Kitahama, located on the east side of Beppu Station, is a bustling and attractive area with a variety of unique stores and restaurants. It is also convenient for catching the bus to Oita Airport. This time, I went for a stroll in the Kitahama neighborhood in search of its best gourmet food!
Bungo Kanmurijidori Chicken Miso and Bungo Beef Miso for Souvenirs
First, we explored the shopping streets and back alleys, and then went to the local shopping mall Tokiwa, where we found these products at the boutique store, Onsen Ichiba, on the first floor.
These are Bungo Kanmurijidori Chicken Miso and Bungo Beef Miso. Both are made at Shiki Kobo in Yufuin, which is famous for its pickles made from carefully selected ingredients. The Bungo Kanmurijidori Chicken Miso and Bungo Beef Miso are made with generous amounts of Bungo Beef and Kanmurijidori chicken, which are known as high-quality ingredients from Oita.
On the left is Bungo Beef Miso and on the right is Kanmurijidori Chicken Miso.
Bungo Beef Miso is made using rich red miso and ginger which together will stimulate your appetite. Red miso is often used in tofu dishes such as dengaku, a dish that can be made with eggplant, tofu, and konyaku. However, Bungo Beef Miso is also perfect with raw vegetables and tempura. Although it contains a lot of Bungo beef, it is not greasy or too heavy. It has a rich flavor, and even a small amount goes a long way with rice.
On the other hand, Kanmurijidori Miso is based on sweet white miso with a hint of garlic. It contains a generous amount of simmered chicken and is very satisfying. This miso may be easier for children to eat. If you mix it with mayonnaise to make miso mayo, it goes great with vegetable sticks!
Kogo Shoten: An Excellent and Reasonable Yakitori Restaurant
The next stop was Kogo Shoten, a yakitori restaurant in the Kitahama shopping district. It’s only a short four or five-minute walk from Tokiwa. The cozy restaurant is bright and clean, and the owner is very friendly. The shop is bright and clean, and the owner is very friendly, making it easy for a woman to enter alone.
When you order the recommended yakitori, they quickly grill it over a charcoal fire.
Here’s what we got: tsukune or ground chicken meatballs; duck; pickled eggs; pork belly salsa; mentaiko cheese chicken breast, and honey nut ham.
The tsukune was soft and fluffy with a good amount of sauce. It had a light and refreshing taste.
This was my first experience with grilled duck meat. I thought it would be tougher than regular chicken, but it was very tender and had no odor at all.
The pickled egg skewers were well-seasoned with a soy sauce-based sauce, and the inside was half-boiled. The taste was irresistible and made me crave rice.
The pork belly salsa skewer consists of salted pork belly with homemade salsa. The sweetness of the pork belly is perfectly balanced with the refreshing salsa sauce.
The Mentaiko Cheese Chicken Skewer, as the name suggests, is a dish of tender chicken meat topped with mentaiko cheese. The meat was so perfect that you could easily cut it with your chopsticks. The richness of the cheese and the spiciness of the mentaiko will whet your appetite.
The Honey Nut Ham Skewer is made up of salted ham with honeyed nuts on top, like salted caramel. When I took a bite, the sweet and salty taste came over me at once, and it was excellent. The crunchy texture of the honeyed nuts and the aftertaste of the ham are addictive.
Having yakitori here with a beer in hand is a blissful moment! I would love to visit again.
I hope you will find some great gourmet food in the Kitahama neighborhood, which is full of unique stores!
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