Saturday, February 1, 2014

Hokkaido Holiday - To Eat 14-19thJan2014 (Sapporo Beer Garden, Ramen Alley, Yakitori, Sapporo Seafood Market Eats)

Hokkaido - Where One Could Stay
Hokkaido - To Do
Hokkaido - To Eat
Japan - To Buy 

Hokkaido - To Eat 
continued from Tokyo 14-19th - Hokkaido 19thJan-24thJan
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 A quick Meal at New Chitose Airport
Sapporo Beer Garden



Ordered:
x2 Buffet (Without Free Flow Sapporo Beer)
Buffett ¥2720 each


 *It's a good sign when you see a generous cube of fat used in replacement of
butter to lubricate the pan. Everything tastes so much better. The meat does not have that strong lamb smell that maybe found in others. The BBQed meats definitely goes fantastic with their in-house table salt and zesty dipping sauce, both of which are available for purchase. Ranked number 1 and 3 respectively in their shops. Got me a set. No2 best seller was the hot plate. Basically they've got everything you need to have your own Mongolian bbq at home.*
 
 

 
x1 Onion Ring (Small) ¥550
*Love the way they do their onion rings here. Similar to how the U.S do theirs. Not overly oily, full onion ring cuts and sweet.*

x1 Rice
Fed2: Total: ¥6030
Pros for going with the Buffet.
- More cost effective than if you were to order a-la-carte.
- For good lamb meat lovers and all you can eat.
Cons:
- Limited choices of only to two cuts of lamb. Lamb shoulder and fresh lamb. comes with endless supply of vegetables. An order of each of the cuts of lamb would set you  backabout the same amount as the Genghis Khan Buffett
Kari-Yu Ramen Shop
(Along Ramen Alley)

Chanced upon Kar-yu Ramen shop. Lots of accolades by way of signed well wishes and visits from celebrities, athletes, and professionals. Some of these include, The German Ski Team, Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Bourdain and even Singapore's Bryan Wong, with some dated a decade back. 

 Ordered:
Crab Noodles ¥1800

Scallop Corn Crab Noodles ¥1400
Flavor wise, its pretty much the same soup stock with different ingredients, but it still taste great. Nothing less to be expected of Japan Ramen. There are many other types of Ramen variants and soup stocks to be explored besides the pork bone miso soup base found in this Alley.
Time of visit was at 1630 with a sparse selection open. It could be that these ramen joints are open only for the later half of the day. From the look of pictures and displays, it would seem Ramen Alley has been in operation for a long long time, an 'attraction' of its own.
Click here for ABBA location of Ramen Alley located near Susukino Station (160m away)

Nakamachi Gabacho
(along Tanuki Street no5 alley way as pictured)




*A sampler platter. Mushroom, radish and sweet potato.*

*A play on Peiking duck skin with spring onions. In exchange, its Beef tongue that pairs just as well with the fresh spring onions.*


*Scallop with dollop of Uni over it. Scallop was good sized, but the Uni perhaps didn't blend too well in flavors. Flame broiled uni did leave a slight bitter after taste and probably was not the best match.*



*pictured here, Fore Gua*
- Foie Gras x2 ¥400
*LOOK at the SIZE of it, need I say more?*
- Chicken Skin ¥80
*Nothing special really*


- Beef Round Casting ¥150
*What's that you may ask? When you bite into it, its basically Beef Fat.*
 
- Hanging Tender ¥300
*Nice beef cuts, flavored perfectly.*


- Fatty Salmon Belly
*Its good, don't get me wrong, but more pretty than mind blowing great. A good dish, with ikura over salmon.*


- Wagyu ¥400

 
- Minced Meat in Shiitake Mushroom ¥150
*Really like this snack. Nicely seasoned meat put into a small Shitake Mushroom bowl.*
- Minced Meat in Green Pepper With Cheese in top ¥150
*Super love this green pepper dish. A nice warm heat that goes well with the meat and the cheese.*
 
