Fantastic Hot Dogs and Onion Rings

Hello, my fellow Ibarakians!
Here is something I never thought I would type: some of the best onion rings in Ibaraki are out in the countryside near Mt. Tsukuba! I was able to visit this onion ring and hot dog haven with a friend of mine on a fine summer day a few weeks ago. We were hungry and in the mood for something good, and my buddy mentioned that a place nearby made fantastic onion rings. Being an onion ring lover myself, I had to give this place a try. And that is how we ended up at Kinoya.

Kinoya

Kinoya is located in the Kangori area of Tsukuba City. The restaurant is close to Hojo Town and Mt. Tsukuba. If you are traveling to Tsukuba Shrine along Route 14, you will run right into Kinoya. You might think the restaurant would be easy to miss. Cars are constantly speeding down Route 14, and Kinoya looks somewhat like a small house with a large parking area. But there is one thing you definitely can’t miss: the skeleton riding a motorcycle!
Yes, when you look at the picture above, your eyes are not deceiving you. That really is a skeleton riding a motorcycle! Once you spot that unique sight, you know you are in the right place. My buddy and I saw the motorcycle-riding skeleton, turned into Kinoya, and headed inside to have some lunch.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats couldn't join us for our lunch adventure, but I hope to bring her to Kinoya soon.

Inside

When I walked into Kinoya, I was greeted by a ton of early ’80s and ’90s American pop culture. You name it, and it is probably on Kinoya’s walls: The Simpsons, Garfield, Felix the Cat, Scooby-Doo, a LEGO Game Boy, and much more. It was a nostalgic overload, and I loved it!
Kinoya looks small from the outside, but it is actually quite a spacious restaurant. There is both counter and table seating, and I think the restaurant can fit around 20 customers or so. My buddy and I grabbed a table near the window and started checking out the menu.

The Menu

When I opened Kinoya’s menu, I was taken aback by how extensive and varied the selection of dishes was. One entire page of the menu was dedicated to Kinoya’s hot dogs and sandwiches, and they all looked incredible. Another page was filled with rice and noodle dishes like taco rice, omurice, loco moco, yakisoba, and Napolitan.
For sweets and desserts, there was a page full of crepes and another page filled with kakigori (shaved ice). After looking through the shaved ice page, I made a mental note to try it next time because it looked fantastic. For this visit, I decided to get a hot dog.
My friend then implored me to try Kinoya’s onion rings. He told me they were amazing and that I absolutely needed to try them. Who can say no to that?

Onion Rings

When the onion rings came to our table, they looked enticing. I couldn't wait to try them. I grabbed one of the onion rings, and just by touching it, I could tell that it was going to be a great onion ring. After taking a bite and getting that nice crunch from the golden-brown outer coating, followed by the flavorful, soft, hot onion inside, I was in onion ring Nirvana!
Kinoya’s onion rings are the real deal. I have had a lot of onion rings in Japan, and to be honest, I leave disappointed about 85% of the time. That was definitely not the case with these onion rings. I would even say that these are some of the best onion rings I have had in Ibaraki, with the exception of Hi-5’s legendary onion rings.
I loved every single onion ring I had, and my mouth is watering just thinking fondly about them while writing this post. I hope to go back to Kinoya soon and grab another order of what I consider to be some of the best onion rings I have had this year!

Chili Meat Cheese Hot Dog

It was time for my chili meat cheese hot dog to make its grand entrance, and when it arrived at our table, it looked glorious! It came with a side of piping-hot French fries that looked just as delicious. Before taking a bite of my hot dog, I decided to try the fries first.
I grabbed one and took a bite. It was awesome! The fry was nice and hot and had been deep-fried just enough to give it a great texture. It wasn’t too crispy, but it also wasn’t a flimsy, sad excuse for a French fry. These fries were delicious and tasted incredibly fresh, almost like the potatoes had been pulled straight from the farm that morning, peeled, and fried just for me!
Next, it was time for the main event: the hot dog. After my very first bite, I gave my hot dog the Mrs. Ibaraki Eats’ iconic thumbs-up. The cheese and chili were delicious, the bun was fresh and fluffy, and the wiener was pretty darn good. Put all those ingredients together, and I had myself one pretty fantastic hot dog.
I was actually impressed with how well the cheese and chili worked together. The chili wasn’t exactly like the American-style chili I’m used to, but for Japan, it was pretty good. I also loved how the bun managed to hold everything together all the way to the very last bite. Nothing fell apart, and I was able to enjoy my entire hot dog without making a complete mess.
All in all, it was a very tasty hot dog, and I would love to go back and try some of the other sandwiches and hot dogs on Kinoya’s menu. There are definitely plenty more things I want to try! Hopefully, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats can join me next time and find something delicious for herself as well.

After my buddy and I finished our meals, it was time to head home. We thanked the friendly staff for the delicious hot dogs and amazing onion rings and let them know that we would definitely be back.
My experience at Kinoya was fantastic. I loved the nostalgic atmosphere, complete with ’90s music playing in the background and all kinds of fun throwbacks decorating the restaurant. Of course, the food was the real star of the show, and everything we had was delicious. Kinoya is definitely a place all Ibarakians should check out.

So, if you’re heading toward Mt. Tsukuba and looking for a great place to stop for lunch, why not give Kinoya a chance? Who knows? You might even see me there, enjoying another plate of those amazing onion rings and finally getting the chance to try Kinoya’s kakigori!
Enjoy!

For more information on Kinoya, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kinoya_tsukuba/?hl=en

A special thank you to Chris Bathke for the recommendation and for joining me on this tasty lunch adventure.
If you are interested in exercises that can help with mobility, strength, and overall physical well-being, check out Chris' Instagram for different tips and exercises. I've been training with Chris for a month, and I am feeling better and learning a lot. I highly recommend trying out his program.
https://www.instagram.com/elementalfitnesslab/?hl=en

For the older blog posts, check out the WIX Ibaraki Eats.

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