B-grade gourmet food

Enjoy the famous soft serve ice cream at Marukan Building Dai Shokudo! [Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture]

  • natsuki natsuki
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Marukan Building Dai Shokudo, located in Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture, is famous for its 10-layer soft serve ice cream roll. It is a large restaurant with a retro Showa-era atmosphere that serves everything from ramen to sushi and Western food

When I was traveling to Hanamaki, I really wanted to try this soft serve ice cream so I stopped by, and it was a nostalgic space for the Showa generation and an emotional space for the Heisei and Reiwa generations

This time, we will introduce you to the Marukan Building Dining Hall

Hanamaki City, where the Marukan Building Dining Hall is located

the Iwate Prefecture Tourism Portal SiteFrom

Hanamaki City is located almost in the center of Iwate Prefecture. It is a key hub of the high-speed transportation network, with the prefecture's only airport, Iwate Hanamaki Airport, Shin-
Hanamaki Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, and the Tohoku Expressway and Tohoku Transverse Expressway. It is one of Tohoku's leading hot spring areas, with Hanamaki Onsenkyo, a hot spring resort that has been popular for its therapeutic waters since ancient times, Towa Onsen, which springs up in the Kitakami Mountains, and Himawari Onsen, which is rich in negative ions. Sake brewing is
also thriving in the city, and it has produced many famous sake brewers, with the Nanbu Toji being counted as one of Japan's three greatest sake brewers.

Hanamaki City has produced many famous people

known for his fairy tales and poemsthe birthplace of Kenji Miyazawa,is famous asthe Kenji Miyazawa Memorial Museumandthe Kenji Miyazawa Fairy Tale VillageThere are facilities scattered throughout the city where you can trace Miyazawa's footsteps, such as

famous for his portrait on the old 5,000 yenInazo Nitobe, andKotaro Takamura, author of the poetry collection "Chieko-sho." These figuresOther notable figures you've likely heard of include

are both active in Major League Baseball,Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi, whoare graduates of Hanamaki Higashi High School. They spent their youth in Hanamaki.

Monument commemorating the selection of Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Ohtani

Hanamaki Higashi High School, the alma mater of Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Ohtani, has a monument with their handprints on it.

the "2021 MLB All-Star Game,"To commemorate being selected forHanamaki Onsenkyo presented this to Hanamaki Higashi High School. Apparently, students can even compare it to their own hands.

Both of them excelled in both academics and sports, andhad outstanding grades. I hope to emulate their success.

Hanamaki Higashi High School <Information>

  • Name: Hanamaki Higashi High School Ground, behind the back net
  • Address: 55-1 Matsuzonocho, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture Hanamaki Baseball Stadium No. 2 Parking Lot in front of Hanamaki Higashi High School
  • Access: 7 minutes by car from Hanamaki Station, 18 minutes by car from Shin-Hanamaki Station
    . *Please be respectful when visiting, as it is located on the grounds of Hanamaki Higashi High School.

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The good old Marukan Building restaurant from the Showa era

the Iwate Prefecture Tourism Portal SiteFrom

The Marukan Building Grand Dining Hall opened in 1973 as a restaurant on the 6th floor of the Marukan Department Store (commonly known as Marukan Department Store).However, in the summer of 2015, it was determined to be unsuitable for earthquake resistance, making its continued operation difficult, and it closed down in June 2016.

Following a petition by local high school students in Hanamaki to keep the cafeteria open, and growing calls from citizens to close it,the large cafeteria on the 6th floor reopened in February 2017.Kamimachi Yamorisha Co., Ltd. raised over 20 million yen through crowdfunding. It's clear that this cafeteria is beloved by the community.

