The house that created Morioka reimen in 1954 — cold noodles born of Pyongyang and Hamhung, served for cash alone.
By SHOKU NOREN TeamFacts last verified September 2026How we check
In shortReimen, the birthplace of Morioka cold noodles; also yakiniku. It takes no reservations: you queue on the day.
Price
Varies by order
Hours
Lunch 11:30–14:10 · dinner 17:00–21:20 (Sundays 16:30–20:20); the house asks you to confirm closing time by phone
Closed
As a rule the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays; the house posts each month's rest days
Seats
40, thirty-two at tables and eight on tatami
Payment
Cash only; no cards, e-money, or QR
Getting there
Kami-Morioka; Morioka
Morioka reimen — the chilled, chewy‑noodle soup that is one of this
city’s three signature noodle dishes — was invented in this room.
Teruhito Aoki, a first‑generation Korean resident of Japan born in
Hamhung, opened Shokudoen in May 1954 with four tables. He crossed the
clear, mild cold noodle of Pyongyang with the fiery one of his home
Hamhung, then rebuilt the noodle itself — dropping the buckwheat of the
Korean original for a pale, elastic strand of wheat and starch — and
Morioka reimen was set. Seventy years on there is still exactly one
Shokudoen: no branches, no franchises, one forty‑seat house grilling
yakiniku (Japanese‑Korean tabletop barbecue) beside the noodles.
What you eat
The founding reimen: a chilled broth built roughly eight parts beef bone
to two parts chicken, poured over that white, springy noodle, with the
Hamhung chili heat behind it. You choose your own line on that heat —
the house takes the kimchi from mild to extra‑hot, or serves it on the
side (betsukara) so you can feed it in spoon by spoon. A round of
charcoal yakiniku alongside is how locals actually eat here; the Tabelog
100 listing for yakiniku, East 2025, is for the grill, not just the
legend.
The walk‑in reality
Lunch cannot be booked, and there are no platforms — only parties of
three or more may ask by phone about a dinner table (019‑651‑4590).
No cards either: cash only, no e‑money, no QR. You come, and if the forty
seats are full you write your name on the list at the door and wait.
Rest days are irregular — as a rule the first and third Tuesdays, posted
month by month — so the real risk for a traveler is not a full house but
a dark one. That is the piece a desk can actually solve: a call in
Japanese to confirm that month’s rest days and closing time before you
build a Morioka stop around lunch, and cash in your pocket does the
rest.
Go if you
Travelers who want Morioka reimen at its true source — the original
version of a dish now made all over the city, eaten where it was worked
out — and who take a cash‑only, name‑on‑a‑list house as part of the
pleasure.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Shokudoen: common questions
Can you book Shokudoen?
No. Shokudoen takes no reservations, so there is nothing to book: you queue on the day. Our Tokyo desk can tell you its opening days, or suggest a bookable restaurant nearby.
This restaurant takes no reservations: you queue on the day. Our Tokyo desk can tell you its opening days, or suggest a bookable restaurant nearby.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
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