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Tohoku is a great place for fresh food, whether from the fields, mountains, forests, or seas. Restaurants range from local sake shacks to upscale sushi bars and steak houses, and dress may be street-casual to office attire. Rarely will it be formal. Menus may not always be in English, but you can often find window displays full of plastic representations of the menu. Credit cards are fine in cities, but they are not always accepted in the countryside, so bring along enough cash. In many restaurants you'll take your shoes off at the entry and place them in a cubicle.
This restaurant lives up to its promise of "All of Akita in one building." Delicious, unique regional dishes such as the highly recommended pickle selection topped with a tiny paper scarecrow, are served on antique plates by friendly staff. Look for the statue of the namahage (a fearsome monster from Akita's mountains) outside the entrance.
Hearty soba is made from plentiful northern buckwheat, and Azuma-ya is easily Morioka's most famous place to eat these healthful noodles. The second level is devoted to the courageous and hearty of appetite, where wanko soba courses—all you could possibly want to eat—are served. The ground floor is for a more casual (and less competitive) dining experience. If you don't want the eating challenge, order from their many other dishes. Keep in mind that they close for a two-hour break at 3 pm and stop taking orders before 7 pm. There is another location closer to the station that takes orders until 8 pm.
This birthplace of Sendai's famous gyutan (grilled beef tongue) proudly serves excellent and inexpensive meals. It is a very casual environment but can get crowded with lines forming before opening.
Avant-garde performances of live shamisen—an instrument similar to the banjo—by promising young performers and seasoned experts are the main attraction here. Arrive early to sit on cushions on the floor and enjoy the regional fare. Many items on the menu are incomprehensible even to native speakers, as they go by local names; if you are an adventurous diner, point and anticipate.
Noodles can only be called Inaniwa Udon if they are produced in Inaniwa. Established in 1860, this noodle empire has many branches across the Tohoku region, but this one is for connoisseurs who want to sample regional foods and locally brewed sake. Make big slurps and enjoy.
In its lively neighborhood, a curtain next to a big red paper lantern leads to this inviting eatery where kinki (deepwater white fish) are carefully grilled on a charcoal fire and other delectables are served. The interior is quaint and inviting and the walls are plastered with signed posters and artifacts from celebrities.
Tasty, healthful, and authentic dishes from the region are Kikufuji's specialty. Excellent local varieties of sake are available. They can provide you with a menu with pictures, but it does not include everything, so you could also look around at other tables to see what you might fancy.
It would be hard to walk out of this restaurant hungry. The restaurant has mostly seating on tatami mats on the floor, but there are areas with tables. You might just be focused on the view over the water. It is on the 10th floor of the lofty ASPAM building.
The highlights here are good sushi, tempura, and donburi—bowls with cutlets, tempura, or chicken on top of rice. In this old-fashioned establishment where typical Japanese dishes are served, there is something on the menu to suit anyone's taste.
Crowded with locals, Mitsu-ishi has a convivial atmosphere and dishes that appeal to everyone. If you're in the mood for drinks and some finger food, take a seat at the bar where you can watch the action. Look for the mood-lighted white building with boxy dark roof.
A short walk from JR Yamagata Station will put you in front of some fine and slightly chewy Yamagata soba noodles. Everything is good here, but in summer try the hiyashi-dori soba (with cold chicken). The eatery is in a traditional black-wood-and-white-stucco building south of the station.
Sagoro will serve you a full dose of some outstanding Yonezawa and Yamagata beef. It will be difficult to forget the beef's impossible tenderness. Although most dishes are pricey in the evenings in this sophisticated, upscale setting, there are some bargains at lunch for under. (Reservations are strongly recommended in the evenings.)
Yamagata is famous for soba, and Shojiya is the oldest soba restaurant in Yamagata. Go for lunch and then wander around the neighborhood. The immediate area is interesting, with restored irrigation channels where five dams were built in 1623 to control flooding, as well as kimono and tea shops, and the historic city hall building.
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