Aselya, The First Halal Restaurant in Matsumoto City, Nagano

The restaurant which serves Russian and Central Asian foods

Written by Sri Een Hartatik san

Matsumoto city is a small and peaceful city located in Nagano Prefecture Japan. I visited Matsumoto-city during golden week in May 2016. Not only rich in culture and history, Matsumoto city which located in mountainous area also has gorgeous scenery.

During my two days visit, I visited the famous Matsumoto castle also known as the Crow Castle, the Daio Wasabi farm and then tried hiking in Kamikochi area.

At first, I was a little bit anxious to visit Matsumoto city because of the halal food. In Nagano prefecture, halal restaurants are mostly located in Nagano-city, the capital city. I was curious and then asked the information for halal restaurant in Matsumoto City tourism web site (http://welcome.city.matsumoto.nagano.jp/). They gave me the information about newly opened halal restaurant called “Aselya”.

Aselya is the first halal restaurant in Matsumoto city which served Russian and Central Asian foods. It is located not so far from Matsumoto-station, and can be accessed by walking for about 15 minutes.

When I came to this restaurant, one of the staff introduced himself and said that he comes from Kyrgyzstan. I have never tried Russian cooking, so I was very excited to try the menu. I tried the Russian bread filled with potato and chicken and it was delicious. After having my meals, they served me the Russian tea. I always like tea, and this Russian tea has the taste I never tried before. My visit in this restaurant was so valuable for me, because I had the chance to experience new food culture.

If you’re a mountain lover or Japanese castle lover, Matsumoto-city is a very nice place to visit!

While enjoying the trip, you can also try new food culture, isn’t that great?

Restaurant Aselya

*This restaurant is not Halal certified.
*Alcoholic drinks are sold.