魚河岸ごはん Self-service Restaurant

Visited 13-14 Jun 2016

Name of Restaurant : 魚河岸ごはん Self-service Restaurant
Address (住所) : 今治市中寺261-1
Area : Imabari 今治市 
Tel : 0898-35-0350
Opening Hrs : 11am to 3pm, 5 to 9 pm
Parking (駐車場) : free

1.  This was our first restaurant for dinner on our trip and we happened to chance upon it while driving and not knowing where to eat.
2. Besides serving pre-prepared food, there are set meals that you can order.
3. We ordered 2 set meals : seafood sashimi don and "unagi" (eel) don.
4. Hot tea self-service is free. You have to return your tray to a tray return area.
5. We returned the next night to pick items that we like.
6. Good value for money and fairly delicious !

 Set meal

Interior of Restaurant

Unagi don

Seafood sashimi don

マルトモ水産Seafood shop and restaurant

Visited 16 Jun 2016

Name of Restaurant : マルトモ水産Seafood shop and restaurant
Tripadvisor Name : Fresh Fish Market Marutomo Suisan
Address (住所) : 愛媛県西条市樋之456-5
Area : Saijo 西条市
Tel : 0897-55-1880
Opening Hrs : everyday except Wed (定休日 :  水曜日)
Fresh fish shop opens from 9 am to 6 pm
Restaurant opens from 10 am to lunch time, opens again for dinner
Parking (駐車場) : limited lots available, free

 

Shop Front

Interior of Shop

Restaurant Menu

Interior of Restaurant

Set Lunch : Sashimi Don (海鮮丼) 1300¥

Set Lunch : Cooked Fish (煮鱼定食） 1200¥

Remarks

• The menu is all in Japanese, so try your luck.
• All the seafood sold seems to be very fresh, including the sashimi, but we didn't try it.
• The favorite lunch set is the sashimi don.
• Some were very surprised that foreigners like us were at this restaurant. Indeed this seems to be a favorite place frequented by locals.

西条福武食堂 Self-service Restaurant

Visited 17 Jun 2016

Name of Restaurant : 西条福武食堂 Self-service Restaurant
Tripadvisor Name : Maidookini Shokudo Saijo Fukutake
Address (住所) : 〒793-0035 愛媛県西条市福武甲456 – 2
Area : Saijo 西条市
Tel : 0897-53-1367
Opening Hrs : 7am to 10pm
Parking (駐車場) : free

1. After visiting Mt Ishizuchi, we stumbled upon this restaurant by chance when we were looking for a grilled fish restaurant in the Saijo area.
2. It happens that this is a self-service restaurant, ie you pick up pre-prepared food on your tray. Self-service hot green tea or water is also normally provided. You also have to return your tray to a return tray area after eating.
3. You could also request for rice or soup at the end. The fish saba(mackerel) or sanma(Pacific saury) are both however grilled on the spot if you request it.
4. We are not sure but we think that the words "食堂" denotes perhaps a self-service restaurant and also a budget restaurant, as food is relatively cheap and good.
5. Both the grilled fish were excellent.

Interior of restaurant

 

Grilled saba

Grilled sanma

Sushiro スシロー 松山衣山店

Visited 28 Jun 2016
 
Name of Restaurant : Sushiro スシロー 松山衣山店
Tripadvisor Name : Sushiro Matsuyama Kinuyama
Address (住所) : 愛媛県松山市中央2-31-1
Area : Matsuyama 松山市
Tel : 0899-11-5171
Opening Hrs :
Mon to Sat : 11 am to 11 pm
Sun : 10.30 am to 11 pm
Website :  http://www.akindo-sushiro.co.jp
Parking (駐車場) : free

1. At the hotel APA Hotel Matsuyamajo Nishi, we asked a hotel staff to recommend us a sushi conveyor belt restaurant. She was very helpful and wrote us the name of the restaurant and its telephone number, so that we could use it for the car GPS to guide us there.
2. At the restaurant, the staff directed us to the long counter. Quite crowded ! And so we started our first adventure in Japan style sushi ordering.
3. The easy part of course was just to take whatever sushi off the conveyor belt. Then we tried to order via a computer screen just above us. A waiter then showed us and so, what a delight ! At least we knew what we were eating, because for this outlet, all the dishes are translated into English. 
4. Most of them cost 100 yen, the next category 280 and one more at 380 yen. We therefore ordered sushi that we have never tried before...wow so wonderful and tasty...even those at 100 yen !
5. When I made a mistake at the screen and ordered 3 of the same kind, they kindly canceled the 2 extra orders, no questions asked, even though communication was difficult.
6. One marvelous thing I wanted to mention is that when your order arrives, your computer screen sounds an alarm, and a screen message, informing you of your coming order, and then you see it arriving about 4 or 5 sushi plates later. 
7. The 2nd thing we observed is that the sushi order arrives stacked on another red plate, so that customers would know that those are sushi orders, and that they would not take them off the belt for themselves. LOL, luckily we didn't take away those plates for ourselves.
8. We have observed other customers and noticed that they stacked the 3 different types of plates nicely together and separately in their stack. All their stacks were higher than ours ! 
9. So when we asked for the bill, the waiter comes around, shows off a ruler, which measures straightaway the number of plates on each stack (Wow!), enters them into a hand-held machine, and finally, scans a barcode on a type of plastified card, which they issue to every customer, and we then proceeded to pay at the cashier with this card. Only in Japan !!!
10. We were swept off our feet by this Japanese high-tech sushi restaurant, and of course, its fresh, delicious and yet good value for money sushi.

