AZUMAYA Honten

The wackosoba challenge is such a fun experience here! Purchase the Wankosoba set then you will be served with one-bite soba unlimited as you can eat!! There will be a staff serving small bowl soba right next to you once you open your main soba bowl, once when u finish the soba in your bowl she will fill it up again… so on firth until you cover your bowl and challenge finishes! The staff told us the champion in their shop was a Japanese lady that ate 753 bowls! At the end of the challenge, each challenger will be given a certificate and wooden hanger verifying how many bowls of soba they fulfill this meal. A real fun experience.

It was my first time taking on the challenge of eating a large amount of soba noodles. The soba was delicious, and I highly recommend trying it. I visited on New Year’s Day, so I arrived at the shop about 15 minutes before it opened to get a queue number, then walked around the area for sightseeing. After 5 p.m., I returned and waited again, but the line moved very quickly. There are two Wanko Soba set prices: ¥4,500 and ¥5,500. The difference is the appetizers included in the set. Before starting, the staff explained all the rules clearly, and then the challenge began. For children, those who eat more than 30 bowls receive a wooden plaque as a commemorative prize. For adults, the plaque is awarded after eating 100 bowls. The staff were extremely friendly and very encouraging throughout the experience. If you don’t want to do the challenge, you can also choose other meal sets.

Soba store - long queue when we get here. Ordered both the cold and hot soba , both were good but I think I liked the oyaku don ( chicken with egg rice) the best.

As vegetarians, we were really hoping to try wanko soba noodles, since that’s such a must in Morioka. We came here in search of them, and while they don’t serve vegan wanko soba, we were happy to find plenty of other vegan soba options — both hot and cold. We ordered the hot teuchi mushroom soba, and it was absolutely delicious! 🍄 The broth was rich and full of umami (just as the menu promised), and the portion size was very satisfying. Honestly, this was the best soba I’ve ever had. 💯 Highly recommend this spot if you’re looking for amazing vegan soba in Morioka!

A very authentic Japanese restaurant. They have a lot of vegetarian options for soba noodles. For wanko soba, reservation is required and they don’t have vegetarian options for it. Definitely recommend this place for some good Japanese food.

If you wish to go for wanko soba, you need to first take the queue number and then they will inform you to come back at the designated time. The wanko soba challenge is upstairs. For ala carte is at the ground floor, for that no wait is needed. The staff serve the wanko soba challenge is very encouraging and friendly. The soba is actually great too. It was a great experience here.

We had lunch there on a weekday, and it started getting a bit packed after 12 PM (we didn’t realize it was such a popular restaurant until we saw the crowd). We ordered the Wanko Soba with Tempura set, which seemed to feature homemade soba, and Hot Soba with duck. The soup was well-seasoned, and overall, we really enjoyed the meal.

I visited Morioka on a very cold and rainy day about a week ago. I came into this shop wanting something warm and comforting, and that’s exactly what I got. I got the shop’s specialty katsudon and it was delicious. Nice portion, and the pork cutlet was so crispy and perfect. It came with a side of the area’s famous soba noodles too, which was nice to try. The service was quick and the restaurant was filled with other travellers and locals too.