to have it only for our family to see, so we built an inn facing the garden and created Suzu as an attached restaurant.”

Recommended dishes are the “Yanagawa Kaiseki” with a whole local crab and lip, and the “Unagi Seiromushi”. The “Seiromushi” in particular is made in a unique way by the head chef, who does not use refined sugar, but instead makes the sauce with honey and granulated sugar, and boils down the stock extracted from grilled eel bones, combines it with the sauce, and leaves it to sit for 10 days. Its elegant sweetness is very popular.

The beautiful garden is lit up at night. The tables are spaced apart in a spacious setting, creating a very comfortable atmosphere where you can feel the time passing at a leisurely pace. On the tables are mask holders hand-folded by staff. Bells to call staff are placed on each table, which is where the restaurant’s name comes from. The Okawa Kumiko boxes in which food is packed to limit the number of plates as a COVID-19 countermeasure, and other details make this a wonderful restaurant that has been meticulously designed.