Matsumoto Karaage Center — Restaurant in Matsumoto

I read a ton of reviews before coming here, and most of the negative reviews seem to be about the heat of the place and the lack of friendliness of the staff. It's true that it was very warm inside, but it didn't bother us too much. As far as the staff -- it's been our experience so far, as tourists, that Japanese servers in general aren't as overly attentive as in the western world, and I think this often gets misinterpreted as neglect or hostility. This place was no different from other casual restaurants we've been to around Japan -- we were shown to a table, and the staff left us alone until we rang our table's buzzer to tell them we were ready to order. This also isn't a big city like Tokyo, and in our experience, knowledge of English is (understandably) much more limited here. You can't expect a ton of interaction with a heavy language barrier. Still, that doesn't have to make for a bad experience, and in fact we had a great one. We were given an English menu, our server was patient with us, and our food came out quickly. Plus, when the food is this delicious, it's easy to forgive a bit of heat and a less-than-talkative staff!

If you've never been here and you're coming to try the famous fried chicken, you can't go wrong just ordering their signature sanzokuyaki set meal. Ours came with a bowl of miso soup, a bowl of white rice, a side of an odd sort of macaroni with a mayonnaise/cheese sauce, and a generous piece of fried chicken that is a challenge for most people to finish. It was perfectly crispy on the outside, flavorful and juicy on the inside, seasoned perfectly, and the perfect comfort food after a long day. In case the language barrier intimidates you, you can just point to what you want on the menu, or you can order the same way we did by saying "sanzokuyaki teeshoku o onegaishimasu" (sanzokuyaki set meal, please). I added on "biiru no jokki" for a large glass/mug of beer to go with it, which paired perfectly. Don't quote me on my Japanese, as I'm still learning, but that worked fine for me!

Hope you give this place a try. The food is...

Heard about this famous restaurant for its sanzokuyaki chicken and finally went on our last night in Matsumoto as it is just above the Matsumoto station. Staff speaks limited English but there's English menu. I ordered the set the comes with soba noodles. The portion was huge!! Chicken was cut in thick slices but moist inside. Suggest if you are not that hungry, can share between 2 pax if restaurant allowed for 1 order and other side dishes or just order the normal chicken set. The pickled ginger is one of the best I have ever tasted - crunchy, not too sweet or sour and usually I don't like it!

We went quite late and waited 20mins to enter around 7pm or so and food was served not long after our order. The restaurant closes at 8pm so you have to eat fast as they don't allow...

The two-style chicken menus were delicious, offering a tasty flavor and crispy texture while keeping the meat juicy. Various sauces were available on the table. Additionally, the all-you-can-eat pickled bean sprouts were very yummy. However, when it comes to the service, it was a little uncomfortable. I arrived there around 6:30 PM and joined the queue around 7 PM. While I was eating, I felt like the staff really wanted to go home because they came and looked at me many times, and not just one staff, but all of them. They did this to many tables...