うなぎ 小椋

Sorry, I gotta say it, this place is a total rip-off. And given it's on Okaido street just a few hundred meters away from the ropeway up to Matsuyama castle, it's most likely a tourist trap. ¥2500 for 3 strips (90g) of unagi (that's $10 CDN a piece!), a small box of rice, some watery broth (possibly miso soup?? Maybe just mushroom broth), the weakest Japanese tea I've ever encountered, and two little chunks of carrot and three slices of daikon. The final insult: cheap disposable wooden chopsticks, for a MINIMUM $30 meal. Ridiculous!

Don't get me wrong, the unagi was tasty (albeit with some small bones) but it really wasn't anything special. I've eaten a lot of unagi, and this was pretty typical, definitely not the best I've had, not by a long shot. I have no doubt one could find traditional unagi-don in downtown Matsuyama for a third of the price. I mean, I could be missing some nebulous Japanese aesthetic here, but honestly I think it's not worth the money. As a price comparison, for ¥3000, you can get a huge kaiseki meal around the corner from Dogo onsen, which is the other main touristy area in town.

There's a reason this restaurant was empty on a Friday night at the peak of the tourist season. Don't believe the TripAdvisor reviews; save your money and go elsewhere.