Macrobiotic / Veggie friendly Restaurant in Morioka, Tohoku Japan
My friend and I have been hunting for more vegan and vegetarian restaurants around Morioka recently, and she stumbled upon this wonderful little restaurant not too far from Usagi Botanica, another restaurant in the same area. It seems this neighborhood is the perfect environment for cafe’s which specialize in veggie friendly meals.
Karakoma differs from Usagi Botanica, in that it features an entirely vegan menu, right down to their beautifully prepared soy milk pudding with apple jelly and soy ice cream dessert.
The atmosphere
The cafe is easy to miss because of it’s house-like appearance, but fortunately this also adds to the atmosphere of the restaurant.
Overall the close packed dining room, and simplistic decoration, give the unique feel of a home dining room. The loving preparation of the food is reminiscent of a home cooked meal as well, although my own home cooked meals will never look as beautiful as the dishes served at Karakoma.
Menu
Their menu is simple, but in my opinion, the best restaurants have the smallest menus. And Karakoma has certainly perfected the dishes they do serve.
For Lunch: the menu varies depending on the specials offered that day, but on the day we went they offered three dishes:
Tofu steak served with Daikon Soup.
Tofu nuggets with brown rice.
And finally they also offered katsu, ( katsu is a gluten based bread, which is made without meat, fish, white sugar, eggs or milk). Unfortunately, no one from my group ordered the katsu, so I have no pictures of it.
The food was delicious, and served fairly quickly, given that we arrived during the busy lunch rush. Each meal came with a variety of small side dishes, as well as the main course. And the dessert set was a delicious addition to the already excellent meal, for only around 500 yen.
Shops
And to top it off, everything served at Kurakoma is vegan and macrobiotic! Be sure to give it a try, and on the way out check out the fresh homegrown vegetables, herbs, and small hand made goods that are for sale near the entrance.
Access:
From Morioka Bus Center: Take a right and follow the road until you reach the entrance to Sakanacho Shopping Street, from here take a right at the Seven Eleven. Follow the road about three blocks, until you reach the second stop light. Turn left, and Karakoma is on the righthand side.
