Japan Guide
Northern Honshū
Eating
1 Café Mousse 1-8-2 Shinmachi 
0177/73-3390 Trendy café with funky decor serving Italian sodas, espresso drinks, snacks and desserts by day. The full Italian menu makes its appearance at 6pm; the salads, soups, pastas and chicken dishes are slightly small, but extremely flavourful. Opening time: Wed– Mon 11am–10pm
2 Jintako 1-6 Yasukata 0177/22-7727 Cosy restaurant, with dinner concerts in the evenings by some of Aomori's famous shamisen (traditional stringed instrument) players. Reservations are essential and it's not cheap (¥5000 or ¥6000 for food and concert). Opening time: Daily 6–11pm, closed first and third Sun of the month
3 Kakigen Shin-machi 1-chōme Small, casual restaurant specializing in hotate and other seafood, though also serving tonkatsu, donburi and noodle dishes at reasonable prices. Look for its moss-green noren (hanging curtain) just east of the Hotel Sunroute on Shinmachi-dōri. Opening time: Daily 10.30am–8.30pm
4 Nandaimon Shin-machi 1-chōme This cheap and cheerful Chinese– Korean eatery serves good-value yakiniku, grilled hotate and other seafoods. Price: Lunch sets start at ¥690 Opening time: Daily 11am–12am
5 Nishi-mura 10F ASPAM 0177/34-5353 Choose from a broad range of inexpensive local cuisine including hotate and jappa-jiru (winter codfish stew), or set meals from ¥1260. There's a picture menu and some staff speak a little English. Reservations recommended in the summer. Opening time: Daily 10.30am–10pm (Sundays until 8.30pm)
6 Shōya 2F, 2-4-12 Yasukata, attached to Hotel JAL City An incredibly lively and sometimes rowdy branch of a nationwide izakaya chain. There is a picture menu with small dishes of grilled fish, sashimi, omelettes and other snacks meant for sharing (from ¥400), complete with a calorie-counter. Opening time: Daily 11.30am–11pm
7 Supage-tei Aomori 1-8-8 Shin-machi A café-style spaghetti house in the basement next to Kakigen. Their handy English menu lists an unusual range of tasty pasta dishes – cod's roe, sea urchin, kimchi and ginger-flavoured soy sauce – mostly around ¥1000. Opening time: Tues– Sun 11am–8.30pm