December itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Aomori Day 2 Meal edition)
(Sunday, December 12)
Table of contents
1. Kurayoshi
I had meals in Kuroishi at the creative Japanese restaurant “Kurayoshi“. First of all, the impression of “Kurayoshi” was that it was the highest level restaurant in recent years for me. The food was delicious and the service of the waitresses was excellent. The store was renovated from a dozo store, so there was a profound feeling from the entrance.
I entered the store at the same time as it opened at 11 o’clock, but after that, more and more customers came in. Isn’t it the most popular restaurant in Kuroishi? I was also surprised that the menu was surprisingly rich. When I looked it up to write this blog, “Kurayoshi” was also used as a shooting location in the Aomori PR video of Japan Airlines.
First, I drank the craft beer “Aomori Ale” from Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture. “Aomori Ale” can only be drunk in Aomori Prefecture. Manufactured by Be Easy Brewing, a beer company founded in 2016 by former US Air Force Gareth Anson Burns. “Aomori Ale” is an American Wheat Ale with few breweries manufactured in Japan. It is a beer that uses wheat and has a mellow and gentle taste compared to the barley used in ordinary beer. I really like “Aomori Ale”.
For the “Aomori Ale” knob, I ordered “Igamenchi” and “Dake Kimi tempura”. “Igamenchi” is a local dish in the inland area of Tsugaru centered on Hirosaki City.Squid legs is beaten with a kitchen knife, mixed with seasonal vegetables, and baked or fried in oil. “Iga” is a Tsugaru dialect and means squid. It had a simple taste and was delicious.
“Dake Kimi” is a corn cultivated in the Dake plateau at the foot of Mt. Iwaki. It is the best corn brand with high sugar content due to the temperature difference of Mt. Iwaki. “Kimi” is a Tsugaru dialect and means corn. The sweet corn tempura went well with the beer and was very delicious.
After “Aomori Ale”, I ordered Kikunoi “Kyumaru” Junmai Ginjo’s first squeezed raw sake. Kikunoi is a long-established brewery in Kuroishi that I posted on January 13th. It is about a 3-minute walk from “Kurayoshi”. “Kyumaru” was a very delicious sake with a good taste.
The local gourmet of Kuroishi City is “Tsuyu Yakisoba”. One of the reasons I went to Kuroishi was to eat “Tsuyu Yakisoba”. “Tsuyu Yakisoba” is said to have started with soba soup sprinkled on Yakisoba so that it can be eaten warmly even on cold days. The noodles are thick and flat noodles, fried noodles fried in worcester sauce, sprinkled with soup, and topped with fried balls and green onions.
“Tsuyu Yakisoba” from “Kurayoshi” is characterized by the bonito broth unique to Japanese restaurants. The yakisoba sauce mixed with the bonito broth, and it was delicious like I had never experienced before. Thanks to the bonito broth, I was able to eat it refreshingly. I have eaten various local gourmet foods, but it was top class.
There is a menu of “Kurayoshi” that eats soba with sake instead of soba soup, so I asked for it. Certainly, it was a good menu for sake lovers because it saved me the trouble of eating and drinking soba and sake separately. However, the soba with soba soup was also delicious. I was very happy to eat soba with sake and soba soup alternately.
It was a great restaurant that made me want to go to Kuroishi City again just to go to “Kurayoshi”. I had a delicious meal.
2. Cafe Buruman
I returned from Kuroishi City to Hirosaki City and went to “Cafe Buruman” during the walk. I ordered a blended coffee and a homemade apple pie.
Apple pie is a famous confectionery unique to Aomori prefecture, the kingdom of apples. Hirosaki City also makes a “Hirosaki Apple Pie Map” and distributes it to tourists. The apple pie from “Café Buruman” was a delicious one with a modest sweetness and the original taste of apples.
Perhaps the owner is most particular about coffee cups. They have more than 200 kinds of ultra-luxury coffee cups from Okura Art China, for the imperial family. According to the owner, the coffee cup which I used cost 25,000 yen. It’s arguably the most expensive coffee cup I’ve ever had. The coffee I drank by the super-luxury coffee cup was very delicious.
3. Tsune Sushi
The last meal on that day was “Tsune Sushi”. I was very happy with the lunch at “Kurayoshi”, the coffee and apple pie at “Cafe Buruman”, but the dinner at “Tsune Sushi” was also wonderful. “Tsune Sushi” has many regular customers of local Hirosaki citizens, and it was almost full at 17:30.
At first I ordered draft beer. The draft beer mug of “Tsune Sushi” is frozen. I occasionally freeze beer mugs in Japan, but I have never seen them in foreign countries. I am glad that the sushi restaurant takes care to drink cold beer colder.
First, I asked for sashimi Okamase. I slowly ate a wide variety of sashimi such as tuna chutoro, red sea bream, ark shell string, squid, and horse mackerel. It was very nice to slowly pick up sashimi at the sushi bar counter while talking to local patrons. The local patrons I talked to said that they had been to Tsune Sushi for 60 years since they were children.
I asked for sushi as well. It’s not a sushi that is as inspiring as a high-class sushi restaurant, but it was a delicious sushi with a very reassuring taste that made me feel the personality of the owner. The ark shells, scallops, and hand-rolled sushi were the best.
The meal at Tsune Sushi, a sushi restaurant in the city where you can completely relax, was a very good memory of my trip.
Note: The departure / arrival times, fares, admission fees, meal fees, etc. of transportation listed in the text are as of the time of writing the BLOG. Please check for yourself when you go on a trip as it may change in the future.