Azumaya Honten

Wanko soba at Azumaya Honten in Morioka is less a meal than an event. Servers continuously toss small bowls of fresh buckwheat soba into your lacquered bowl at a relentless pace, and you eat until you slam the lid shut. Consuming over 100 bowls earns a wooden commemorative plaque, and the wall-mounted records of competitive eaters who have passed 500 bowls add to the atmosphere. Beyond the spectacle, the soba itself is genuinely good, made fresh with a clean buckwheat flavor. The traditional building with tatami seating rooms provides the right setting, and a collection of ceramic cat figurines scattered around the space adds an unexpected touch.