Where to Eat in Matsumoto (Nagano): Horse Sashimi, Insects, a Wine Course and Breakfast at 5 Places I've Tried

Matsumoto (Nagano) is best known for its castle, but its food is a good reason to stay the night. Horse sashimi (basashi), sanzokuyaki fried chicken and Shinshu soba are the local classics, and a few izakaya (Japanese pubs) still serve old mountain foods such as grasshoppers and river insects. This guide follows one evening and the next morning through five places the site owner has eaten at himself: two izakaya near Matsumoto Station, a wine-and-omakase restaurant, a hotel breakfast curry and a roadside-station breakfast, plus a bowl of ramen to end the night. Hours, prices and booking rules come from each place's own pages (checked October 24, 2026).

Plan your evening and the next morning

All three dinner places are in Chuo, in the center of Matsumoto (Nagano), and the two izakaya are about a 3-minute walk from Matsumoto Station, so you can pick one for dinner and still walk to ramen afterwards. The two breakfasts are outside the center and are easiest by car.

Shinshu Sakaba Yamazato: local classics, wild game and insects

Shinshu Sakaba Yamazato (信州酒場 山里) is an izakaya on the 2nd floor at 1-4-2 Chuo, about a 3-minute walk from Matsumoto Station. Its official page says more than half of its roughly 80 dishes are local food from across Nagano and wild game, including dishes made with meat from its own hunter. From October 1, 2026, it is open 16:00 to 22:30 (it announced the change on Instagram), and the official page lists no regular closing day, with occasional closures. Call +81-263-88-8645 if you want to be sure of a table.

• Basashi (馬刺し, horse sashimi): raw horse meat, a classic in Matsumoto (Nagano). The city's tourism site describes its lean meat as tender and cherry-pink, eaten with garlic and ginger, and good with sake.
• Sanzokuyaki (山賊焼): despite "yaki" (grilled) in the name, it's fried. The city's tourism site explains that chicken is marinated in a soy-based sauce with grated garlic, then deep-fried as a whole cutlet.
• Wild game: the shop's own English post lists bear, venison, wild boar and rabbit.

My visit

I went in August 2024. I'm honestly not a fan of insects in daily life, but I wanted to try it as a food culture that has been around for a long time. I had three kinds:

• Zazamushi (ざざ虫): strongly bitter, but it goes well with sake.
• Kaiko (蚕, silkworm pupae): creamy.
• Inago (イナゴ, grasshoppers): like shrimp with the shell on, seasoned as tsukudani (simmered in sweet soy sauce). The legs were taken off, so they were easy to eat, and the seasoning was my favorite of the three.

Zazamushi in particular is a specialty of Ina (Nagano), but as the people who catch them get older, fewer people catch them, and it's one of the food cultures that is fading. The fried chicken I had was, of course, sanzokuyaki, the local specialty of Matsumoto (Nagano).

What zazamushi is: a 2022 press release about the Ina Valley explains that zazamushi is a name for the edible larvae of river insects such as caddisflies and stoneflies, caught in the Tenryu River only from December to February, and that the food culture is in decline as both the fishers and the insects decrease. That makes a plate here a rare chance. If insects aren't your thing either, inago is the easiest first bite: no legs, and a familiar sweet soy flavor. What the kitchen has changes, so ask the staff which insect dishes are on that day.

Izakaya Shinzan: gentle home-style food, until December 26, 2026

Izakaya Shinzan (居酒屋 しんざん) is on the 1st floor at 1-2-11 Chuo, about a 3-minute walk from Matsumoto Station, and opens at 17:00. Its Google Maps listing describes counter seats facing the kitchen and private tatami rooms, with sashimi, basashi, robatayaki (grilled dishes) and local sake. Look for the red paper lantern with しんざん written on it. Phone: +81-263-36-3670.

My visit

I went in September 2024. Whatever I ate had a gentle flavor, and it was all delicious. I heard the owner is closing the shop in December 2026 because of his age, so if you're in Matsumoto (Nagano) before then, go while you can.

