Sapporo: Kura (久楽)

Me, N and S were hungry souls after some heavy shopping sessions in Odori's Tanukikoji so we were walking around for food then we randomly found "Kura" ramen, next to the famous soup-curry shop, Picante. S recalled that he asked our hotel's reception for recommended ramen shops in Sapporo and she told us about "Kura" ramen which was not far from our hotel. So we decided to pop in for some food.

N was really hungry so she ordered shoyu tsukemen (or dipping noodle) to share with S who wasn't much hungry. I ordered ika yaki (grilled squids) for snacking. I can forever praise the squid dish as it was so well-cooked. The squid was very very tender and can be eaten without the mayo dipping. I miss this dish, like a lot. Blogging about this makes me craving it so much! As for tsukenmen, I did try a bit of it and i though I was falling in love. Why so delicious?! The soup was strong which is expected for tsukemen. If I wasn't too full, I would probably order it to eat right away.

Since we fell in love with this ramen shop, we decided to come back for more after our one day trip to Noboribetsu with everyone.

T ordered the spicy ramen once again but this time she approved as it was really spicy, unlike the one at Aji no Tokeidai which we assume that was already spicy for Japanese (it's our own bad, Thai people who have high threshold for spiciness).

I didn't quite catch what S has ordered, maybe it was white miso ramen. I did taste the soup though, it was very nice. Not too salty, something you would enjoy slurping.

N ordered the fried rice which looks so cute and yummy at the same time. I love the idea of serving the fried rice on a bed of egg and u can mix that yourself. The fried rice smelled so nice. I know my mum would love this.

I ordered the ika-yaki to share (again, I love it too much!) and curry tsukemen to try. The curry soup wasn't too strong for drinking and I love that along with the noodle and chachu, they have carrot for me to put in the soup which gives out the feeling of me eating curry! They also have a bowl of rice in the set so you can try the soup over rice for change of taste.

I can say that Kura is my favourite ramen shop in Sapporo (haven't tried Asahikawa's back soup ramen yet so you never know). I would definitely go back to Kura ramen again next time I visit Sapporo (hopefully next year!).

Kura (久楽)
Sapporo, Japan


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Sapporo: Donburi-Chaya at Nijo Fish Market

When going to Japan, it is best to visit their market esp. fish market to explore the food they sell and to taste the incredibly fresh seafood they have. I was told that I should visit Nijo Fish Market of Sapporo if I go there. We decided to have breakfast at the market, so we set off from our hotel which is located near JR Sapporo, walking pass The famous clock tower and Odori park which we found this cute fandog, wearing the concert T-shirt of the reason why me and friends were in Sapporo.

Maybe it was Sunday, Nijo market wasn't that 'lively'. We found that not all the shops were opened but still a handful of them were operating, selling super big crabs and some dried seafood to tourists (we saw a lot of Chinese, not many locals).

super huge & expensive crabs

After a quick browse of stalls, we were trying to find "Donburi-Chaya", the restaurantn I found on the internet which selling seafood donburi. It was located inside the market which you have to go through small alley that I do not know how to explain (so if you are going, please go into every small alley or just ask people around for this shop).

As I found their website and printed out coupon, after ordering our food I showed them the coupon and received free appertizer which is picked seaweed and fresh uni. I don't eat uni in general as it wasn't fresh in Thailand so the taste was really awful. But uni here was amazing! It was creamy and sweet.

At first, I was gonna order the sanshoku-don which showed in the menu above but decided to go for Marusen Don, a sample set which you get 4 small bowls of different types (hotate (scallop) &uni don, ikura&salmon don, makuro&ebi (shrimp) don and kani (crab meat) don) with miso crab soup. It is best value for 2499yen.


My most favourite among these small bowls is the hotate and uni. The hotate was very very fresh and very sweet. The uni was amazing as I already told you. So this dish received so much loved from me and friends.


Second best must have been the kani don. Crab meat was sweet and tasty. You really don't need to put any sauce in it and can just enjoy the sweetness of crab and warm rice.


Ikura was also good as it wasn't too salty and the prawn was fresh and sweet. As for salmon and makuro, it was medicore. So we just came to conclusion that you can taste all the amazing recommended food of Hokkaido here (Ikura, uni, hotate and kani) but for sashimi fish, they are some good and some medicore. Still highly recommended for visitors to Sapporo to visit this place for good food!

Donburi-Chaya (どんぶり茶屋)
Nijo Fish Market, Sapporo
Japan
Open: AM7:30 - PM5:30
Website: http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/chiyo/donburi/


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Sapporo: Nanda (難陀)

One thing on the top "to do" list of people visiting Sapporo/Hokkaido is to eat their famous 3 crabs (hairy crab, snow crab and king crab). I have eaten at this place which seems to be famous among Chinese and Korean tourits (since they have eating instruction for crab in Chinese and Korean) before so my friend, P, said I must take her there to eat since she didn't come with me last trip.

