This site is a web media that delivers all kinds of trivia, from sightseeing and gourmet spots in the six Tohoku prefectures to local, customs, and history.
In addition to the recommended travel spots in Morioka City introduced in The New York Times' "52 Places to Go in 2023,"
This time, we will introduce some gourmet spots where you can try the soul food that locals highly recommend if you come to Morioka
What is the soul food loved by Morioka residents?
Morioka's soul food includes many other dishes besides the three major noodles (reimen, jajamen, and wankosoba)
Here we will introduce you to soul food that has been loved in Morioka since before the Showa era, and the restaurants that serve it
Fukuda Bread (sweet bread, savory bread)
Located in a residential area a 15-minute walk from Morioka Station, this long-established bakery has been baking fluffy and moist koppepan (soft French bread) since 1948 (Showa 23)
You can choose from over 50 different toppings, including sweet ones like jam, cream, and red bean paste, as well as savory ones like ham, cutlet, and Neapolitan, and you can even combine two of them at the store
Its volume has made it a soul food that has satisfied the appetites of Morioka students, but in recent years it has been featured on television gourmet programs and has become known nationwide
In addition to the main store, there are also demonstration sales at Morioka Station and Nakanobashi store (inside Morioka Bus Center), and while the classic "anko butter" is sold in supermarkets in the city, it is said that the taste is better when spread on the cake in the store
Fukuda Pan <Information>
Facility name: Fukuda Pan Nagatamachi Main Store
Address: 12-11 Nagatamachi, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
Business hours: 7:00-16:00
Closed: Tuesday
Phone number: 019-622-5896
URL: None
Google Map
Sekiguchiya Confectionery Shop (Morioka Dagashi)
From the official website of Sekiguchiya Confectionery
This is a long-established store founded in 1893 (Meiji 26), and is now run by the fourth generation
Morioka dagashi are simple, everyday sweets made from local ingredients such as rice, beans, and sesame, and flavored with starch syrup and brown sugar. We will introduce some of the most representative sweets made here, which have a natural flavor and no additives
Shochuto: A candy made from boiled sugar with shochu liquor inside (be careful of the alcohol content!)
Miso bread: a baked confectionery made from a mixture of brown sugar, wheat flour, and miso
Ishigura: A sweet made from dried bean paste that is then coated with sugar
In addition to these, we also recommend the dumplings, which are made fresh every day
In Morioka, soul foods include "shoyu dango," which is flavored only with soy sauce, which is different from "mitarashi," and "ochamichi," which is made by skewering two or three dango dumplings, crushing them thinly, and frying them with a soy sauce or miso-flavored walnut sauce
Sekiguchiya Confectionery Shop <Information>
Facility name: Sekiguchiya Confectionery Shop
Location: 2-3 Shinmeicho, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
This is a sweet shop that serves delicious hittsumi, a soul food not only of Morioka but also of Iwate Prefecture
It is a dish similar to "suiton" and "hoto," in which a thin layer of dough is made from wheat flour kneaded with water, torn into pieces by hand, and boiled in broth. Depending on the region, it contains various ingredients such as chicken, mushrooms, and vegetables
Takashimaya's hittsumi is soy sauce flavored, but there are also various other flavors, including sweet ones
Other delicious dishes include katsudon (pork cutlet rice bowls) and curry, as well as sweet red bean soup and walnut mochi (rice cakes with sweet red bean paste). Pizza mochi, a long-time favorite of students from nearby Morioka First High School, is also popular, and shaved ice is also recommended in the summer
Takashimaya <Information>
Facility name: Takashimaya
Address: 1-10-6 Ueda, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
A famous soul food that has captured the hearts of Morioka residents for many years, "A la Montan" is an extra-thick, chewy spaghetti in a spicy tomato soup that uses the same ingredients as Neapolitan
The thick noodles are well coated with the tomato soup, the melted cheese adds umami and saltiness, and the bacon cut into slightly larger pieces adds a nice accent to the flavor
Behind the restaurant is the remains of the cherry blossom-lined moat of Morioka Castle, where you can enjoy à la montant while viewing the flowers in spring
Montan <Information>
Facility name: Montan
Address: 6-2 Uchimaru, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
In fact, this restaurant is the origin of the popular hamburger restaurant "Bikkuri Donkey," which has now become a nationwide chain!
It opened in the city in 1968 (Showa 43) as "Bell, a Hamburger and Salad Shop," and initially served hamburgers, which were still rare in Japan
However, three years later, a certain major hamburger chain appeared in Japan, so he gave up on hamburgers and began researching ways to create something new
In 1973, they established the "Bikkuri Donkey" style, which consists of a hamburger steak, salad, and rice served on a plate
The first official Donkey chain store was the Nishino store in Sapporo, so this ``Bell'' is the root of Donkey
This restaurant is characterized by its unique interior design and Japanese-style tatami seating, so if you're a fan of Bikkuri Donkey, why not visit this holy land?
Hamburger Bell ＜Information＞
Facility name: Hamburger Bell Odori store
Address: 1-4-7 Odori, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
This long-established apiary has been producing honey for over 120 years since its founding in 1901 (Meiji 34), and its high-quality honey is still loved by locals even in the Reiwa era
The company has several apiaries at the foot of Mt. Hayachine, east of Morioka, and within Morioka city itself, and since the Heisei era it has begun placing beehives on the rooftops of buildings around the Imperial Palace to harvest honey, attracting attention for its hands-on guidance in the Ginza Honeybee Project
From the official Fujiwara Bee Farm website
You can sample over 40 types of honey collected from various flowers at the main store in Wakazonocho, within the city
Unfortunately, Gelato One, a popular eatery located next to the main store that offers soft serve ice cream, oyaki, and other treats in its eat-in space, is currently closed until the COVID-19 pandemic is over (as of February 1, 2023)
Fujiwara Bee Farm <Information>
Facility name: Fujiwara Bee Farm
Address: 3-10 Wakazonocho, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
Tyrol opened in 1967 (Showa 42) as a coffee shop on a main street in the downtown area
Before long, the main street became a hotbed of coffee shops, and Tyrol, seeking something unique, perfected the cheesecake that was becoming popular in Japan at the time through trial and error. It has now become so popular that it is called Morioka's soul food
There are over 20 different flavors of cheesecake available, but the most popular is the plain baked type, which allows you to taste the richness of French cheese.When you put it in your mouth with a spoon, the fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth texture is irresistible
In addition to the direct stores at Odori Store, Yamagishi Store, and Morioka Station Building Fezan Store, as well as online purchase, it can also be purchased at Morioka Station, Hanamaki Airport, and other locations
Tyrol Cheesecake <Information>
Facility name: Cheesecake Tirol Odori store
Address: 1-10-21 Odori, Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
All of the restaurants introduced in this article are known to all Morioka residents, and offer soul food that visitors to Morioka should enjoy along with the three major noodles and coffee
All of these shops are located close to restaurants that have been featured in the New York Times, such as Nagasawa Coffee, Azumaya, BOOKNERD, and Kaiunbashi no Johnny
Although they are all considered B-grade gourmet foods, they are soul food that has a firm hold on the hearts of Morioka residents
I am a former Edo guy who loves Morioka, loves the six prefectures of Tohoku, and loves history, gourmet food, travel, sports, alcohol, and singing. We'll introduce you to some interesting, delicious, and good things about Tohoku!
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