Kesen Cuisine

For this most recent article on the Kesen area I thought I’d talk about some of my favorite local eateries I’ve enjoyed over the years that I’ve lived here. As there are quite a few to mention, this may become somewhat of a regular feature for my contributions to this blog.

※Full disclosure here: none of the restaurants that I highlight on this blog are aware that I would be reviewing them for this blog. Additionally, I pay for all food enjoyed at their restaurants and receive no incentives for writing about these businesses.

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The first restaurant I will be showcasing also happens to be one of the first local places I ever dined at – Shibaraku. It was introduced to me by my first work supervisor and it has been a favorite of mine ever since. First off, the name itself requires a little background story. The standard meaning of the Japanese word, ‘shibaraku’ (暫) means a short period of time, and can be most commonly heard from those working in customer service (暫くお待ちください, or “Please wait a moment.”). But around these parts in the local Kesen Dialect it is used for its less common meaning, of “It’s been a while.”, which differs from the standard Japanese, ‘ohisashiburi’ (お久しぶり), or “It’s been a long time.” I’ve always enjoyed the interpretation of this restaurant’s name, simultaneously meaning both ‘stay a short while’ and ‘long time, no see’.

Anyway, to the business at hand – the food. Shibaraku is famous keeping its menu simple and doing it well. Specifically, they offer a variety of deep fried foods including tempura, either as a set meal or over a bowl of steaming hot rice (ten-don 天丼) or its signature dish of ton katsu, or breaded fried pork cutlet. What makes their version of this common dish unique in these parts is the choice of having it ‘miso katsu’. A staple of Nagoya City it has a rich, slightly sweet miso-based sauce poured piping hot over the freshly fried cutlet. The resulting melding of flavors are irresistible. But whichever menu item you try, you’re sure to have a good meal.

tempura-don

miso-katsu set meal

katsu-don

The restaurant is open over lunch (11:30 to 2:00pm) and again for dinner until around 8pm, but are closed on Mondays. Shibaraku is located in the Ikawa area of Ofunato, on route 45 across from the post office. <map link>

The other restaurant featured today has been a mainstay in downtown Rikuzentakata for more than 50 years – Mitsuwa. Specializing in Japanese-style Chinese food, Mitsuwa has been providing generous portions of crowd favorites such as ramen, ‘su-buta’ (酢豚, or sweet and sour pork), ankake-yakisoba (stir-fried vegetables and meat in a thick sauce over stir-fried noodles), ‘ebi-chili’ (sweet and sour shrimp), fried rice and daily, handmade gyoza, all at very reasonable prices.

handmade gyoza

fried rice

‘su-buta’ set

ankake-yakisoba

Despite the restaurant being completely destroyed in the 2011 tsunami, it was only a few months after that the owners and staff were operating once again in a temporary, prefab building in the hills above the devastation, serving hot meals to a grateful community and the hundreds of people from around Japan assisting in the cleanup and reconstruction. Nearly eight years after, Mitsuwa is now back in the new, burgeoning downtown area once again. It is open daily from 11am to 8pm, but closed on Thursdays. <map link>