Setouchi is full of charm! What kind of meals can you enjoy at GLAMPROOK Shimanami? (Experience report)

Enjoy the seasonal flavors of Setouchi at a restaurant with a spectacular view

``GLAMPROOK Shimanami'' is an ``All Inclusive'' style where accommodation fees include food, drink and activity fees. The price includes breakfast and evening meals as well as drinks such as alcohol and soft drinks.

The restaurant is located on the 1st floor of the hotel building, overlooking the Kurushima Strait.

Dinner is served from 17:00 to 21:00, with two shifts (*). If you plan a little early, you might be able to enjoy your meal while watching a beautiful sunset.

This time, MATCHA writer KUMIKO ISHIGAKI will introduce the charm of this hotel's food (*)!

Click here to make a reservation for GRAMPROOK Shimanami

*Meal start times vary depending on the day.

*This article contains the writer's personal impressions. Please note that the content does not reflect the official views of GLAMPROOK Shimanami.

Meals will be kaiseki cuisine made with plenty of ingredients from the Setouchi region, including Ehime Prefecture.

Kaiseki is a traditional Japanese course meal. It is characterized by many dishes that can be enjoyed with alcohol and dishes that look gorgeous. There will be 8 different dishes ranging from appetizers to desserts.

The menu changes from day to day, as the chef personally travels every morning to purchase the best ingredients of the day.

If you stay for several nights, you will be treated to a different cuisine every day. Why not stay two nights or more and enjoy the local gourmet food to your heart's content?

Sea bream, yellowtail, conger conger! Let's enjoy the seafood

The Seto Inland Sea, which is surrounded by Hiroshima, Shikoku, and Kyushu, has an area of ​​23,203 km2, and a wide variety of seafood can be caught within the area.

In particular, the Kurushima Strait that surrounds Umajima, where the hotel is located, is known as one of Japan's leading producers of red sea bream. Therefore, many dishes using sea bream appear throughout the year, as well as seasonal seafood from the Setouchi region, mainly from Ehime Prefecture, such as spiny lobster, conger conger, and kueh.

I would like to introduce some examples of the meals I actually had when I stayed there in October.

Perhaps it is the season for sea bream from fall to spring, so we ate a number of dishes that were truly full of sea bream.

For appetizers, enjoy the deliciousness of sea bream with a variety of cooking methods, such as red sea bream jellied with kelp, soup with red sea bream paste, sashimi with sea bream as the main dish, simmered dishes, and sea bream rice!

Among them, the ``kinu kawanasu'', a traditional vegetable from Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture, and the stew of sea bream were particularly impressive.

As the name suggests, silky eggplants are eggplants with skin as soft as silk. It is fresh and sweet, and brings out the elegant flavor of the sea bream. Local vegetables are also used, and the chef's passion is evident.

The final dish, taimeshi, is a deeply delicious dish made with whole sea bream cooked with rice.

Taimeshi is one of the local dishes of Ehime Prefecture, but the staff told us that it is eaten differently depending on the region within the prefecture.

Tai-meshi from Imabari City in the eastern part of Ehime Prefecture, where Umajima is located, and Matsuyama City in the central part of Ehime Prefecture, is rice cooked with sea bream. On the other hand, taimeshi from Uwajima in the south is a dish of sea bream fillets marinated in sauce and placed on rice.

If you eat all the sweets (fruits) that decorate the end of a kaiseki meal, you are sure to be full.

In fact, the portions of this kaiseki meal are slightly larger than the average one. There are no restaurants or shops on the island, so the hotel seems to have made sure you don't go hungry at night.

Why is Ehime sea bream so delicious?

The tower in front is a tidal current signal that tells the boat the flow and speed of the tide.

The deliciousness of red sea bream from the Setouchi Inland Sea, especially the Kurushima Strait in Ehime Prefecture, where our hotel is located, is deeply related to the flow of the tide.

The Kurushima Strait where Umashima is located is a famous place that is counted as one of Japan's three major tidal currents. Depending on the time of day, you can experience the dynamic flow of the tide, and sightseeing boats depart from nearby islands.

Thanks to the strong currents, there is little seaweed, and the sea bream, which feed on shrimp and crabs, have no odor. Moreover, because they are swimming in the rough waves, they stay firm and delicious!

There is even a brand of sea bream called ``10 knot red sea bream,'' named after the torrent of the Kurushima Strait that is said to reach 10 knots (18.5 km/h).

Taste sake made from Ehime's beautiful waters

Alcohol is a must-try with your meal.

Even within the Setouchi region, Ehime Prefecture is a land rich in nature, not only the sea but also the mountains. The area is blessed with underground water from Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest peak in western Japan, and the Shikoku Mountains, making it an ideal location for sake brewing.

The alcoholic beverages that the former deputy manager personally selected include alcoholic beverages from Ehime Prefecture, as well as a wide range of sake, shochu, wine, beer, and fruit liquor.

All of this is included in your accommodation fee. You can enjoy comparing drinks without worrying about additional charges (*).

*Separately charged menus are also available.

Chestnut shochu ``Okuriokura'' (Seiyo City) made from chestnuts from Ehime Prefecture, and Matsuda Sake Brewery's barley shochu ``Miya no Mai'' (Ikata Town), which specializes in a slightly dry liquor that goes well with fish, are available on Umajima. It's wonderful to be able to encounter delicious sake from all over Ehime while staying here.

The hotel staff recommended Yamatan Masamune from Imabari's long-established Yagi Sake Brewery as a sake that goes well with fish dishes. The name comes from the famous sword Masamune, and is said to represent the desire for the sake to be as sharp as a good Japanese sword.

Crisply chilled Yamatan Masamune has a refreshing aroma and a light texture that is exquisite. The aftertaste is refreshing, and the elegant flavor of the fish stands out.

Yamatan Masamune can be purchased at supermarkets in Imabari City, so it is also recommended as a souvenir from your trip.

For those who don't like alcohol, how about "Iyokan Flavored Syrup"? Iyokan, a native Japanese citrus fruit, is characterized by its rich juice and rich sweetness. Enjoy with soda or ginger ale.

Let's go on a journey to discover once-in-a-lifetime gourmet food.

The more you know about the ingredients and food culture, the more delicious your meals will be when you travel.

The hotel staff had a wealth of knowledge about the food of Ehime and the Setouchi region, and they told us various stories in between serving each dish one by one.

The dishes change with the seasons, so please look forward to a once-in-a-lifetime meal!

Click here to make a reservation for GLAMPROOK Shimanami!