Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan｜Sawamura Bakery & Restaurant Harunire Terrace

Absolutely great place to eat out, with fabulous food and great service! We were seated on the second level, which is essentially a gallery with view onto the seating area below, and it felt quite cosy and not as noisy as in the main area. I absolutely loved their flexibility with the menu: When inquiring about the pork loin, I was told that it comes on a bed of cabbage, which I don't like. So I asked whether they would be able to serve it with mashed potatoes instead (which in my view is a winning combination). The waitress had to go back to the kitchen to check, and based on past experience in many other places in Japan, I didn't get my hopes up, but I was absolutely delighted when she came back and confirmed that it was no problem to serve the meat with mash! My dish was amazing, and so was my wife's sauteed salmon. The bread that was served with the meal was heavenly. So much so that we went back the next day to buy some bread to take home with us.

Love the breads and pastries from Sawamura. The Karuizawa special bread (chocolate espresso bread) is out of this world. You can dine in or eat anywhere at Harunire terrasse.

Great service - friendly and welcoming. Hostess brought an English menu automatically when she knew we weren’t local. The bread is amazing! So good. The pasta were quite good as well - had the Shinsu bacon tagitalle and spaghetti Napolitan.