Shizuka — Restaurant in Matsumoto

We went to Shizuka on the advice of our host and our travel books. Not sure why anyone would advise to go there. They charge 18% for service fee - we did not see this anywhere else and we’ve been all around Japan. The food tax is then added on top of this (not just to the food price). The cover charge with appetizer is standard in Japan. But the quality of the appetizer was poor for the price. The food was average, we would have had better yakitori in mediocre Japanese restaurants in Europe. The Oden was ok and the grilled char was good but ridiculously small for ¥1,300.

There was a sign saying the restaurant is fully booked (we had booked 1h before) but the place was half empty with no atmosphere.

I would...

A welcome English menu but still a true Japanese experience. They work hard to work out what you want. The soba was just awesome. Truly the first soba that i had in Matsumuto, and was unbeaten while there. It was a hot day so we had the cold soba with tempura and the cold soba salad. both were really tasty and being cold seemed perfect, though I felt like i was maybe asking for a disaster with a cold noodle dish, as this is not what i might normally pick it was just so tasty and perfect. Visit this restaurant if you...

I was really looking forward to dining here, but upon arrival I was told there’s an additional 18% service charge, which felt a bit steep.

The food was decent, but nothing particularly impressive.

I ordered oden, but it didn’t include konjac and shiitake mushrooms. Compared to other tables’ oden, mine seemed to be missing two items, which was quite disappointing.

Overall, the price felt high for the experience. The food was okay, but not remarkable — I believe there are better...