Savor Traditional Food Culture and Local Specialties! 11 Popular Restaurants in Iwate

Founded in 1960, Hatsukoma Main Store is known for its signature all-you-can-eat wanko soba, enjoyed with lively banter from the servers.
Among the options, the All-You-Can-Eat Wanko Soba Sakura set, which comes with tempura and fruit and requires advance reservation, is especially popular.
The soba comes with a wide variety of condiments such as bonito flakes, grated yam, nameko mushrooms, and grated daikon, which is part of the appeal.

Bashokan is located in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, a cultural town known for preserving its historic landscape.
It is known as the original restaurant for the “moridashi-style” wanko soba. At Bashokan, the wanko soba does not come with a server.
Instead, the equivalent of two zaru soba servings is divided into 24 small bowls and served that way.
It is also known for its deep flavor. Another appealing feature is that the bowls used are made with Hiraizumi lacquerware known as Hidehira-nuri.

Founded in 1923, Wanko Soba Yabuya Hanamaki Sohonten is a long-established favorite.
It is also known as a famous restaurant once visited by Kenji Miyazawa, the poet and children’s story writer from Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture.
Its signature wanko soba is offered in different categories for junior high school students and older, elementary school students, and preschool children.
Every course comes with a server, and the empty bowls are stacked in front of you as you eat.
Another unique feature of Wanko Soba Yabuya Hanamaki Sohonten is that every customer who orders receives a “big eater certificate.”

Founded in 1907, this long-established soba restaurant has preserved the tradition of wanko soba in Morioka for many years.
Its wanko soba is served in a style where bite-sized portions of soba are tossed one after another into your bowl in time with the server’s calls.
The serving continues until you close the lid to signal “I’m done.” In addition to green onions and seaweed, condiments include tuna sashimi, nameko with grated daikon, seasoned ground chicken, and grated yam, letting you enjoy a wide range of flavors.

Yakiniku, Reimen Hige is a yakiniku restaurant serving Korean cuisine.
Its Morioka reimen, made with special noodles, house-made soup, and kimchi, is a standard menu item and one of the most frequently ordered dishes.
Among the yakiniku menu, the tender and juicy wagyu kalbi is the most popular.

Founded in 1954, Ganso Pyongyang Reimen Shokudoen is a restaurant where you can enjoy Morioka reimen and yakiniku.
It is known as the birthplace of Morioka reimen and continues to preserve its tradition.
The signature dish is Morioka reimen, featuring translucent noodles made by blending flour and kneading by hand, along with a deeply flavorful soup made from beef bones, beef, and chicken bones.
You can choose from four spice levels, “very hot,” “hot,” “regular,” and “separate spicy,” allowing you to adjust it to your preference.

Pyonpyonsha serves yakiniku and Korean home-style dishes made with carefully selected ingredients from Iwate’s mountains and sea.
Its signature dish is Morioka reimen, a local specialty of Morioka.
It features smooth, easy-to-slurp noodles with a springy texture and a light yet richly flavorful soup.

Don no Mise Oikawa Miyako City Gyosai Market Branch is located inside Miyako City Gyosai Market.
This rice bowl specialty restaurant is inside a market lined with fresh local seafood landed from offshore Sanriku and other areas.
A popular menu item is the Miyako Kaisendon.
This luxurious rice bowl is generously topped with fresh seafood from Sanriku, allowing you to enjoy a variety of seafood.

Kitagawa Shokudo is a seafood restaurant in Tanohata Village, Iwate Prefecture, serving a variety of dishes made with seafood landed locally from the Sanriku coast.
Among its rice bowls, the standout is the Fresh Uni Don topped with fresh sea urchin from Tanohata. You can choose the amount of sea urchin based on your preference, from 90g to 120g, 150g, or 180g. It is available only during the peak season from early May to the end of August.

A yakiniku restaurant directly operated by the meat wholesaler Yamacho Meat, specializing in Iwate Tankaku Beef, known for being low in fat and rich in umami.
You can enjoy this rare short-horned cattle raised in Iwaizumi, Kuji, and Ninohe at reasonable local prices.
Much of the menu features tankaku beef, with a wide variety of cuts from lean meat to offal.

A wagyu restaurant located in Maesawa, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture.
It is known as a restaurant directly operated by Ogata Farm and registered as an “Iwate Local Production for Local Consumption Restaurant.”
The menu is wide-ranging, offering dishes such as yakiniku, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, and steak.
Menu items such as the Gyusho Ogata Special Selected Whole Cow Platter, grilled on a lava plate, let you enjoy the meat’s natural flavor.