- Salted Squid Guts and butt on potato ¥150
*A strange dish. Its essentially known Hokkaido preserves over a microwaved heated potato finished on the flat top.*
Ashi Super Dry Draft ¥500
Fed2 ¥3575 on first occasion.
*Pictured above are combined orders on two separate visits*
(¥325taxes x2¥300table charge)
 
Atmosphere here is really nice. A grungy, cool jive place, with jazzy music going on in the background. A somewhat, neo-mordern take on the classic Yakitori. Most of the Yakitori are fairly standard, but the few stands out are the Fore Gua, Waygu (huge value for money), Beef Tongue, Mushroom and Bell pepper with stuffed meat.

Over at Sapporo Wholesale Seafood Market
(One of the many seafood places where you can shop and dine in-house.)


Popped into one of the many small eateries within the shop spaces to try Botan Ebi Sashimi(seasonal sweet prawn). Some stalls allow one to purchase the produce fresh from the market for later preparation and consumption in their adjoining eateries.
4 Botan Ebi (Packet goes for ¥2500. Its probably a pack that has been sitting there for awhile) Fresh Botan Ebi (pictured in front) approximately ¥9000. Goes by weight.
Apart from the colour, the quality between the jumbo shrimps are pretty much indistinguishable. Both are extremely creamy and sweet, and its fantastic they serve the prawn's roe as well. It like Emi Abi (smaller sweet prawns) x10.  
Sapporo wholesale seafood market continued. . .
Kita No Ryouba
(2nd Floor At Sapporo Wholesale Seafood Market)


 Ordered:  
Crab Meat In The Shell ¥1380

*Don't really get what all the fuss is about over these locally caught crab. The meat is sweet and tasty. Having the crab boiled in its own juices over a mini flame was fantastic, both esthetically and flavor wise.
 
A quick mix of the bits of crab meat and the innards of the crab especially, gave that distinctively strong crab flavor. Although we now know what it tastes like, we probably still won’t go out of our way to hunt it down again. *

P.S after looking around at other restaurants, man is this way over priced. You can get pretty much the
same or similar thing for anything from ¥500-¥750 range. Perhaps we got fresher lots than mostly frozen
crab.*

Ottoro x3 piece sushi set¥1480
*No complaints here. Standards are always met.*
Lunch Set ¥2880

Oreno Sapporo Crab
(One of the recommendation list from Vessel Inn Hotel)


Ordered:
Japanese set ¥5250 (without beer) each
*Everything is in Japanese. Due to the language barrier, a Chinese waiter from an upper floor was our mediator. The set shown in the menu above, is purely for illustrative purposes.

When asking her which was the most value for money meal to experience Hokkaido crabs, her somewhat devastating reply was neither. The set finally settling on (pictured below) was shared to be the best for widest variety and was targeted mostly for the locals. Below is the course by course meal for that meal selection. They had combined the both servings into one.*

*Sashimi selection and egg filled fried dumplings*


Cold Cut Trio of
Hairy Crab (half a crab)
King Crab (2 legs)
Snow Crab (Half a Crab)

x1 single serve hot pot with 1 king crab leg inside

 x3 Small Side dishes(not pictured and x1 dessert Rice)
Total ¥10,500 for 2 sets 
Price wise, the set meal was quite value for money. You probably would get a little more if you ordered gift sets available at most seafood markets. However with the whole set deal and mini hot pot, you be the judge.

Over at Otaru To Eat
Takano
(To eat at Otaru)


Ordered:
*Unknown sashimi. We think its the intestines of the fish. But it taste smooth and a light sweetness. Served in ponzu sauce and radish. (a lime sort of soy sauce)*
¥1980
*Doesn't seem as value for money for the winter set featured below. The winter set has the option of Sushi or Chirashi of the same size pictured above. Only difference is that it doesn't have the sweet prawn Uni and scallops perhaps. Not too sure if the crab comes with or without. Fairly standard pricing.*
¥1980
*A really value for money set available in winter. Don't be fooled by what looks like meatballs in the Udon hot pot. Its a yam mixture dumpling.*
¥500
*Rubbery and did not come with a slathering of Yakitori sauce. Perhaps the winters cold sapped away the heat, making the flesh chewy and rubbery.*
 * A really nice fry on these squid legs. Not overly salty or oily. No accompanying sauce of mayonnaise, but a lemon wage is all one really needed.*
The rest of the shop lots along this area seemed empty or without any locals. This place filled up quite quickly with two other dining parties when we visited. Sushi and fried dishes were to standard. A nice place with a traditional sushi joint feel to it. 
Kirin Beer Garden