Remarks
This is a big sushi chain of restaurants all over Japan. There are 3 outlets alone in Matsuyama. Refer to its website for details.

Ordering Screen

Customer order on red plate

Screen announcement

Our neighbours' (2 persons on either side) consumption

The infamous ruler

Our dinner

Roadside Station Yoshiumi Ikiiki-kan よしうみいきいき館

Visited 14 Jun 2016 

Name of Attraction : Roadside Station Yoshiumi Ikiiki-kan よしうみいきいき館
Tripadvisor Name : Road Station Yoshiumi Ikiikikan
Address (住所) : 〒794-2114 愛媛県今治市吉海町名4520-2 
Area : Imabari 今治市 
TEL : 0897-84-3710
Website :  http://www.michi-no-eki.jp/michinoeki/ehime/yoshiumiikiikikan/?language=1
Opening Hrs : ...  
Parking (駐車場) : free

Remarks
Tried/Not Tried 
Recommended for grilled seafood, clams, etc...

Roadside Station Tatara Shimanami Park 多々羅しまなみ公園

Visited 18 Jun 2016

Name of Attraction : Roadside Station Tatara Shimanami Park 今治市多々羅しまなみ公園
Tripadvisor Name : Road Station Tatara Shimanami Park Restaurant
Address (住所) : 〒794-1402 愛媛県今治市上浦町井口９１８０番地２
Area : Imabari 今治市 
Tel : 0897-87-3866 
Website :  http://www.michi-no-eki.jp/michinoeki/ehime/imabarishitatarashimanamikoen/?language=1
Opening Hrs : ...
Parking (駐車場) : free

1.  We had driven from island to island, across the Shimanami expressway, from Imabari till here, and it's the first Roadside station upon reaching Omishima Island. It overlooks another beautiful suspension bridge (I believe to the next island), and the whole place looks airy, right beside the coast.
2. We noticed that the restaurant was quite crowded with locals, and therefore decided to settle for lunch here. A huge fish water tank in front showcases probably their specialities, flounder and sea bream, and others we couldn't identify.
3. We ordered 2 set lunches : a mixed fried fish and cuttlefish sashimi set and a fried flounder set, and we were not disappointed : fresh, and a delight ! We did not choose the sea bream sashimi as we didn't know how to appreciate the slightly tough texture of the flesh.
4. Like at most self-serviced or similar restaurants, you will notice free water or green tea is at your disposal but self-service, and a tray-return area for returning your trays after meals. We really like having hot green tea after a meal, and never having to pay for this drink. Thumbs up for the Japanese for providing such a service quite consistently everywhere.
5. A good stop-over lunch place if you are somewhere along the Shimanami expressway.

View of the next connecting bridge

View of the coastline

Fish water tank

Set lunch : Fried flounder set

 

Set lunch : Mixed fried fish n cuttlefish sashimi

cuttlefish sashimi

Roadside Station Futami ふたみ

Visited 20 Jun 2016 

Name of Attraction : Roadside Station Futami ふたみ
Tripadvisor Name : Futami Road Station
Address (住所) : 〒799-3207 愛媛県伊予市双海町高岸甲２３２６ 
Area : Iyo 伊予市
TEL : 0899-86-0522
Website :  http://www.michi-no-eki.jp/michinoeki/ehime/futami/?language=1
Opening Hrs : ...  
Parking (駐車場) : free

Remarks
Tried/Not Tried 
This is located on the western coast if you take the coastal road from Matsuyama to Yawatahama.
Recommended for grilled seafood, clams, etc...

Roadside Station Yawatahama Minatto 八幡浜みなっと

Visited 21-23 Jun 2016 

Name of Attraction : Roadside Station Yawatahama Minatto 八幡浜みなっと
Tripadvisor Name : Yawatahama Minatto
Address (住所) : 〒796-0087 愛媛県八幡浜市字沖新田１５８１番地２３
Area : Yawatahama 八幡浜
Tel : 0894-21-3710
Website :  http://www.michi-no-eki.jp/michinoeki/ehime/yawatahamaminatto/?language=1
Opening Hrs : ...
Parking (駐車場) : free

1. We visited this Roadside Station a few times, because of the presence of the seafood market, a local produce shop and 2 budget restaurants.
2. The seafood in the market どーや市場 looks really fresh and is cheap too. It's usually sold in a bundle, so that if you want, you could buy and bring them to a barbecue stall next to it to grill them yourself. The BBQ rental cost 500yen for 70 minutes and it's opened from 10am to 1pm.
3. There are fishes, shellfish, abalone, prawns, crabs, lobsters, etc...
4. If you don't want, you could also eat budget set brunch meals in a restaurant next to the BBQ area.
5. Just nearby is a local produce shop, where we bought local green beans quite cheaply, and not usually found in supermarkets.
6. Next to it is another budget self-service restaurant selling set meals, whose pictures are displayed on a huge panel. You buy your meal via a ticket vending machine and then wait for your number to be called. We tried sashimi "don" and small silvery fish "don". The first was tasty but not the latter.
7. The Roadside Station has a Tourist Information Centre, and the staff are really helpful, despite communication difficulties sometimes.

Abalone

Crab

Lobster

Meal Ticket Vending Machine

Silvery fish don

Sashimi don