A Lunch Trek Into The Mountains West of Tokyo

There are days when you just want to get away, and so on a lazy Sunday recently I really needed a dose of nature. If you know me you will know that I love to explore Tokyo's many-faceted neighborhoods. But on this particular day I wanted to go in the opposite direction of the city, which is, from where I live, west. 

I took a look at Google Maps for the far reaches of western Tokyo and found a little town nestled in the mountains called Sagamiko. This sleepy little hamlet is situated next to Lake Sagami, which is fed by the Sagami River.

Other than checking out the lake, what else is there, I wondered? I was thinking I'd grab lunch somewhere there, and explore a little here and there. Well, I found a cute little restaurant called Sato Plus, or as the sign said, 里＋. I could see some pictures of the menu online, and was intrigued by how eclectic it was. I had to check it out!

I could see on the map that the restaurant was pretty far away from the station, but I noticed that there was a bus stop practically right in front of the restaurant, so what the heck!  At least it won't be a big deal getting there. I could not persuade my wife to join me, so I was off on my own for another adventure out west.

It's a pretty direct route to get to Sagamiko from where I live near Mitaka. All I had to do was get on the Chuo Line, and switch at Takao for a Chuo Line train that went all the way out to Otsuki. Sagamiko is the second stop after Takao.

Next step was to jump on the #23 bus towards Yoshino. I had to wait a little, but within 15 minutes a bus showed up at the station, and so I jumped on, and off we went. I should say off I went, as I was the only person on the bus that was not the driver.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, I sat down at one of the two counter seats that face the lake. Not the greatest view, but I could see bits of water beyond the houses and trees doing their best to hide the lake.

The menu at Sato Plus was indeed as eclectic as I expected, even more so frankly. There was taco rice from Okinawa, biryani rice from India, and a quesadilla from Mexico! They even make their own spaghetti noodles!

There were other things on that menu that, well, I'll let you discover yourself if you visit. I had the quesadilla, which came with a salad, rice, and other little goodies on the plate. It was truly delicious. The quesadilla came in two thick pieces with a combination of stuff inside that really made it taste traditional and unique at the same time. I also had their house-made lemonade, which was carbonated.

Was it worth making this trip all the way out here for lunch at Sato Plus? You bet it was!

After lunch I took a walk over to the bridge that crosses the lake. I looked for a name but I could not find one, and later I looked on Google Maps and the bridge was unnamed. In any case, the view of the lake from the bridge was quite nice.

It was getting about time to head back to the station, but the bus service was terminated sometime earlier in the afternoon. Uh oh. It was a Sunday so I guess that should not have been a surprise. I saw a hotel on the other side of the bridge so I thought I'd walk over there and see if I could get a taxi. That did not work out - it was more of a love hotel, and no taxi stand, just quiet.

So walked back over the bridge and started to walk back towards the station, but it is really a long walk, and the space at the sides of the road was narrow and frankly dangerous. I did not get far upon realizing that, so I walked up to a gas station. The young fellow standing there looking at me walking up to him was probably panicking in his head, what do I say to this foreigner? But I got across to him in my primitive Japanese that I needed a taxi, and he helped me get one. My hero!

After I got dropped off at the station, I had almost a half hour before the train for Tokyo would arrive, so I took a walk down to the lake to see if I could get some nice pictures.

Well, that was my little lunch trek out west. Sometimes you have to get away to clear your mind, right? Might as well have a tasty lunch at the same time! Tell them Charlie sent you LOL!