Leo L.
Google
This is my fourth trip to Japan in six years, and I was surprised to find this gem of a yakiniku restaurant in the ski resort town of Hakuba. This small restaurant with very modern tasteful decor is located in a small stand-alone building about a mile south of the concentration of tourist restaurants in Happo Village. We had the “special course” omakase meal, which despite its name was far from the most expensive option on the menu. All of the dishes, from the appetizers through dessert, were exceptional.
Unlike most yakiniku restaurants where you grill the individual cuts of meat yourself at your table, here one of the staff servers grill the meat for you, so that it comes out perfectly. For example, the large very thinly sliced cut of sirloin in the shabu shabu course contained meat cut with the grain as well as meat cut against the grain. I noticed that the server actually took care to grill that portion cut with the grain for longer than that portion cut against the grain, even though the difference was only about 15–20 seconds. The sauce and condiment pairings were very tasty, and several of the dishes contained or were garnished with local fruits and vegetables for which the Shinshu region is famous.
The wine list, though small, contained a good selection of French, Italian, and California wines a cut above the usual table wines in most Japanese restaurants, and a couple of the servers appear to be the de facto wine and sake sommeliers, who were quite knowledgeable in making recommendations.
If you care about the quality of food and drink that you have while visiting the Hakuba Valley, and are willing to go a little out of your way to find it, I cannot recommend Nikusho Nakazawa highly enough!
