Yamanoo Bettei Ryokusone

After staying at Ryokusone back in October, 2019, we decided that another stay was in order, for 3 seasons. 1) We intended to tour Kanazawa once more; 2) We had fond memories of the awesome dining experience at Ryokusone; and 3) While Kanazawa is a world-class tourist destination, there is a dearth of luxury options in the area. Ryokusone is not situated in the center of Kanazawa - it's situated atop a small hill overlooking the city, and is about a 10 minute drive to the main Higashi Chaya District and Kenrokuen Garden. If you're idea of a perfect ryokan stay requires easy walking to the main tourist attractions, then Ryokusone is definitely not for you. We had a rental car (just like last time) so it was not a major inconvenience for us. The property was the same as last time. It's very traditional in look and feel (especially its entrance, reception area and even the door to our room), but done in a tasteful manner and is not at all worn down. It also shares the same shortcomings as it always had; namely, no real property grounds to speak of (it's in Kanazawa, so you'd kind of hope for a pretty little garden) and no Onsen (natural hot springs bath) either in the room or in a communal bathing area (which there is none.) We booked the same room as before - Special Room Yamaboushi (山法師), a 2 story maisonette-style room that has the bedroom located on the upper floor. We generally prefer non-loft-style suites, but we're even more keen on maximum space, and Yamaboushi is the top category (and most spacious) suite among the 7 rooms in the ryokan. The room itself is a mixture of old and new. Yamaboushi has some stunning decorations, especially the massive wall mural in the bedroom. But while it does have very traditional elements, it does offer modern amenities and creature comforts. There are 2 queen size beds, and a sofa and cofee table in the living room, so it's Western in lifestyle. Two knocks against it are the lack of any real desk, a severe lack of power outlets and there being only one sink in the bathroom. Aside from that, there's not much to complain about. There's even an outdoor bath that is free-flowing temperature-regulated (so you don't have to fill it up each time you want to jump in), which is very convenient, despite it not being an Onsen. We were really looking forward to dinner, and were pleased to see that same head chef that was responsible for our meal during our previous visit. While it did live up to expectations, for some reason we did not find it to be quite as spectacular as we experienced the previous time, and I'm not sure why. My guess is that seasonal produce and seafood are just not as good in June as it is compared to the Spring, Winter and (especially) Fall seasons. For instance, Nodoguro (Blackthroat Seaperch) was applied to three different courses - we absolutely love this delicacy of a Fish, but if there were other incredible seafood offerings, I would guess that the head chef would've gone for more variety w