Butadon: Pork Rice Bowl – Obihiro City Hokkaido Local Dish

Butadon (pork bowl), now famous nationwide for Japanese people, is a local dish of Obihiro City, Hokkaido. The combination of rice and pork tossed with sauce is a perfect match and stirs up one’s appetite. Don’t miss this page as we introduce the history of butadon, as well as recommended restaurants!

What is Butadon (pork bowl)?

Butadon is a bowl of rice topped with a thick slice of pork marinated in a sauce seasoned with sugar and soy sauce. It is said that the birthplace of “butadon” was Obihiro City in the Tokachi region, where pig farming flourished from the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912).

In the early Showa period (1926-1989), a diner in Obihiro City aimed to offer a stamina-boosting food to hardworking farmers and initially considered using eels. However, due to the high cost and scarcity of eels, they opted for pork instead. The dish they created, mixing charbroiled pork with a sweet and spicy sauce inspired by unadon (a bowl of rice topped with eel), is said to have been the origin of the now-famous pork bowl.

Butadon thus created has now become a famous local food known not only in Hokkaido but also on a national scale. It is a gem of a dish that makes the most of the appeal of Tokachi pork, with its juicy flavor, fine, deep sweetness, and light, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Let’s Go Eat Butadon!

This time I visited “Butadon no Butahage, Obihiro Honten”

Butadon no Butahage, Obihiro Honten is located in a commercial facility directly connected to Obihiro Station. I had their famous butadon here!

The menu is simple, with only a pork bowl. The restaurant is filled with the savory smell of grilling.

There are two types of pork bowls: a four-piece pork bowl and a special six-piece pork bowl. I ordered the regular size, which has 4 slices of slightly thicker pork, grilled over a charcoal fire, on a bed of rice. The meat was so tender and savory ✨The sweet and spicy sauce was a perfect match and I couldn’t stop eating the rice. I regret that I should have ordered a large size…

4 restaurants where you can eat Butadon

Obihiro city, the birthplace of butadon, has many restaurants specializing in butadon! But the way the meat is grilled and the sauces differ depending on the restaurant, so I recommend try comparing them and find your most favorite shop!

Butadon Ichiban Obihiro Sohonten (豚丼一番 帯広総本店)

Butadon PANCHO (元祖豚丼のぱんちょう)

Butadon no Tonda (ぶた丼のとん田)

Butadon no Hanatokachi (豚丼のはなとかち)