Matsuyama Sea Bream Ramen Manpuku 松山鯛拉麵萬福久 (Matsuyama, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Our 16-hour stay in Matsuyama was about to draw to a close, but we still had one last attraction pinned on the map — Matsuyama City Castle (松山城). As a perfectionist, I really wanted to check it off my list, so without thinking twice, we got the team to the cable car station right underneath the famed castle.

But little nugget insisted we grab a quick lunch first.

Matsuyama is famous for its sea bream dishes because its home prefecture, Ehime, yields Japan's largest hauls of red sea bream, giving the city direct access to incredibly fresh, high-quality fish. Because of this, red sea bream-themed restaurants can be found everywhere in town.

Matsuyama Sean Bream Ramen Manpuku (松山鯛ラーメン万福久), a sea bream broth ramen specialist was just around the corner where we parked our car.

By noon, the ramen shop was already filling up nicely.

Thick sea bream shio ramen (880 yen) — The broth was nearly clear, yet rich in fish flavor and collagen. 

To my pleasant surprise, it wasn’t overly salty like I first expected. Rather, it was quite easy on the palate.

The noodles were clinging to the broth beautifully, absorbing the essence of the sea bream-based soup as they went.

A bamboo shoot ribbon!

The small slice of velvety sea bream fillet that was soft and delicate.

The pork belly char siu was pretty smoky although not as intense as the one we had yesterday.

The marinated soft-boiled egg was pretty nice.

All in all, the star of the ramen was the sea bream broth, absolutely bursting with flavor. The sea bream slice, char siu, bamboo shoot, and egg were enjoyable, but it was the broth that truly stood out — nothing short of the highlight.

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: ￥￥

Address: 3-6-4 Okaido, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-0004, Japan

Closest Tram Station: Okaido

Tel: +81 (0)89-931-8122

Website: https://w-harmony.jp/shop/manpuku/

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 5:00pm (Wed - Mon)

Coffee Kan 珈琲館 Matsuchika店 (Matsuyama, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Coffee Kan (珈琲館) is a Japanese-style coffee shop I became familiar with from my travels in Osaka. It has more than 200 branches across Japan, and some — including its flagship in Osaka — are open 24 hours a day.

I’m not really a morning coffee person, but I love having breakfast while my team is still asleep on my trips. And Coffee Kan is often there exactly when I need it.

That was the case again today. I spotted a Coffee Kan in the underground shopping streets of Matsuchika (directly connected to Matsuyama City Station), just a short walk from my hotel, and decided to get my milk tea fix early. Not surprisingly, the shop wasn’t busy this early.

Royal milk tea — Japanese people are pretty big on Earl Grey, and this was a variation loosely labeled as “Royal Milk tea”. I found the tea a little strong, and at times slightly astringent. As much as I love silky-smooth milk tea, I’m not always in the mood for rich, bold tea flavors especially on an empty stomach in the morning.

Scrambled egg with ham — This breakfast plate came with the usual scrambled eggs, ham, a small bowl of salad, and toast. I figured that would be enough to carry me through the afternoon.

We were supposed to head to Kanonji (觀音市) for an early lunch but obviously, everybody wanted to spend more time in Matsuyama and rightfully so, considering that we only got here at around dinner time last night.

Price: ￥￥

Address: 5-1-1 Minatomachi, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-0012, Japan

Closest Train Station: Matsuyama City

Tel: +81 (0)89-945-4908

Website: https://c-united.co.jp/store/detail/087101/

Opening Hours: 7:00am - 8:00pm daily

REF Matsuyama City Station by Vessel Hotels (Matsuyama, JAPAN)

Our tempura dinner took a little longer than expected to finish so by the time we arrived at REF Matsuyama City Station by Vessel Hotels, it was already 9:30pm. Almost time to crash!

To out a further delay on our rest time, we soon found out that the hotel didn't have any onsite parking (nor was there underground parking at Matsuyama City Station). So after much deliberation among our team members, we decided to find a temporary parking space, unloaded our luggage, and headed up for our check-in first (and returned for the car).

Fortunately, check-in was pretty quick. In fact, we were probably the only group that hadn’t arrived yet, so the key cards were already waiting for us at the front desk.

We quickly grabbed a few complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste, and off we go to our separate rooms from the second-floor lobby.

For a room of about 22 square meters, I didn't expect a lot of space to wiggle around.

Other than the two small single beds, there wasn't much furniture around.

The color palette — white and light wood — plus the simple linens reminded me of a hotel I've stayed in Tokyo before by the name of Karaksa Hotel Tokyo Station.

Not surprisingly, there was no room in the bathroom for the basin.

The bathroom itself looked pretty boring.

The only real “surprise” came from the temperature control. We had a hard time locating the controller on the wall, but eventually mystery solved... it was installed on the ceiling. (But later, we found the remote control, so that explained everything.)

Most of us didn't particularly enjoy the stay, partially due to our late arrival. I personally didn't like the mattress (it was pretty thin so not enough support for the back) and pillows. But hey, tomorrow is another day. The city view from the window was pretty nice.

I also love the abundance of hangers mounted on the wall.

And the ceiling-to-floor window from the hotel lobby, it's almost like a scenic painting of Matsuyama.

While there were definitely some positives in the interior design of REF Matsuyama City Station by Vessel Hotels, it still didn’t feel like it justified the steep price tag for the 12 hours we spent there.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: 5-2 Minatomachi, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-0012, Japan

Closest Train Station: Matsuyama City

Tel: +81 (0)89-915-8111

Website: https://www.vessel-hotel.jp/ref/matsuyama/