This is a Spa located on the third floor of the newly established Umeji-ta Green Place. The facility has just opened, so it's probably quite crowded. I thought about taking my time to explore the nearby shops, but after a brief inspection in the afternoon, I felt that it was actually relatively empty. So, I decided to give it a try and visit.
As mentioned earlier, it is located on the third floor of Umekitada Green Place. The north side of the store has glass windows, probably so that customers can enjoy watching the fireworks displays along the Yodo River. Perhaps, during this year’s fireworks festival, the store might be fully booked through reservations. In fact, I tried to find another place where you could watch the fireworks and check if there were any available reservations, but I couldn’t get any.
The restaurant is newly opened, so it’s very clean and tidy. The ceiling is high, and there’s a spacious area without any partitions. At the back of the building, there’s a large mirror, which makes the interior seem twice as large. The north side is glassed in, so you can see the view of the park. It’s likely that you’ll also be able to watch fireworks displays. Having a park on the north side creates a very open and inviting view. With a park behind it, and high-rise buildings in the background, it’s a truly exciting sight. Surprisingly, the place became quite crowded around 7 PM, with almost all tables occupied. However, there wasn’t much noise. Of course, conversations became difficult to understand. Therefore, it’s better to book your place in advance.
The service is also excellent. The knowledge of the products is solid. When asked, "What do you recommend?" they don’t give a response that defies expectations like "Every dish is delicious." Instead, they provide clear recommendations, saying things like "This and this are our recommended dishes." It seems that their training is thorough, or perhaps there were customers who asked such questions and they prepared accordingly. Or maybe it just comes down to the personality of the staff member who handled the request. Regardless, I can say that I received extremely good, pleasant service.
The ordering is done through a system that allows customers to place orders via their smartphones. As mentioned below, this time I reserved a meal plan, so when I ordered, I only placed orders for drinks. When ordering wine-related drinks, it took me some effort to determine whether the drink should be ordered in a bottle or a glass. Well, if someone told me that it would be clear just by looking at the price, then that’s what I did. But since all the images showed drinks ordered in bottles… ← Maybe this isn’t accurate, but that’s what I remember.
This time, I have reserved a dinner course costing 4,500 yen. The menu consists of 6 items in total, with 3 types of starters, as well as main dishes, rice dishes, and desserts to choose from. However, there are so many options that it can be quite overwhelming. Of course, while sipping a drink before eating, pondering what to have for dinner is indeed an exciting experience, but for those who aren’t used to it, it might be a bit stressful.
Especially the rice dishes. When it comes to Spain, paella is a common dish, but this restaurant also serves Mejorado and Cordero. As for paella, I think there’s no need for further explanation. Mejorado is a dish with a lot of broth, resembling a risotto, while Cordero has plenty of broth and has a more stew-like texture. This time, I chose the Cordero option. However, since all other dishes also had a lot of broth, the images in the attached files don’t show the actual dishes properly. Sorry for the inconvenience. (^^ゞ
Later on, I took the menu and checked it again. Oh my God, there’s a dish called Fidivua—a pasta-based dish that resembles pasta with a base of pappa. I thought to myself, “Next time, I’ll order Fidivua…” After all, I prefer Fidivua over pappa. ← As for the main course, Fidivua wasn’t among the options.
In terms of price per portion, this restaurant is quite expensive. Even for men with a strong appetite, they might feel that the portion sizes are too large. If two people go together, they might not be able to finish everything.
Alcoholic beverages. When visiting Spain, spritzes like Cava are provided as a standard option. Also, sherries are available… It seems that Finos and Parador de Puerto were not on the menu, but it's nice to have Oloroso and cream available. Of course, the most satisfying thing was having chacolí available. Traditionally, chacolí is served from a height of about 20 centimeters using an escancha method. Being able to witness such a performance was truly fulfilling… But, of course, it's difficult to do this in a table setting.
Also, regarding some minor details, it seems that the Spanish specialty, green wine (Viñó Verde), was not available... There was an orange wine, however...
The customer value per order is higher, but this is because we drink beer, chardonnay, white wine, red wine, and sherry. If we just drink normally, I think the cost would be more reasonable.
