The Source Diner — Restaurant in Matsumoto

I came in for dinner when the place opened at 18:00. I didn't have a reservation, so I was offered a seat on the bar (fair). They insisted that I be tucked at the edge of the bar, between it, the fridge, and the wall, since they didn't know how many people to expect that night (spoiler, it was half empty by the time I left). After a short argument, we reached a settlement where I moved the chair a bit out of said nook. I had to swap bar chairs since mine was about as stable as the Middle East. I ordered the potato salad and the namesake Source burger. The menu required I also order a drink, as if this Matsumoto alley was Golden Gai. The potato salad was served within 5 minutes, felt old, and was rather bland. The burger was served half an hour later. The sauce tasted good but completely overpowered the taste of the meat. After isolating a piece of the patty, I concluded that was a good thing. Relatively expensive meal at 3000 yen. If you are looking in Matsumoto for a break from Japanese food,...

Stepping into The Source, for a moment you may think you have been transported to a hippy New York diner instead of a restaurant in Matsumoto. It’s not surprising, the owner has spent years honing his skills in the Big Apple. In fact, he recently brought back spices from the US, which he used to cook his version of pork stroganoff. The food, I dare say, is a cut above the vast majority of diners in New York. The menu will change every two weeks. We tried the curry pork and it’s excellent. It is different from traditional Japanese curry but also not the same of what you may normally get in Asian countries or South Asia. The owner jokingly called it “pork stroganoff”. The staff are friendly and the vibes are...

Very cool interior, lots of special beers for sale. Loved seeing the chef “live” at work behind the counter. The waitress was very friendly.

Food was very good, a tad expensive for Japan, burgers for 1600-1900 yen,

The staff speaks English very well, but both men a bit rude or dismissive.

What we hated though, was the totally unexpected surprise at the end : adding 1200Yen for table service, which we hadn’t seen mentioned on the menu.

So all in all our bill for 4p: 3 burgers with fries and one main course salad and 4 soft drinks came to 10350 yen. One of our most...