Nanda is located in susukino area, or the night-life area of Sapporo. Much closer to Hosui-susukino station that Susukino station itself. It is located in underground level of Cyber City building. This place is highly recommended, not for the taste of food but for the variety of food they provide and the fact that it is all you can eat for 90 or 120 minutes (depends on your choice). The restaurant seperates dinning/seating area from buffet lines properly and the seating area wasn't too cramped as well.

After we told the staff that we want 90 minutes all you can eat without all you can drink alcohol plan. They left us to enjoy the food they provided and would come back 10 minutes before our time end for the bill. (If you don't drink alcohol, do not fret as the softdrink is already included in the all you can eat plan you choose - 90 minutes for 3,480yen per person). We explored the food counters and was greeted with the famous crabs (already boiled) and shellfish.

Aside from seafood stuff, they also have beef/pork and vegetable for grilling as well.

Not just yakiniku stuff they have, sashimi and sushi they have here are also quite fresh. But the king of the night must have been the uni, ikura and crab meat which they provided for us to make our own sanshoku-don (三色丼 - literally means 3 coloured rice dish). The ikura was just in right taste, not too salty, not too bland. And all of them are very fresh!

For changing of taste, you might go for chilli prawn or gratin they have. They also have tempura which I didn't try but friend said it was good.

They also have huge range of desserts/fruits counter, they even have soft cream! I didn't try any of their sweets as I was too full but their kiwis and oranges were very fresh and sweet!

I wasn't really digging the crab as it was too hassle to peel and crack the crab. Also I found that the crab was already cooked (boil perhaps) and left in the fridge so it was a bit weird. Anyhow, I digged the scallops so much! You can add butter to your scallops as much as you want and you can grill it any way you like! I tried the tsukune (minced chicken in stick) and it was very really good! Going well with the yakiniku sauce they provided. They also have miso soup, salad bar, nabe to fill up your tummy.

As I mentioned I highly recommended this place for you who visit Sapporo for tasting the taste of Sapporo. Also I recommend you guys to make reservation for table as this place seems to be very popular not just with tourists so it is wise to ask your hotel reception to help you booking a table.


Nanda (難陀)
Susukino, Sapporo, Japan
Tel. 011-532-7887
Open:16:00-22:30
Gourmet navi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/h292200/


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Sapporo: Aji no Tokeidai (味の時計台)

I know that once you visited Hokkaido, you must have butter corn ramen. So I have researched for recommended places to eat in Sapporo for their famous miso ramen. Aji no Tokeidai was popped into the scene. It is a famous Hokkaido ramen shops that now has branches all over Japan. To my surprise, I found one of their shops just around the corner of my hotel which I learned that they will be closed at 11pm. So I told my friends to wait up for me for dinner (for me, supper for them) that night as I had 'fangirl' business to do and kept my fingers cross that I would be able to make it for last order of this. Very fortunated that I was able to leave my so-called business faster than expected. so I got back to hotel and meet everyone for dinner by 10pm!




There're so many interesting things in menu. Friends went for something small as they already had sushi in Otaru while I was away. So I went for their recommendation, Hotate (scallop) Butter Corn Ramen.


But first off, we ordered gyoza to share. It was okay. Just ordinary gyoza.



Then there comes my main dish. I never had butter in ramen before so I didn't know how it suppose to taste like. I was afraid, to be honest, coz it never cross my mind that butter would go well with ramen. But it did, or at least didn't have any weird taste. It made the soup taste more richer. I think one of the best bit of this ramen is corn. I really enjoyed eating miso ramen with corn as the corn has sweet flavour in it so it helped in balancing the ramen. The scallops were huge anyway, never seen big scallops much at home so this dish is quite fascinating for me.

If you ask, Aji no Tokeidai is good but not the best. Not something you shouldn't miss in Sapporo. Anyhow, if you looking for place to eat in cold winter, it is one of the good choices anyway.


Aji no Tokeidai (味の時計台)
various branches
Website: http://www.ajino-tokeidai.co.jp/
Map of branch that I ate:


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Japan: Bento, Conbini & Supermarket food (1)

I didn't realise that my Japanese trip has turned into fangirl and food trip. Oh well, not that I don't see that coming since the main purpose for visiting Sapporo was fangirl business and I have been googled for restaurants/reviews for the past 3 months! Anyway, to start off the foodie experience in Japan, I'm going to dedicate the next two entries to the big part of my foodie trip. Bento, combini (convenient store) and supermarket food from Japan. These are simple, most-of-the-time cold food, yet they are simply delicious.