Tried to Order:

We had tried to order the lamb buffet similar to the Sapporo's Beer Garden. However we didn't have a chance at all. Seen above is some unknown black, liquid muck which stained the meats. Picture featured, was after a second change of hot plates and still no improvement.

Be weary of, what is suspected to be unclean hot plates. Service recovery was non-present, but it could also be due to the language barrier. Did not dine at location.
ABBAtip:
Check for Hotel Brochures for Kirin Beer Garden. Some of them may come with coupons of 5%-10% discount.


Hyotoko
(located beside Vessel Inn. Click here for where one can stay in Hokkaido)

A small corner shop located right beside Vessel Inn Hotel. A simple menu, but delivering big on flavor. Ordered a sample plate of each of the lamb marinades, with a repeat plate for the plain lamb.
 *Way to have table top BBQ with a ceramic, charcoal BBQ stove to cook on. Plain lamb went amazingly with the home made ponzu sauce by the owner. He shared it was his own blend for three citrus soy sauces and mirin. Really good*
 *The owner told us that the subsequent two marinated dishes were to be best enjoyed on their own. Really good with the char.*
Good meat for a relatively filling meal. A mother, son run-ed establishment, this place is nothing but homely and hospitality, with no rushed commercial feel of quick dining and out the door to turn over tables.

Really impressed when after having used the grill top for the marinated lambs for cooking, the owner insisted a fresh grill so that the non-marinated lamb flavors would not get contaminated by used grill. A true reflection of pride in their product and would recommend others to dine here. 

Gyu-Kaku
(Hokkaido Branch at Susukino station)
Gyu Tan Shio (Salted Beef Tongue) ¥790
*Never tried beef tongue before? Well you really should. It like think, tender, succulent sheet of beef that has a springy textural feel to it. Similar to eating tendons. Fantastic!*
Kuroge Wagyu Kalbi (Japanese Black-haired Beef Kalbi tare) ¥590
Gyukaku Kalbi (tare) ¥490
*A gyukaku original of thick sizzling aromatic cuts. Thumbs up!*
 
Cheese fondu, chicken basil a Gyukaku speciality. ¥550
*Really love what they've done with this marinade made of sweet basil, oils and salt. Superb. Definitely will try replicating back home.*
*The house beef special for the night. A garlic marinated and infused beef cut.
Absolutely delicious. Tender, succulent and full of fantastic garlic goodness. ¥590*
 Assortment of Seafood. (Costs way less than ordering individually) ¥980
*Scallops were large and nice tasting. Squid seemed to have gone into deep chill before. 
Not worth the order and you're better of ordering more Waygu meats!*
 
Sakura Yukhoe.
This appetizer is not served in some Gyukaku Restaurants.  ¥790
A simple vanilla, green tea dessert to top of the night. ¥190
ABBAtip:
Going a-la-carte gets you the higher quality beef and is just as filling as compared to getting the full fledged buffet. Not to mention, cheaper too.
Gyu-Kaku, comes full circle. From the first taste of it 2007, to consistently seeing chains wherever we went (Narita, Otaru, Hokkaido, ) it was a calling, even a pilgrimage of sort to end the last dinner with Gyu-Kaku before leaving Hokkaido.
A tried and tested chain restaurant, with solid serving of meats, Waygu grade beefs and other cuts. A definite recommended place to go to for YAKINIKU.
Total for two: ¥7660
Click here for ABBA location of Gyu-Kaku located near Susukino Station, Hokkaido
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