One of Akita Prefecture’s local foods is Yakisoba. Just imagine fried thick, square chopped wheat noodles with cabbage and ground pork, garnished with pickled vegetables in soy sauce and topped with a half-fried egg. Mouth watering! If you’re traveling around Akita Prefecture, I would suggest drop in at Yokote and make a quick-yakisoba-stop at Kuidoraku. You won’t regret it!
A four times Yokote-Yakisoba Grand Prix (a local event dedicated to yakisoba) winner from 2007-2011, Kuidoraku is only 6 minutes away from the JR East Yokote train station. Kuidoraku, is a small izakaya (tavern) that serves amazing food to its customers. The menu includes a great variety of choices including yakitori and ramen, but the reason I went there was to try out their popular yakisoba.
"Izakaya Kuidoraku, is famous among the locals as it has previously won the Yokote-Yakisoba Grand Prix. It serves good food and is a great place to go on a night out in Yokote city."
Yuri, a hotel employee
I ordered the ushibara yakisoba that apart from the main ingredients (noodles, meat, vegetables, pickles and sauce) also included a special ingredient - apple! The fruit gave an interesting sweet touch to the taste of the yakisoba. In addition to the dish that you order, the helpful staff will also serve you warm soup and pickles.
Apart from yakisoba, Kuidoraku has a wide variety of other foods including starters, salads, gyoza, onigiri (rice balls), udon (thick noodles usually served in a hot soup), somen (thin noodles usually served cold) and meat dishes like yakitori and sukiyaki (delicious sweet Japanese stew). As an izakaya, Kuidoraku also serves a wide variety of locally produced sake, wine and beers.
As you can see from the photos, the interior consists of a counter as well as low dining tables, very typical in Japan.
Ichiro-san, the owner of Izakaya Kuidoraku is a figure that you can easily spot in the shop and that’s because of all the posters with his Yokote-Yakisoba Grand Prix achievements. However, he keeps a very low profile, takes your order and immediately disappears inside the kitchen to start preparing the food.