When you go to the cafeteria on the 6th floor, you'll be greeted by a display case full of food samples. The cafeteria is very spacious, and the tables, chairs, lighting, chopstick holders, and everything else are very emotional. It's as if you've traveled back in time to the Showa era. The waitresses' costumes are also very cute, making it feel like a Showa-era maid cafe

After choosing your menu from the retro food samples, purchase your meal ticket at the register. The spacious restaurant has 580 seats. On the day I visited, it was bustling with tourists as well as many local customers

Marukan Building Dai Shokudo's specialty soft serve ice cream

When you think of soft serve ice cream, you probably imagine something that melts quickly and is soft, right?
Butthe 10-tiered soft serve ice cream at Marukan Building's Grand Dining Hallis different. I watched them making it, and the way they stretched the cream and stacked it 10 times was just like Turkish ice cream. Itapparently about 25 centimeters tall's

The towering, generously sized soft-serve ice cream is meant to be eaten with chopsticks, the "Hanamaki style"!I, too, used chopsticks to enjoy it.
The soft-serve ice cream, made slightly firm, has a smooth and not-too-rich texture, so you can finish it in no time. That said, it's quite a large portion, so my child and I enjoyed it together.

Apparently, when this soft serve ice cream was first sold, it was a standard size. The founder of the former Marukan Department Store had a catchphrase of "make it piled high" so that customers would be pleased. However, during a TV interview, an excited staff member decided to "pile it high" and roll the ice cream in 10 layers, which is how it all began. It's interesting that this has now become a local specialty!

Popular menu items are Marukan Ramen and Napoli Pork Cutlet

The Marukan Building's main dining hall boasts an astonishing selection of over 110 items, including ramen, set meals, Japanese food, Western food, and desserts.The sheer variety is truly amazing!

My main reason for visiting was to try the soft serve ice cream, but there were many locals enjoying their meals nearby

Upon researching their popular menu items,Marukan Ramen and Neapolitan Cutlet are highly recommended.
Marukan Ramen is a spicy ramen dish with plenty of vegetables, mushrooms, and fish cake.
Neapolitan Cutlet is very filling. It comes with a generous portion of Neapolitan spaghetti and a whole freshly fried cutlet that is cut to order. The same plate also comes with a generous portion of salad. It's a very satisfying meal. These
are popular menu items that often sell out, so it's recommended to visit early.

Chocolate banana crepe that Shohei Ohtani also tried

The success of the Japanese national team at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is still fresh in our memories

In anticipation of Shohei Ohtani's success in the WBC,the crepes that Ohtani often ate during his time at Hanamaki Higashi High School have been revived at the Marukan Building's main cafeteria,which has become a hot topic.

It turns out that the chocolate banana crepe that Shohei Ohtani also ate was sold at a food court in a shopping mall in Hanamaki City. In 2022, that food court closed down, but Marukan Building's Grand Cafeteria revived it using the same ingredients and method.
They learned the recipe from the company that sold it, and even acquired the 40cm diameter crepe-making machine that was used, faithfully recreating the taste and texture of the original crepe.

The limited-edition crepes were reportedly sold out every day. They are now available for purchase through the online shop. (Information as of July 2023)
I would love to try the crepes that Shohei Ohtani also ate!

summary

Marukan Building Restaurant is located in the heart of Hanamaki, but the area was rather quiet with few people around, giving it a somewhat lonely feel. However, the restaurant on the 6th floor was bustling with customers, creating a space that felt like a time slip back to the Showa era!
It's sad to see the good old days of shopping streets disappearing, not just in Hanamaki but in many other areas as well.
I hope that Marukan Building Restaurant, which is loved by everyone, will continue to be loved for many years to come!

Marukan Building Cafeteria <Information>

  • Name: Marukan Building Dining Hall
  • Address: 6-2 Kamimachi, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture
  • Phone number: 0198-29-5588
  • Business hours: Weekdays 11:00-15:30 (last orders 15:00) Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays 11:00-18:30 (last orders 18:00)
  • Official URL:Kamimachi Yamori-sha – Marukan Building Grand Dining Hall

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