Many izakaya in Japan add a small table charge with a starter dish called otoshi; see what otoshi is and why it's on your bill.

San: a wine-and-omakase night (book on TableCheck)

San (餐) is a small restaurant at 3-1-11 Chuo that serves seasonal Japanese food with wine. Its Instagram profile gives the hours as 18:00 to 23:00, and it posts the closing days for each month there. Since August 2026 it serves only the omakase course, which its TableCheck booking page lists as 7 courses for 9,900 yen (tax included) from November 1, 2026; the October 2026 autumn course is 13,200 yen. After the course you can add a closing dish such as rice cooked in an earthenware pot, or small plates. The shop's posts often name the fish it brings in from Kazama Suisan, a fish supplier in Aichi.

• Booking: on TableCheck (the page is available in English). A credit card is needed to book, and you pay at the restaurant on the day. The restaurant says it doesn't take bookings by Instagram direct message.
• Groups of 5 or more: call +81-70-9246-5163.
• Cancellations: a cancellation fee applies from the day before. If you are 30 minutes late without calling, the booking is cancelled automatically.
• Other rules: no guests under 20; the meal starts when everyone in your group has arrived; and strong perfume is not allowed.

The restaurant looks like a private house from the street. The photos below include the entrance, so you know what to look for when you arrive. For how no-show rules work in Japan, see our guide to restaurant reservations.

My visit

I went in January 2025. There is a sommelier, and they bring in delicious fish from elsewhere. It was delicious. The entrance looks like a private house and is hard to spot. For two of us, it came to about 35,000 yen.

After dinner: a bowl of ramen at Watari-dori

y/s kitchen Menshin Watari-dori (麺心 わたりどり) is a ramen shop at 1-2-12 Chuo, in the same area as Shinzan, known for tori paitan (a creamy chicken broth). It opens late, so it suits the end of a night out; check its hours before you go. For more ramen around here, see nine ramen shops in Matsumoto and Shiojiri (Nagano); for how ramen shops work, see our ramen guide.

My visit

I went after drinking, and it was the best bowl.

Breakfast curry at Garden Hotel Matsumoto

Garden Hotel Matsumoto (ガーデンホテル松本) is at 1-15-46 Muraimachi-kita, about 15 minutes by car from Matsumoto Station or Matsumoto Castle and about 15 minutes on foot from JR Murai Station, with free parking. On its listing on the Japanese booking site Jalan, the hotel describes its breakfast of homemade bread and vegetable soup as a good match for the curry and says it is very popular.

My visit

The curry is delicious. I stayed there for business, but many of the guests are tourists. You can add breakfast, including the curry, for an extra charge when you check in.

Breakfast at the Imai Megumi no Sato roadside station

Michi-no-Eki Imai Megumi no Sato (道の駅 今井恵みの里) is a roadside station, a government-registered rest stop with a farmers' market, at 886-2 Imai, Matsumoto (Nagano), outside the city center. Its official menu page lists a breakfast menu from 8:30 to 10:00 and lunch from 11:00 to 15:00, including tororo gohan (rice with grated yam, 500 yen), which is served at breakfast only. The restaurant is closed on Wednesdays (the next day when Wednesday is a holiday) and from December 31 to January 4, and is open every day from August 1 to December 30. Parking and toilets are open 24 hours.

My visit

This is the breakfast I had at the roadside station, at 8:31 on a January morning in 2025.

Food words to know in Matsumoto (Nagano)

Basashi is raw meat. If you are pregnant, or have been told to avoid raw meat or fish, choose a cooked dish instead. If you have a food allergy, see our guide to food allergies in Japan before you order. The legal drinking age in Japan is 20.

Make a day of it: the castle and Kamikochi (Nagano)

Matsumoto Castle is in the same city center, so a castle visit and dinner fit into one afternoon and evening: see what to expect inside Matsumoto Castle. If you're heading into the mountains the next day, read how to get to Kamikochi (Nagano) by bus or taxi first.

Last reviewed: October 24, 2026. Hours, prices and closing days change. Please check the official pages before you go.