Maruka Ryokan

Established in 1945, Yutakaya Ryokan has gained a reputation as an inn which serves rich harvest of the sea and the mountains full of rustic flavours, and beautifully presented, modern, creative cuisines. Close to Sado Kisen's Ryotsu Ferry Terminal, the inn is a convenient base for sightseeing. Yutakaya Ryokan enjoys popularity among fishers and divers. The inn also welcomes solo travellers who wish to stay without any meal plans, and ideal for business travellers.

Christianity is considered to have been brought to Sado first in the Edo Period (1603-1867). Ryotsu Catholic Church was founded by a French Christian missionary, Fr. Drouart De Lezey. It was burnt down once in 1883, but was reconstructed by a missionary, De Noailles, in 1887. The church building was designed by Father Papino, who designed many churches in Japan.

As the signboard bearing "Izuei Bekkan (annex)" suggests, the long-established eel restaurant "Izuei" in Ueno Ikenohata, Tokyo, is the owner of the hotel. The hotel is located in the bustling areas in Ryotsu Ebisu, and offers a perfect setting for sightseeing and business. The hotel houses a restaurant with a view on the sixth floor, where not only hotel guests but also non-hotel guests can dine. You can enjoy the panoramic view over Lake Kamo and Osado mountains, while feasting on dishes including Unaju, rice with grilled eel in a lacquer box.

Initially started as a restaurant in the Ansei Era of the Edo Period (1854-60), Yoshidaya is now a long-established Japanese-style inn with a hot spa drawing from the thermal waters of Sado Kamoko Onsen's hot springs. Seasonally scenic views over Lake Kamo and the Osado Mountains, as well as the view at dusk from an open-air bath fed with natural thermal waters continuously flowing from the source, are sights to behold. Multi-course dinners of Japanese cuisine feature Sado's seafood, and our uncompromising attitude toward nourishment, passed down from the time of its foundation, adds color to your table.

CAFE Yotsuba opened on the Ebisu's shopping street where old-established stores stand. It is enjoying increasing popularity with absolutely delicious food. At lunchtime, the kitchen serves three options of lunch, one plate lunch, pasta and curry with rice. In the evening it transforms into a bistro serving à la carte dishes incuding appetizers, pasta, and main courses, along with wine, cocktails and whiskies. Carefully handcrafted desserts taste great, too.

At Imari, you can feast on local, specialty cuisine made from the ingredients of Sado's mountains and surrounding sea. Imari is an ever-popular restaurant, well-known in Ryotsu, offering a variety of menu items, like its acclaimed lunch-of-the-day, as well as classic dishes usually found at izakayas (Japanese-style pubs). You will be greeted by a hospitable okami hostess, and, in a setting embellished with Imari ware, farming tools and household goods, you feel like you have wandered into an unusual space. Rice balls and bento box lunches, prepared at Imari, are available to buy aboard Sado Kisen ferries.

Shiratsuyu offers plenty of seafood directly delivered from the source and caught by the master's acquaintance fisherman. You can enjoy seasonal delights such as Iwagaki summer oysters on top of sashimi and grilled fish. The classic menus including meat and potato stew are cooked so that the ingredients absorb flavours, and go well with alcoholic drinks. Okijiru (Alaska pollack soup) and tarajiru (cod soup) prepared by the hostess, the daughter of a fisherman, offers an authentic taste that only she can make. They have a variety of local Japanese sake produced at five sake breweries in Sado on offer.