Okutama, Tokyo, Japan｜Hatonosu Kamameshi

We love the Hatonosu Kamameshi restaurant 鳩の巣釜めし which translates as the “Clay Pot Restaurant the Pigeon Nest”. We recommend to have some salmon trout (cherry trout) sashimi as starter (yamameヤマメ刺身), and then go for the clay pot main dish, either shimeji mushrooms (kinoko kamameshi setきのこ釜めしセットat 1,650 yens) or mountain plants (sansei kamameshi set山菜釜めしセットat 1,750 yens). Both dishes come with a vegetable soup, a tempura, pickles, konnyaku (konjac) and a small dessert (seasonal “youkan”). The koshihikari rice is bought by the restaurant directly from Niigata producers in Aonuma. You may also find a wide variety of one-dish plates, such as grilled fish (“salmon trout yamame”, “rainbow trout niji masu”, ou “ayu”), cold noodles, grilled pork, etc. Don’t leave the place without having a look at the superb photographs of the wild fauna and flora taken by Chef OKABE Masaki, who is really talented. The restaurant offers two parkings. Okutamagawa is a very popular destination for hikers and nature lovers, located one hour and a half of Tokyo downtown. It is still part of Tokyo prefecture and people will joke that you can see bears in Tokyo (black moon circle bear), which is entirely true as this mountainous part of Tokyo has beautiful remote forests, waterfalls, and a lake.

I ordered mushroom rice, which was delicious, and the cabbage soup was very fresh and sweet.

Enjoyable to the local delight food. From the clean mountain and river. I tried the single food(the rice and grilled fish with salt). Yes a bit expensive(mine was 2100-2200Yen) Take a look the menu table and try!