The Best place to find seasonal cuisine in Akita

For those who want to touch with the real food in Akita, I strongly recommend “Farmer’s Restaurant”. It is a local restaurant run by farmers, and they use vegetables in their farm, and natural vegetables from their mountain. I will introduce the one in Akita city.

Driving fifteen minutes away from Akita airport, you might notice an extraordinary cabin sit along the countryside. Step on the stairs, open the door, and what fold out before your eyes is a space with warmth. The smell of delicious cuisines flew through the transparent kitchen located at the right-hand side, filling the air. Welcome to Yuunaya!

According to Ikuko Asano, the owner of Yuunaya, the restaurant is located on the second floor since she hopes people who come to this restaurant can enjoy brilliant countryside sceneries when having meals. As the first farmer restaurant of Yuwa district, the original goal of Yuunaya is quite simple: “Using local ingredients based on different seasons to provide handmade cuisines, and interact with people through this process.” Yuunaya not only makes delicious cuisine out of the ingredients cultivated by themselves but also uses wild vegetables picked from the mountains.

The menu is simple and made out of wood, and the names of the cuisines blow people’s minds. One of which called “ Today’s menu depends on Mom.” is recommended for those who visit for the first time. What makes the “Tempura” of Yuunaya special is the use of wild vegetables. The just fried tempura suits the best with the matcha salt. When putting in mouth, the crispy sounds dance along with the freshness born from the ingredients. The main dish is called Moroheiya noodle, which is the main feature of this restaurant and can be provided in different ways including warm and cold. The owner, in order to provide cuisines beneficial to people’s health, planted the Moroheiya in organic ways, making them into noodles.

“Making local ingredients into season cuisines” is one of the main spirits of Yuunaya. The bond between human, local, and food can be found also by the name of this restaurant. The word “yu” comes from the word “Yuwa”, telling people that “We are from Yuwa district.” And the word “na”, which means vegetables in Japanese, represents the Moroheiya, the symbol of Yuunaya. People ask, what can we do in Akita? After enjoying the fresh farmer cuisines at Yuunaya, I would say, besides touring around Tazawa lake, taking a dip of Nyuto hot spring, the trip to Akita is not completed only if you take a visit to Yuunaya!