Loop — Restaurant in Yoichi

Wine crisis in Yoichi?

We visited this hotel in October 2024 as we were interested in trying the wine from Yoichi and because of the good reviews we read about the quality of produce offered here. We booked through the hotel's website and the room was 500 Euro including dinner for 2 and wine pairing (40 ml per glass, no breakfast available) - so expectations were rather high. Coming from Europe, we are perhaps too familiar with the Mediterranean-inspired cuisine the chef aspires to and too accustomed to good wines, in particular from France and Germany. So we were expecting something at the same level, perhaps with a Japanese twist.

Dinner consisted of 9 courses which were paired with 9 different local wines. The quality of the food was just average and overall lacking seasoning, some of the dishes had turned cold by the time they were served. Overall, we found the food neither innovative nor memorable, but it was OK. The wine was a different story though: several of the wines we were offered were simply undrinkable because of obvious flaws. The Takahiko we had been looking forward to tasting (we were served the Yoichi-Nobori Aihara Passetoutgrain and not the Pinot Noir) produced a strange foam in the glass, as if it had continued fermentation in the bottle. Other wines tasted oxidized, which left us leaving 4 glasses undrunk. The strangest one was an orange Pét-Nat attempt which was paired with the squid paella. None of the wines we were served showed length or elegance.

The sommelier tried his best to accommodate us and, for instance, offered us a (significantly better) Pinot Noir alternative to the undrinkable Merlot blanc de noir, but he was not able to save the evening.

While taste is very individual and hard to objectify, the black mold in the bathroom and the dust balls in front of the bed are clear mistakes for any hotel in any category, especially in a country with the hygiene standards of Japan.

We are surprised to read the many positive reviews about this place - perhaps expectations, wine appreciation and taste preferences also have a cultural element. Unfortunately, we don't believe that this hotel/restaurant is recommendable to any wine or food lover - certainly not at this...

I loved this hotel and the town Yoichi!

Pros: Convenient Location - next to JR, despite we drove. Right across from Nikki distillery tour entrance. Decent coffee shop, seafood market, bistro etc within walking distance. Delicious Meals - breakfast Saba ramen (unique and umami!!), and excellent lunch tasting menu with Yoichi wine pairing (one of the few restaurants that serves the legendary Takahiko). All in a tastefully decorated restaurant. Spacious Room - studio twin accommodated our family of three well with plenty of space to store and maneuver our full size luggages.

Cons: No lift - not uncommon in Japan, ladies may have difficulty hauling full size luggage up to 3/F. Staff were very eager to help though. Room cleaning - I suspect outsourced. Although checkout time was 12 pm, when we returned at 11:30 am after our Nikki tour, the cleaners were already cleaning. Our loose items were put into a rubbish bag and along with our bags, the cleaners placed outside our room. We reported to the front desk and the staff apologized.

Overall, the pros outweighed the cons. I am confident the hotel will make appropriate improvement. Loop will be my first choice when I visit...

We went for Valentine's Day dinner where only a course was available for 6,000¥. I want to thank the staff for graciously accomodating our food preferences as we had somebody who doesn't eat seafood, the other oysters; but sadly, the meal failed to meet expectations. Food portions were small- even for a course meal, the interval between each dish took too long, we were left waiting uncomfortably for the next one, and taste was so-so. I had better food before. One of us couldn't eat seafood, so they had to change our clam paella into pork, but it tasted weird, and pretty much just allover oily... and burnt. I'm not new to Paella since I'm Filipino, so I'm wondering if they know what paella's really supposed to taste like. I did enjoy the squid croquette for appetizer, fried oysters, bread and chocolate cheesecake at the end of the meal but I don't recommend this place and wouldn't even think of coming back. I saw Google reviews for the place that was why I decided to go, but I think reviews were mostly for their cheesecake? I'm not really sure. Anyway, it wasn't worth the...