Chimichangas and Pulled Pork!

I had a great time eating all those burgers during Burger Month. I decided to take it easy this month and go to light and healthy places. That plan lasted about three days. You see, I went to a magical place in Tsukuba. This place had BBQ, craft beers, and Tex-Mex. The atmosphere was great, the owner was fantastic to talk to, and they had Furiosa playing on the TV. The place I will talk about today may have become one of my favorite places to hang out in Tsukuba. Today, I am talking about Tsukuba's own Highway.

Highway

You might have read my opening to this post and thought, "Wait, you are talking about the highway in Tsukuba called the Sakura Inta, right?" Let me assure you, this Highway is an amazing place without the traffic and toll roads. It is located in the Amakubo area of Tsukuba. It is on the second floor of a two-story building called Richmond.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo visited Highway on a rainy Tuesday night. We looked for a parking area when we got to the Richmond building. What we discovered is that the parking is right in front of the Richmond building. There are no distinct spaces. It is an "everyone find a space and fit in there," kind of situation. The spaces (if you can call them that) are on an upward angle, so make sure to put on your parking brake.
We parked our car and headed inside. The building has an open roof in the middle which isn't ideal during a rainy day. We went up the stairs, passed on awesome-looking bar that I am interested in trying, and then headed into Highway.

Inside

Opening the door to Highway, we were greeted by a heavenly smell of BBQ. It was such a delicious aroma that it sometimes enters my dreams of BBQ heaven. We grabbed a table and looked around the restaurant. I automatically loved the place. It checked off this list of things I looked for in a place to hang out. Lofi chill music check, posters of awesome movies and bands check, an amazing movie playing on the TV check. Everything about Highway was amazing. It had such a fun and relaxing atmosphere, from the Pulp Fiction poster on the wall to the old-school blackboard above the counter area where all the specials were written. I told Mrs. Ibaraki Eats that I was kind of glad that we didn't live close to this place because then I would be in here every week and would probably gain 5 kilos.

The Menu

Great news everyone! The menu is in both English and Japanese.
When I looked at the menu, I had a bit of a crisis. The problem was that I wanted to order everything on the menu and there was no way I would be able to finish it all. Pulled pork, burritos, burgers, enchilidadas! This all sounded too good to be true. This was going to be a very tough decision. The good news is I can always come back to Highway to try the rest of their menu. In fact, I will be back. That is a promise.
If you think this menu looks amazing, you need to check out the craft beer menu. I unfortunately did not take a picture of it, but there are so many craft beers on the menu. Plus, the special craft beers on the blackboard. When we visited Highway, one of my favorite breweries, Twin Peaks, had their beer on tap at Highway. So many choices! What am I to do!?

Experimental #004

After going over the craft beer menu for a few minutes, I settled on a beer from a brewery called Teenage. Teenage is from Saitama and the beer I decided on was Experimental #004. Why did I choose this beer? The flavors of this beer are a mix of curry, banana, mango, coconut, and kaffir lime leaf. I was very interested in trying this crazy sour mix.
I took one sip and all those flavors rammed into my taste buds like an out of control train without any breaks. It was delicious. The curry flavor was the dominant flavor in my opinion, but the other flavors were very noticable. It was confusing and fun to have this crazy mixed flavor beer. I wouldn't mind having it again, but I still have many more craft beers to try at Highway.

Smoked Egg, Bacon & Potato Salad

Mrs. Ibaraki Eats wanted a small appetizer before our main meals. She chose the smoked egg, bacon, and potato salad. When the salad came to our table, it looked amazing. Wait, what is that I see? Is that what I think it is? Crispy bacon? I asked my wife if we were still in Japan since I have rarely seen crispy bacon here. Thank you Highway, you have answered my crispy bacon prayers.
You might not know this about Mrs. Ibaraki Eats, but she loves potato salad. My wife and her mother make it all the time. I had a feeling she was going to have a high bar for Highway's potato salad. She grabbed a fork full of that potato salad and let me know that not only did this potato salad pass that bar, but it grabbed it and broke it in half in triumph. She loved it. She told me that the smokey taste of the potato salad was incredible and adding that crispy bacon to it was fantastic. I completely agree with her assessment of this fantastic potato salad and its delicious crispy bacon.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich

As I wrote earlier, Highway has an amazing BBQ aroma. After smelling that fresh BBQ smell, I couldn't wait to try the pulled pork here. When the pulled pork sandwich made its way to our table, it looked like a masterpiece of BBQ art. The fries on the side looked crispy and delicious. I grabbed my sandwich and took a bite.
After that bite, I am pretty sure that all time stopped and I was in a state of pulled pork BBQ deliciousness. It was incredible. The BBQ sauce with the pulled pork was perfect and so were the vegetables between the buns. Oh, and the buns! They were fantastic. The buns held the sandwich together so I could get that taste of a perfectly toasted bun with that meaty pulled pork slathered in BBQ sauce. Writing about this pulled pork sandwich right now is torture because I can not go and get one at the moment. Will I go to Highway tomorrow and get the pulled pork sandwich? We will see.
I am so happy that there is now another place in Ibaraki that I can proudly say makes amazing pulled pork.

An Enchilada and a Chimichanga

When we were looking over the menu, my wife kept looking at the enchiladas and chimichangas. I asked her which one did she want. After thinking about it for a minute, my wife gave me her beautiful sly smile and said "Both." Both it is. One enchilada and one chimichanga please!
For those of you who do not know the difference between an enchilada and a chimichanga, let me try to explain. An enchilada is basically a baked burrito that uses a corn tortilla. A chimichanga is a deep fried looking burrito and that usually uses a flour tortilla. My wife ordered a chicken chimichanga and a pork enchilada. She grabbed a knife and fork and cut into the enchilada that was full of delicious looking sauces. We have been married a long time, so I know her "this is delicious" signs. The thumbs up is one I have told you about before, followed by the loud "oishi!" There is one more of her tells that I haven't mentioned which rarely happens. My wife tried that amazing looking enchilada and her eyes went wide. She was quiet with her eyes wide in surprise and gave me a slow nod indicating that this was amazing. She let me have a try and I completely agree with her. The enchilada was heavenly. I loved the BBQ pork in the enchilada that was full of different amazing sauces, cheese, and salsa. She then went to the chimichanga and had the same reaction. The chimichanga was equally as delicious. The chicken was tasty and the fried outer shell tortilla shell was fantastic. We were both in a state of Tex-Mex bliss.

Delicious pulled pork, incredible chimichangas, and enchiladas. I sometimes worry that I dreamed this place up and it doesn't exist. But it does exist my fellow Ibarakians, and it is a great restaurant.
We both thanked the owner of Highway and promised that we would be back. I still have so much of the menu to try! I love this place and hope to go back soon.

Thank you for an amazing time and delicious food Highway. Hope to see you soon. So if you find yourself around the Amakubo area of Tsukuba and would like to try some incredible food and tasty craft beer, why not give Highway a chance? Who knows? You might see me there. Enjoying a beer while trying the burritos.
Enjoy!

For more information on Highway, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/highway_tsukuba/