Amazing Art Event and a Late Night Dinner

I know that I usually write about places in Southern or Central Ibaraki. I am based in Tsuchiura, so it only makes sense. I do, occasionally, make the trek to go up north. While my cousin was visiting, my wife and I decided to head to Kita Ibaraki. We wanted to check out a very special event that is going on there. When we got there, not only were we blown away by this special event, but we ended up having a pretty good dinner after said event. This post is about the Ibaraki Eats Team's adventure to Kita Ibaraki.

TeamLab: Hidden Traces of Rice Terraces

Our adventure to Kita-Ibaraki began in the evening. The Ibaraki Eats Team consisted of five members: my cousin, my wife, two friends, and me. We had an amazing day at the beach in Takahagi and then decided to relax in an onsen in Kita Ibaraki. After we were all relaxed and feeling fresh, we headed to the new TeamLab: Hidden Traces of Rice Terraces exhibit in Kita Ibaraki's Otsucho area.
If you have never been to any of TeamLab's art galleries or events, I highly recommend checking them out. Planets and Borderless in Tokyo are unforgettable and quite a sight to see. Nagoya also has a TeamLab exhibit going on, and so does Fukuoka. My wife and I have been to both the Tokyo TeamLabs, and we really enjoyed them. We were ecstatic to find out that Ibaraki had its own TeamLab exhibit, and we decided that my cousin should definitely check it out.
The best way to get to TeamLab's Ibaraki exhibit is by car. The exhibit is located in a park with a glamping site right next to it. So you can check out the event and then stay the night if you want. We had bought our tickets online, scanned our QR code, and headed in. Unlike the Tokyo TeamLabs, this TeamLab is all outside and surrounded by nature. Walking through this amazing art adventure is quite a treat. All the trees around you are lit up in different colors. They also change colors when you touch certain trees. The lasers running all along the bamboo trees were a fantastic display, and the huge tree with hundreds of lanterns on it was beautiful.
When you get towards the end of the exhibit, that is when you see the lit-up rice fields. The trees all around the rice fields are changing color, while there are huge bubble-like lamps in the rice fields. We all loved how artistic and fun everything was. We even got to walk on water at one point. One of the rice fields has a walking path that is submerged just enough for the water to touch your feet. It is an amazing experience, but I highly recommend bringing sandals and then washing your feet afterward.
Once you have checked out the whole exhibit, there is an onsen right by the rice fields. You can soak in the onsen and enjoy the different colored trees all around you. We unfortunately did not have time to try the onsen. We had to head back to Hitachinaka.
After we had finished our magical adventure at TeamLab, it was time to grab dinner. We finished our adventure quite late, and apparently, everything around Kita Ibaraki was closed. We were starving and had no place to go. Luckily, one place was still open.

Ebisu-Tei

Ebisu-Tei Ramen Benten Shouten, or just Ebisu-Ten for short, is located in the Sekinamicho area of Kita Ibaraki. This izakaya/ramen/manga cafe place was a 15 minute drive from TeamLab. Ebisu-Ten is open late, which was great for us since everything around us was closed. Ebisu-Ten is located kind of in the middle of nowhere, so I do recommend coming by car. Unless you are a hardcore cyclist, then by all means, go nuts.
We parked our car at the parking lot in front of Ebisu-Ten and headed inside.

Inside

Walking inside Ebisu-Ten, the first thing you will notice is the fish tank. Our group walked to the fish tank and checked out the mini aquarium with clown fish and an array of different fish from the ocean. I also saw anime characters on a poster that showed that the back of the restaurant was a manga cafe.
The owner then came up to us and noticed us looking around at all the signs and fish. The owner was extremely friendly and explained everything, and even talked to us about what was in the fish tank.
After that, we were taken to our table, which had a sunken floor to it where our feet could fit in. Ebisu-Ten is a pretty big and long restaurant. It can hold quite a lot of people.
The owner gave us some menus and left us to decide what we wanted.
This is the part where I usually have a picture of the menu and tell you what is on it. I couldn't do that this time because the menu was a huge book. It had gyoza, ramen, salad, meat dishes, sashimi, seafood rice bowls, rice balls, and more. There was so much stuff on the menu, I didn't know what to get. Our group decided to get some ramen and fried rice.

Fried Rice

I don't know what exact oils and ingredients the owner of Ebisu-Tei adds to his fried rice, but all I can say is that they work. This fried rice was amazing. It was oily enough not to be just regular rice, but not too oily that it would leave a bad taste in your mouth. This fried rice had a lot of delicious flavors that the whole team loved. The egg was nice and cooked, the green onions were crispy, and the rice was overall fantastic. I would definitely have this fried rice again.

Miso Ramen

I know the presentation for this miso ramen doesn't really look great, but it was a pretty good bowl of ramen. This might have been one of the thickest bowls of miso ramen I have ever had. This miso ramen brought noodles, minced meat, green onions, and an egg. What worked really well with the thick broth was the minced meat in the ramen. All the meat soaked up the flavors of the broth really well. The noodles were OK. I think thinner noodles might have worked out better, but otherwise, it was a very tasty bowl of miso ramen.

Ebisu-Tei had a great atmosphere and some delicious dishes. It is a beacon of food hope for those lost in the late night streets of Kita Ibaraki with nowhere to eat. Especially for those who just came out of a late night exhibit and need some food.

So if you are in Kita Ibaraki and don't know what to do, I highly recommend checking out the TeamLab exhibit there. Once you are finished with that, head over to Ebisu-Tei for a nice bowl of tasty ramen and some amazing fried rice.
Enjoy!

For more information on TeamLab Hidden Traces of Rice Terraces, check out their website:
https://www.teamlab.art/e/izura/

For more information on Ebisu-Tei, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ebisuteitencho/