My Favorite Gourmet Spots (3)

Inviting you to a story that begins with excitement [Stile Oma]

3045-1 Sawa, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture

A few minutes' drive from National Route 6, you enter a quiet residential area where a stylish building catches your eye. This is "Stile Oma," a popular Italian restaurant known for being quite difficult to book.

When you enter the restaurant, the rural landscape visible through the large windows puts your mind at ease. The menu, carefully crafted dish by dish, consists only of chef's choice courses for both lunch and dinner. The dishes, which delight all five senses, use ingredients sourced from Ibaraki Prefecture as well as from across Japan and abroad.

Owner-chef Sadayuki Omata aims not just to provide delicious food, but to "look beyond the deliciousness." In addition to dishes filled with new discoveries and surprises, he constantly thinks about "what can be done to become a place that remains in the customer's memory, such as the excitement of waiting from the moment the reservation is made until the day of, the extraordinary space felt upon entering the restaurant, and the time spent at the restaurant that one recalls later on."

Please enjoy the "Oma Style," which can only be expressed by this restaurant, leaving a warm lingering impression in the hearts of those who visit.

Yakisoba loved since its founding in 1963 [Koya Shokudo]

4472 Iwai, Bando City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Koya Shokudo is a restaurant with a reputation for its one-of-a-kind yakisoba.

This is a restaurant that has been supported by the locals for over half a century since its founding in 1963. It opens at 10:30 AM and stays open continuously until it closes at 5:00 PM. During that time, the restaurant is bustling with a constant stream of customers.

What is the one-of-a-kind taste? When asked, second-generation owner Isamu Saito says, "I suppose it's that it's lightly seasoned and not greasy. Since it's the yakisoba that the previous generation has been making since the opening, I'm just keeping that taste and method alive." Using a tempura pot with good heat efficiency, the noodles are stir-fried with a very small amount of oil, and the sauce is quickly tossed in at the end. Because the amount of sauce is kept to a minimum, the noodles are a pale brown color and have a light flavor. The texture is fragrant on the outside while remaining chewy on the inside, a sensation that makes you want to eat it again and again. Sauce, shichimi chili pepper, and pepper are placed on each table, and being able to add these seasonings to arrange it to your own preference is also the "Koya Shokudo style."

Standing in the kitchen are Isamu-san, his wife Taeko-san, and the third-generation couple, Ryuji-san and his wife. "We have regular customers who bring their grandchildren and come as three generations. To ensure we don't betray our customers' expectations, we will continue to protect the yakisoba inherited from the previous generation."