It's summertime! Time to hit the beach my fellow Ibarakians! You have a few options to go swimming or surfing in Ibaraki. I always go to Ajigaura Beach in Hitachinaka for a nice swim and a dip in the onsen afterward. But sometimes, I go to Odake Beach in Hokota. On my way to Odake Beach, I stop at one place to grab a hotdog and some donuts. That place is Lax Store.
Lax Store
Lax Store is located in the Katsuori area of Hokota city. There are no train stations nearby and I am not sure about buses, so I recommend going there by car. It is about a 10 minute drive from Odake Beach, so you can stop in for lunch before you go swimming.
This isn't the first time I have talked about Lax Store. They have a food truck which I wrote about in my Burger Baka Vol. 8 post. I bought a donut from them at Burger Baka and wanted to try their freshly made donuts at their restaurant.
One sunny day in April, the Ibaraki Eats Duo decided to drive to Hokota and check out the restaurant.
Inside
When we walked inside, I immediately got an American thrift store vibe from the restaurant. At the entrance, there is a small store area that sells different sauces, shirts, snacks and a variety of other random things. The restaurant has a lot of different types of chairs, sofas, tables, and a counter area. There was also a kid's area with a TV so parents could eat in peace. It was a pretty spacious restaurant. I think quite a lot of customers can fit in here.
We took our seats and looked at the menu.
The Menu
This is just one page of the menu. Lax Store has a lot of different dishes, drinks, and desserts to choose from. Unfortunately, the menu is only in Japanese.
There are Japanese dishes like miso katsu, Japanese curry, and shogayaki. But I came for donuts and hotdogs so that is what I was going for. The hot dogs are regular hotdog, cheese dog, tuna dog (why?), chili dog, chili cheese dog, and the popular Ibaraki dog. I was interested in trying the Ibaraki dog so that is what I ordered while my wife got the chili cheese dog.
Matcha Milk Cream and Strawberry Milk Cream
My wife wanted a milkshake, and this is as close as we were going to get. That is not to say that our drinks were bad, they were very tasty. My wife got the strawberry milk cream and it was nice a cool, but I thought the strawberry flavor was a little weak. My drink was the matcha milk cream. It was a delicious matcha drink with a mountain of cream on top. Very simple but very delicious.
Garlic Shrimp
My wife also wanted to try the garlic shrimp so we got that as an appetizer. The shrimp were pretty big for a garlic shrimp dish. Besides the annoying outer shell of the shrimp, it was a pretty good appetizer.
The Ibaraki Dog
This is the Ibaraki Dog with bacon on top. Yes, that is bacon. I know, I know. I was horrified too when I first saw this hotdog. I was not expecting the hotdog to be so green. The weiner is completely covered in mizuna. Mizuna, or Japanese mustard greens, is great for a salad or pasta. But this was too much. There was so much mizuna that Lax Store gave me chopsticks to eat my hot dog. CHOPSTICKS! The bacon, which looks very undercooked, was surprisingly good. It was the best part of my hotdog. The condiments did help a bit, especially the sliced pickles. But I am 100% sure I will never have this hotdog again.
Chili Cheese Hotdog
I know that after reading about my Ibaraki Dog, I might have sent you running for the hills. Let me assure you, Lax Store does have good hotdogs. My wife's chili cheese hotdog is a great example. The melted cheese with chili inside was a welcome respite after my abomination of a hotdog. The chili had a small spicy kick to it but not too much to overpower the rest of the hotdog's flavors. The cheese completely covered the middle of the hotdog like a nice warm welcoming blanket. Biting into this hotdog was magical, and it took away the taste of mizuna that tormented my taste buds.
Condiments Station
By the way, the condiments are a "help yourself" situation. There is a condiments station that has quite a lot to put on your hotdog. There is ketchup and mustard of course. But there are also diced onions, spicy salsa, sliced pickles, a sweet mayo sauce, and some other condiments I didn't get to try. Add as much as you want and enjoy!
After our hotdog lunch, we decided to buy some donuts to go. There is a separate counter that displays all the available donuts for that day. We had already tried the white chocolate donut during Burger Baka, so we wanted to try some different donuts.
Glazed Donut
Nothing wrong with going with a simple glazed donut. I am happy to report that Lax Store does glazed donuts right. I was a bit worried about how fresh the donuts would be, but I can say with confidence that this donut was fresh and delicious. That hard glazed sweet frosted coating around the donut was perfect. I would like to buy another and microwave it to get that gooey glazed taste sometime in the near future.
Croissant Sugar Donut
My wife wanted to try the croissant donut. Me, not so much. I have tried croissant donuts before, and I was usually disappointed. Lax Store changed my opinion on croissant donuts. This donut was fantastic. The sugar was perfectly coated onto the donut and you got that same kind of crunch you get when you bite into a croissant. The inside was nice and soft like a donut should be. Lax Store's croissant donut captured my heart and I hope to get another one later this summer.
The Mascot
Our trip to Lax Store was a fun and great experience. Sure, I still have nightmares about that Ibaraki Dog from time to time. But I also dream about that chili cheese dog and those amazing donuts which I hope to have again later this summer.
So before or after you go for a swim at the beach in Hokota, why not grab a hot dog and donut at Lax Store? Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying the chili cheese dog while deciding how many donuts I will be taking home with me.
Enjoy!
For more information on Lax Store, visit their Instagram page:
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