After a day of learning about the history and culture of Samurai City, Aizu Wakamatsu, you may need a good rest and fortifying food to carry on your exploration. Tagoto Cuisine Inn, just a short walk from the historic and picturesque merchant district, Nanakomachi, is an ideal place to unwind, enjoy delicious local cuisine, and luxuriate in a warm bath and sleep like a log in the spacious and comfortable western and Japanese rooms.
Tagoto is well known for hospitality and carefully prepared traditional meals. I visited in the winter, just before new year, and for dinner, I was treated to a delicately simmered herring, subtly flavored salad, fresh sashimi and a local specialty, tofu made from maize. For the new year, a simmered vegetable dish called kozuyu, is added to the menu. It will warm you up on the coldest of nights.
Breakfast at Tagoto is a feast. You may find on your tray miso dengaku, the miso paste braised eggplant dish that is iconic of Aizu Wakamatsu City. My breakfast included a poached egg garnished with grated onion and seasoned with ponzu sauce. The feature of the breakfast is meppa meshi, steamed rice, and fish in a bamboo container. Few guests will finish all that is offered, so the chefs will often pack a bento box lunch of the leftover rice and pickles.
Note that Tagoto Inn is a place to relax, take your time, and savor the retro atmosphere. The chefs and hosts, all gracious older ladies, ask that guests check in on time, reserve dinner early, and observe a curfew of 11 p.m. so that they can sustain the excellent service.
Thank you for sharing this very special and secluded part of Japan with us, and the advice to be here on time, so you can be still and be present, and be one with this time and space.
Aizu Wakamatsu City has so much to offer to people who are intrigued by Japanese history, architecture, traditional crafts such as lacquer ware and textiles, and slow tourism.
At the inn, the chefs seated diners around the irori hearth where they prepared grilled fish. I got talking to other guests from the Tokyo area, visitors from abroad, and the chefs. Tagoto Cuisine Inn is a great place to be still, eat well, and experience ichi go ichi e - one meeting, one opportunity.