Check out the specialties to eat in Saitama Prefecture! 10 highly recommended popular local gourmet restaurants!

Saitama Prefecture is the place where competitions for local gourmets of the prefecture are held. Did you know that it offers a wide variety of local flavors, such as noodles, fried foods, and rice bowls? Since it is close to Tokyo, it is convenient for you to reach there. It was a long time ago that Saitama was called as Dasaitama (Cheesy Saitama). If you are tired of so many people when visiting Tokyo for the sightseeing, why not try to taste the dishes that you can only taste here?

1. Kawashima Town specialty Udon with a cold sesame miso soup! Hand-made soba Izumi no Sato

Suttate means udon noodles that are seasoned with cold soup stock, with summer vegetables such as cucumber, shiso, and myoga added to scrubbed miso and sesame seeds. It is known as a classic summer food in Kawashima Town in Saitama Prefecture. It is said to have been eaten as a nutritious and healthy meal in the middle of busy farming work from a long time ago.

This is also mentioned as one of the popular dishes at “Hand-made soba Izumi no Sato”, which is known as a place to eat handmade soba. Its famous taste that was introduced on a TV program is perfect for the summer season!

2. Kawagoe specialty gourmet to accompany with Coedo Beer! Makotoya

One of the specialty gourmets of Kawagoe, Hutomen Yakisoba. As its name shows, its characteristic is thicker than ordinary noodles. The lightness of the sauce tastes so light that the entire taste is not too much. Actually, it causes the texture and taste spread in the mouth. Simple ingredients such as cabbage, red ginger, and meat with a taste of nostalgic Japanese flavor is attractive.

To taste the dish of Makotoya, you can also visit the stalls in the area of Renkeiji Temple on the way to the cityscape of the warehouse style. You can also take away the dishes there and eat in the location as you like! Please have it with the Coedo Beer also famous for Kawagoe!

3. Tomato curry suddenly born from famous tomato production area Kitamoto Cafe Room 720

Kitamoto tomato curry won the championship in the Saitama B-grade local gourmet king competition in 2011. It is a well-known local menu pouring tomato curry to tomato-red rice and adding tomato topping. Various kinds of tomato curry are offered in Kitamoto City’s restaurant.

Among those restaurants, Cafe Room 720 is a local restaurant that has a particularly good reputation. If you don’t like tomato-flavored curry and tomato, you may find it is difficult to eat. But if you even don’t try it, you will never know its delicious taste! Please enjoy it.

4. A gourmet, which is different from jelly and fly, are loved in Gyoda! Jelly fly Kanetsukido

Croquettes called Jelly Fly is made of root vegetables and okara. This is one of the famous products of Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture. Because they are made of vegetables, the main characteristic is that they are rich in dietary fiber. It is getting more popular as a healthy dish that this dietary fiber will clean people’s intestines!

Of course, its crunchy texture and a nostalgic sauce taste can be enjoyed as a snack or a side dish for children and adults. It may be nice to have it with fried yakisoba, which is also a specialty of Gyoda. Let’s enjoy local gourmet at “Kanetsuki-do” which was introduced on a Japanese TV program!

5. Have seasonal ingredients! Italian restaurant focusing on local production and local consumption Trattoria Azzurri

Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. If you want to eat delicious Italian food here, the restaurant you should visit is Trattoria Azzurri. This restaurant is very easy to access because it is located in a short walk from Musashi Urawa Station.

In this restaurant, it is popular to have an Italian that uses plenty of ingredients made in local Saitama Prefecture. You can enjoy seasonal ingredients depending on four seasons. There are also a wide variety of wines that are essential to Italian dishes. Let’s taste it along with the dishes!

6. Eat local ramen born in Saitama Prefecture! Restaurant Otemon

Do you want to eat Tofu Ramen born in Iwatsuki, Saitama Prefecture, half a century ago? This Tofu Ramen is made of a light soy sauce flavored soup with smooth tofu and minced meat dressed with a thick starchy sauce. At first glance it looks like mabo tofu, but its characteristic is less spicy hotness.

It can be eaten by a wide generation from children to elderly people. In 1970, it has been eaten by the staff as stuff meal, it became the menu of the restaurant. Its reputation gets higher and higher, and now it has become the representative Saitama gourmet. Let’s eat Tofu Ramen at its birthplace restaurant, Restaurant Otemon!

7. Speaking of Yakitori in Higashi Matsuyama, Saitama, here it is! Black Pork Yakitori Hibiki

It is said that Yakitori of the Higashi Matsuyama style is that pork cheek is grilled slowly with charcoal and eating it with a spicy miso sauce. In Higashi Matsuyama in Saitama Prefecture, there are many yakitori restaurants where you can compare the taste of the original sauce at each restaurant.

Among those restaurants, I would like to recommend Black Pork Yakitori Hibiki Higashi Matsuyama Ekimae Main Branch that is well-known locally. The location is Higashi Matsuyama Ekimae (in front of the train station), and it is a famous restaurant that customers continuously visit. And there are branches in various places. Please try eating voluminous meat with special miso sauce!

8. Taste the dish you should try in Saitama! Niboutou no Kuniyoshi

When going out to Saitama, let’s have a standard winter dish of wide noodles with plenty of Fukaya green onions! Niboutou is a winter tradition of Fukaya, a special production area of green onion. A lot of locally grown vegetables are used for 2.5cm wide noodles. The sticky texture is created by boiling raw noodles, and it is finished by seasoning with soy sauce flavor.

We introduce Niboutou no Kuniyoshi that has the signboard of “Niboutou”, located in the place we can go by bus from Fukaya Station! This restaurant that was introduced in the TV program as a local gourmet, and it has a good reputation for being homely which warm up your body and mental. Please try the taste of home!

9. Local gourmet in Honjo, Saitama! Let’s eat Tsumikko with plenty of local ingredients! Tea store Issa

Tsumikko is a so-called Suiton that uses fiber-rich vegetables abundantly utilizing the advantage of the wheat-rich Saitama area. It is said that it became called Tsumikko, which is a dialect of [picking up] because it was torn and boiled like picking up the kneaded wheat.

You can enjoy homemade Tsumikko like home-made dishes at Tea store Issa in Honjo, Saitama Prefecture. This is a store that has a reputation you can enjoy eating nostalgic flavors as you like. After the meals, please also try grilled steamed buns, which is a classic food of Gunma Prefecture, at the right next door of this tea store!

10. You can’t miss eating the river fish dishes of the river town! Recommended restaurant Ryotei Koujiya

Yoshikawa is a town surrounded by Edogawa and Nakagawa. River fish dishes have been eaten for about 400 years. Even today, there are a lot of Kappo and Ryotei, and they reproduce the taste that has been inherited from ancient times. If you come to Saitama, you should be impressed by a famous restaurant even though it is a bit pricey for you!

It is said that this Ryotei Koujiya was founded at the beginning of the Edo period and that people whose name is well known to the present time also visited. A variety of menus are available, such as course dishes and catfish dishes. While looking at the garden remains as old time with tasting a delicious gourmet, why not feel the sense of the eternal life there?

Let’s have a delicious gourmet in Saitama!

What did you think? In this article, we introduced a great gourmet restaurant that you should eat when you visit Saitama Prefecture, which is close to Tokyo, for sightseeing or travel. The restaurants I introduced look all delicious! Which the gourmet did you like the most? Saitama Prefecture gets more popular as a tourist destination since it is close to Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Please visit there!