The Second Chance

Last year, the Ibaraki Eats visited an Italian izakaya in Mito. Unfortunately, we ended up having a pretty underwhelming experience. The pizza tasted bland and burnt, the pasta was watery, and the wine was just OK. After that visit, we decided not to return. I also have a personal policy of not writing about places we did not enjoy.
However, over time, Instagram kept showing me amazing-looking videos of this restaurant, and the food being showcased looked fantastic. My wife and I went back and forth about whether or not we should give the place a second chance. Then, last month, we unexpectedly found ourselves standing right in front of the restaurant and decided to give it another try.
We are very glad we did because this second visit turned out to be both interesting and delicious. Today’s post is about Mito’s very own Buongiorno Dining Hall.

Buongiorno Dining Hall

Buongiorno Dining Hall is a two-story Italian restaurant and bar located in the Miyamachi area of Mito. If you come by train, it is about a five- to eight-minute walk from the station. If you come by car, the Italian izakaya does not have its own parking lot, so you will have to use one of the many paid parking areas around the neighborhood. After Mrs. Ibaraki Eats and I finished work, we met up in Mito and decided to give this place a second chance.
We walked down the street from Mito Station and found Buongiorno. Usually, I would have pictures of the restaurant’s interior and menu, but there were a lot of people there that night, and I felt like I would have been getting in the way of everyone’s good time. What I can tell you is that Buongiorno has two floors. The first floor is the bar area, with counter seating and tables spread around the space. I really like the atmosphere on the first floor. It feels very open-minded, with young staff members sporting piercings and different-colored hair. A lot of the customers were drinking and having a great time. I have never been to the second floor, but I believe it is more of a traditional restaurant space with tables and chairs, giving it more of an Italian restaurant feel rather than a bar atmosphere.
The menu is entirely in Japanese and has quite a few sections. There is a pizza section, pasta section, salad section, Chicago-style pizza section, one-pot pasta section, drinks section, beer section, and wine section. One thing that really impresses me about Buongiorno is that the owner is willing to experiment. There are a few unusual but very good-looking dishes on the menu, which you will see later in this post.

Corn Potage

If you visit any izakaya in Japan, the first thing you will receive before ordering anything else is the otoshi. This is a small mandatory appetizer that you have to pay for, even though you did not order it yourself. Luckily, I have never had a bad otoshi, and this one completely blew Mrs. Ibaraki Eats’ mind. All she kept saying was “kawaii” (“cute”).
We were given tiny takeout-style coffee cups filled with corn potage. I was really impressed by how creatively the otoshi was presented, and the corn potage itself was quite tasty. After finishing the otoshi, our next appetizer arrived at the table.

Salmon Cream Cheese Pâté

Mrs. Ibaraki Eats wanted to try the salmon cream cheese pâté, which came with a few pieces of toasted bread. After dipping the toast into the pâté, I had to admit that my wife made the right choice with this appetizer. The pâté was incredibly creamy and had a wonderful salmon flavor without being overly fishy. Paired with the toasted bread, it was absolutely delicious. So far, both the otoshi and the appetizer had been winners. Next up was a familiar yet very interesting pasta dish.

Carbonara with One Big Noodle

I am sure you just read the description of that pasta dish and are utterly confused. Yes, it is a carbonara pasta dish, and yes, there is only one noodle in it. But this is not just any noodle, it is a biang biang noodle.
A biang biang noodle is an extremely long, thick noodle commonly found in Chinese cuisine. Buongiorno decided to take a single giant biang biang noodle and turn it into a carbonara. Does it work? Surprisingly, yes.
Mrs. Ibaraki Eats and I had a lot of fun biting into the noodle and slurping up the rich carbonara sauce. The presentation was beautiful, and I especially enjoyed breaking the egg yolk in the center and mixing it into the sauce. It was both a fun and delicious dish.
At one point, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats and I even recreated the famous Lady and the Tramp scene by eating the same noodle from opposite ends. The only difference was that this noodle was enormous, and by the end we both had carbonara sauce all over our faces.

Roast Beef and Cheese Chicago Style Pizza

For our last dish of the night, we decided to try the roast beef and cheese Chicago-style pizza. I am not sure calling this a Chicago-style pizza is exactly right. It has the shape and depth of a Chicago-style pizza, but it is also quite different.
That is not to say this pizza was bad. It had a lot of great things going for it. The roast beef was exceptional. It was fresh, flavorful, and very meaty. The pizza was also incredibly cheesy. I loved cutting into a slice and watching all that cheese stretch out while stubbornly refusing to leave the pizza. Biting into that cheese was delicious and made for a great experience.
This pizza would have almost passed my Chicago-style pizza test except for one thing: the crust. Usually, when I have a Chicago-style pizza, the crust is nicely cooked with a slight char that gives it that classic oven-baked flavor. Buongiorno's pizza crust had none of that. It tasted like it needed a little more time in the oven. The roast beef overpowered my taste buds enough that I could not really taste the slightly undercooked crust, but the texture was still noticeable.
I did like this pizza, but I think Buongiorno should really consider improving its crust.

Our experience at Buongiorno was an interesting one. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and the staff were very friendly. I also like how the restaurant experiments with different Italian dishes and isn't afraid to create its own unique offerings.
The izakaya-like atmosphere was fantastic. At one point, an older gentleman sitting next to us struck up a conversation. Granted, it was a rather strange conversation about how he was trying to hide from the law, but it still made for an interesting experience and added to the memorable nature of the evening.

I usually do not give places a second chance, but I am glad I did in this case. If I visit Buongiorno again, I hope to bring a few friends along and enjoy another nice evening out.

So, if you are walking around Mito and looking for an Italian izakaya with a fun atmosphere, why not give Buongiorno Dining Hall a chance? Who knows? You might see us there, enjoying a new pasta dish and striking up a conversation with one of the restaurant's colorful patrons.
Enjoy!

For more information on Buongiorno Dining Hall, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/buongiorno.mitokita/?hl=en

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

https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website