Local Japanese Dinner at Magome Chaya: Gifu Prefecture
Today I wanted to talk to you about one of the amazing experiences we had during our trip to Japan. I recently wrote a review describing my gastronomic japanese trip that I did last November 2024, detailing the itinerary during the three weeks I stayed there. I did not want it to be too long, so I decided to write separate entries for the most remarkable restaurants. Therefore, here goes the first one. Magome Chaya is a traditional guesthouse that I really recommend if you are staying in the area. It is a fantastic place to try local and seasonal food and therefore cross some of the items on your must-try list of food in Japan.
Magome Chaya Guest House
It is located in the beautiful village of Magome, in the Gifu prefecture. The guest house (minshuku) is built in the traditional japanese style, with tatami floors and wooden sliding doors. The price for the night was medium range, and we found that the quality/price ratio was worth it. The breakfast and dinner was not included in the price, but you can add the option for an extra fee, which in our case was 3,400 Japanese yen for the dinner per person and 1,210 for the breakfast.
Dinner is served at 6pm (at least in autumn) in the building just in front of the main guest house. Going out to the small and quiet village street, lit up with ancient Japanese lanterns, wearing your yukatas, makes you feel like travelling back in time. The small wooden watermill at the entrance of the building makes the atmosphere even more charming.
The first thing that catches your eye when you enter the restaurant is the huge display of food over your table. You can judge by yourselves by looking at the picture:
I must say that one of the things that shocked me most from Japanese food is the big difference between how the food looks and how it tastes. Especially taking into account that this was my first day in the country. I was not expecting such rich taste and texture from the appearance of certain dishes (Ignorant me!).
In Magome Chaya, all dishes are made with seasonal ingredients and most are locally sourced. We started with the region’s specialty, raw horse meat! I am not a huge fan of raw meat, but I admit the meat was very flavory and fresh, served with its own special sauce. After this, we tried the fermented lotus’ root, followed by boiled spinach with sesame sauce, a dish that became one of my trip’s favorites. Then we moved onto the tempura dish, where we could taste different kinds of Japanese mushrooms, Japanese pumpkin, potatoes and radish. The mushrooms were very fragrant and the pumpkin was more sugary than the European version. The sauce for the tempura was delicious!
The next thing we tried was the trout, which tasted really fresh and savory, followed by the cold soba served with wasabi and onions. The cold soba was not my favorite part of the meal, compared to the rest of the dishes. Nevertheless, the last dish, Houba-yaki, became also one of my trip’s favorites. Houba-yaki is a specialty from Gifu prefecture, which consists in grilling miso paste on top of a Magnolia leaf. The leaf, called Hou, comes from the Hida region (north of Gifu prefecture). We ate this meal several times during our trip through Gifu, everytime served with different toppings. In this case it was served with tofu, enegi (a Japanese mushroom) and bacon. In any of its many forms, Houba-yaki is comforting and delicious!
Of course the dinner ended with a dessert: milk pudding with a fine strawberry marmalade. The texture of Japanese milk pudding is quite remarkable.
We really enjoyed this first dinner in Japan. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to visit this lovely area. The cherry on the cake is that after this incredible dinner you can take a small walk around the village at night, which at this hour is empty of the many tourists that visit the place during the day.
I hope you enjoyed reading this entry. Do not hesitate to read my main article on my trip to Japan if you want to gather other ideas for your own travels. :)
Cheers!
Written by Marta - The Cherry Pickers
