Morioka Wanko Soba

Wanko soba is a service format rather than a recipe. You sit with a small lacquer bowl, an attendant stands beside you with a tray of portions, and each time you swallow one - a single mouthful of buckwheat noodles - another is dropped in, with a call, before you can put the bowl down. The only way to stop is to get the lid onto the bowl while it is empty, which the attendant will try to prevent, and the whole thing is done at speed with a good deal of encouragement. Fifteen bowls are said to equal one normal serving; a hundred is the threshold at which restaurants issue a certificate, and competitive eaters have gone into the hundreds. Condiments - tuna sashimi, grated radish, sesame, pickles - are provided to break the monotony. Morioka's other two noodles, reimen and jajamen, complete what the city calls its three great noodles.

What you actually see

• A mouthful at a time - a refill dropped in the instant the bowl empties.
• The lid - the only way to stop, and the attendant will try to block it.
• A hundred bowls - the certificate threshold, about seven normal servings.
• Condiments provided - sashimi, radish and pickles to break up the run.

When to go

All year. An hour or two. Book ahead - sittings are timed.

Honest expectations

It is a spectacle as much as a meal and the noodles are not the best soba you will eat. It is easy to overeat badly. Sittings are timed and busy restaurants require booking. Prices are fixed and not low.

Nearby

Morioka's castle ruins are in the centre; the rock-splitting cherry is nearby.