I flew in with late flight from Bangkok to arrive in early morning in Haneda airport. I was served western-styled egg dish on plane which I absolutely detested (Reheat egg dish on plane, WHY?). So as soon as we transit to domestic terminal for our flight to Sapporo, we started looking for our proper breakfast. We found this bento selling stalls outside, just before security check-in so we just bought random bento to eat while waiting for our flight


I bought Onigiri (rice ball) bento with assortment of simmered fish pastes and konyaku, a piece of fried chicken and fried egg. It looked simple but the taste was incredibly nice. The simmered dish has sweetness taste from mirin which went well with the onigiri. The brown onigiri has stuffing inside which was seasoned hijiki seaweed. It was yummy. Everything was yummy although it was cold. I was more than satisfied with my first meal in Japan.

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For this trip, we were travelling down from Hokkaido to Tokyo by train so you can say I was associated with eki-bento (Train station's bento) a lot. On the way down to Hakodate from Sapporo, we left so early in the morning that we had to buy bento at train station to eat on train while travelling instead of proper meal. Sapporo station has quite an extent choice of bento for you to choose from. I chose this Hamburg bento to eat.


I was doubting at first coz usually you would have hamburg serving on hot plate so it means that best way to eat is hot. So to buy this cold hamburg bento is like jeopardising my money on food (not just any money since Japanese yen is so expensive these days). Anyhow, I must say although it was cold, it tasted incredibly nice.


The fried fish serving next to it was also still crispy. I enjoyed that a lot. The portion was more than enough that I had to eat twice within 3 hours train ride to finish the hamburg (not the rice though, too much!)

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But talking about the best eki-bento of this trip is from Hakodate JR station. It was the stall on the left, in front of ticket gate next to all vending machines. I bought beef bento which has seasoned minced beef, minced fried egg and sukiyaki beef. The sukiyaki beef was cooked very well. You can taste the sukiyaki sauce in the meat which was also tender.


I saw this white ball thing as side-dish and wondered what it is. I tried and found that it was all crab meat inside rice noodle! This has to be the best bento ever and only cost me like 800yen!!! So if anyone will be in Hakodate, do stop by at that bento stall. Absolutely worth it.

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Aside from bento food that I've been relying in on, Combini food & dessert were also my cup of tea. The night we stayed in Hakodate, me and friend decided to eat simple combini food instead of anything fancy since we just had late lunch (like 3 pm) that day. So we found 7/11 located on the way back to hotel and bought our dinner which consisted of Oden (stewed assortment of fish ball, tofu, daikon, egg etc which you can choose things as you like), instant noodle and some snacks.

I have had Oden from combini before in my previous trip and I think I like Lawson's oden more. Anyhow, 7/11's one wasn't that bad anyway. I found that food in Japan are usually in good quality even they are sold at convenient store. I'm not sure if I can say the same as food selling at 7/11 here.


One interesting snack I found is "Chikuwa cheese" which I often saw on Ai's blog. Basically, it is like cooked fish paste/ball with a stick of cheese inside. This is quite genius for me as I love Chikuwa and having it with cheese, never thought it will go well together before. I only wish I had a beer with me though. It would go so well together!

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(To be continued in next entry)

Sapporo: Sapporo Kaitakushi

We have heard about Genghis Khan BBQ/Jingisukan (ジンギスカン) from Hokkaido way ages ago. We knew that it is special dish of Hokkaido and seemed to be some special people's favourite food when they visited Sapporo. So when we decided to go to Sapporo, I started looking for good place where we can eat Genghis Khan BBQ and found that the best place to eat is at Beer Factory. We chose the authentic Sapporo Factory which have many restaurants inside to dine on the first night we arrived at Sapporo since it was only 10 minutes walked from our hotel, ANA Sapporo.

Sapporo Factory

"Sapporo Kaitakushi" restaurant decorated their dining hall like German Beer place. The ambience was very nice, makes you feel as if you were in Oktoberfest!

They have regular menu and all you can eat/all you can drink in 90 minutes. We opted for the 4 types of meat all you can eat and drink for the experience of Genghis Khan BBQ (and for the fact that we are meat-eating people).

The mutton came in 4 types; plain, salt, soy sauce and miso and vegetable.

How to eat: you first put all the veggies on the bbq pan and top of with the mutton. Then pour sauce on top of the meat and let it cook slowly.

Now that was my share of Genghis Khan BBQ with hot sake. The meat was very very tender, it was never like those muttons I ate in UK or Australia. It doesn't smell too strong and the meat was not chewy at all. I thought I had died and gone to heaven already! We munched down 3 or 4 plates of meat with hot sake and some shuuhei (Japanese cocktail with Soju base).

90 minutes gone and that was our BBQ pan - dirty, dirty, dirty!

Now the good thing about Japanese dining, if you plan ahead you can print the discount coupon from website and use it. As I planned ahead, we got 10% discount which was a great deal for us!

Sapporo Beer Mongolian BBQ beer cellar Sapporo Kaitakushi
Sapporo Factory Renga-kan 1F
Nijo Higashi 4, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0032
Gourmet Navi website (for discount)

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