Category: City: Sapporo

Baka Damon, a meat-heavy izakaya in central Sapporo

There is nothing like trying a Japanese restaurant without an English menu and without knowledge of Japanese. Luckily, pictures can help. In this case, overall it went well. (To get an English menu see my notes at the end of the post.)

The visit

I came across an izakaya located next to Mistukoshi, in a very central location dominated by retail outlets. The izakaya is located in a basement and in English is called Baka Damon (it is the only English term on the sign).

I was welcomed with a compulsory appetizer: two pieces of radish oden style.

I wanted to have some skewers.

I had skewers with pork belly, beef and mutton.

I particularly enjoyed their meatballs.

They also had chicken fried in a number of ways. I went for the dish pictured above using only wing tips.

They had ankimo sashimi. This dish is rarely seen outside Japan and it is basically marinated monk-fish liver. To me, it is the seafood equivalent of foie gras. It is an incredibly delicious seafood dish.

They also had a very attractive all you can drink option (you pay a flat price and for a fixed amount of time, like 2 hours, you can drink all the beer you wish; it is a format quite common in izakayas) and they were surprised that I was not interested.

The check

The damage for all of these izakaya delicacies was 4,330 yen (38.5 USD). When in an izakaya I rarely spend less than that.

This izakaya experience overall was interesting and a nice departure from menu more heavily based on seafood. This was clearly an izakaya focusing on meat, including less common types of meat (duck, gizzards, and more). The skewers were good. Among the delicacies I did not try there was horse meat sashimi that seemed to be their signature dish.

This is an address to keep in mind if you are hanging out around Mitsukoshi department store in Sapporo.

Where in Sapporo:
3-8-11, Minami 1 Jo Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, 060-0063
See this website for details and menu in English (I wish I had known this link before the visit…).

Eating at the two major fish markets in Sapporo

Sapporo has two major fish markets that are open to tourists: the Nijo Fish Market and the Central Wholesale Market. In both markets restaurants where to have fresh seafood, especially donburi, abound.

Central Wholesale Market

The stores of the Central Wholesale Market occupy the two sides of a street in the North-Western part of the city. I got there by taxi (not the cheaper way), otherwise it is a 10-15 walk from the nearest metro station.

The stores are one another’s copy… they have an area where they sell seafood and usually have a section for the restaurant. I checked in in a restaurant located in the building pictured above at the very start (or end?) of the street. It was called Kita No Ryouba that had a nice air-conditioned section for non smokers.

The piece of resistance of my meal was a donburi with tuna and fatty tuna. I enjoyed it.

I also had a grilled squid hat was very good.

The donburi cost me 2,480 yen before tax (around 22 USD). The total check, including a drink, the squid, and taxes, was 3,623 yen (32 USD). Not wholesale prices, but elsewhere in Asia the same amount of fatty tuna would have cost much more.

The Nijo Fish Market

The Nijo Fish Market occupies two blocks in downtown Sapporo. It is very easy to reach from Odori metro station and a favorite among tourists.

I had lunch at Donbori Chaya Nijo Fish Market.

I had fatty tuna again!

Then I had a miso soup that was particularly rich:

Finally, I had two grilled scallops:

The restaurant was tourist-friendly with payment systems catering to Chinese customers and exhibiting a halal notice.

Total check: 2,780 yen (around 25 USD). The fatty tuna was particularly well priced.

The verdict

Fish markets are a must-go attraction in Japan. The two Sapporo markets that I visited were a bit disappointing. Hokkaido is the seafood hot spot of Japan and I was expecting something more (in terms of variety and possibility to get fresh seafood on the go).

The Central Wholesale Market is not worth the trip. If back, I might visit Nijo Fish Market again since it is so conveniently located and fatty tuna seems to be so reasonably priced.

 

 

 

How many ways can you cook a crab? The answer at Sapporo Kanihonke

Hokkaido means seafood. And one type of seafood that cannot be missed in Hokkaido is crab. Options to try it abound. In my case I ended up having an early lunch in one of the crab institutions of Sapporo, Sapporo Kanihonke. This crab restaurant is today a chain with venues across all Japan. According to their website, they have been the first restaurant to serve crab cuisine and their founder is know as the father of crab cuisine in Japan. So much for the hype. I am very suspicious of chains (and this one reminds me of Red Lobster for some reason…), so my expectations were low. However, on a Sunday morning at 11.30 there were very few eateries open in Susukino district, so I eventually overcame my doubts and asked for a table.

The visit

The Susukino branch occupies a seven-story building literally covered in crabs signs. You cannot miss it. I was promptly escorted in a private room for two people. Very nice start. It is always nice to have a private room and considering that when I left there was a notice indicating that the restaurant was sold out I guess I was a little bit lucky.

They have an extensive menu sporting snow and hairy crab dishes and a number of other seafood options. They have a number of “kaiseki” set menus. Kaiseki is the traditional Japanese multi-course meal. I would describe their kaiseki as “mini”, since they do not perfectly reflect the grammar of a full kaiseki, but, after doing some math, they are a great way to get an introduction to crab cuisine since you can save some bucks as opposed to order individual dishes.

My choice was a Hanasaki menu only available for lunch for 5,400 yen (around 50 USD). I shall now describe the individual dishes that came with this menu.

The first course included a selection of appetizers and the main crab dish of the menu: three pieces of butter roasted snow crab. The pieces were quite meaty (but not that much to eat overall). You could definitely taste the freshness of the crab from its juices. Please note that you are being provided both chopsticks and a crab fork to reach any piece of pulp in the dishes (chopstick and fork are placed on a cute chopstick rest modeled like a crab).

The second course included a portion of crab gratin (white cram with a few pieces of crab meat) and a rice ball called “crab marimo” on the menu. The rice ball tasted like sticky rice and, of course, was enriched by a few specks of crab meat.

The third course brought some variety with a piece of grilled white fish (called “sable fish” on the menu) marinated in miso. Nice.

The fourth course was fried crab meat on shell. Very nice, I finished it. No need to use the accompanying sauce to enjoy it in my opinion.

And now time for some sushi. The two important parts here are the piece of crab sushi and the piece of mackerel sushi. In both cases, mackerel and crab pulp were pressed and marinated. The course is completed by a miso soup.

The sixth and last course was a simple dessert: fruit in a yogurt sauce. Not my cup of tea, but glad to have it. By the way, hot tea was included, I only paid extra for a soft drink.

The check

The final check amounted to 5810 yen (or around 52 USD). All dishes were enticing. My only marginal regret is that I did not order some more substantial dish (like their king crab steak!), but one of such dishes would have added at least 30 USD to the final check and, honestly, there was enough food already.

Overall, the place scored beyond my expectations. I think one of their multi-course menus is a great way to be introduced to crab cuisine. Apart from the quality of the food and its presentation, service was also excellent and the dishes were perfectly timed. They have a lot of experience in a place like this.

Sapporo Kanihonke certainly earned my recommendation. If you go, just consider making a reservation to be sure not to be disappointed. You can find them across Japan, so you do not need to go to Sapporo to try their menu.

PS: Before leaving, at the cashier, you can buy as a souvenir many of their crab-inspired paraphernalia. I bought the crab double rest for chopsticks and fork for just 200 yen.

Where in Sapporo:
Sapporo Kanihonke – Susukino Branch
4-1-3 Minami-Rokujyou-Nishi, Cyuou-ku
Visit their website to check other locations and the booking system (they recommend to place reservations 10 days in advance).

 

 

 

 

Luxury omakase chez Sushi Tanabe – in Sapporo

Omakase means more or less “I leave it to you” and it is a code word for luxury multi-course meals in Japan where the chef decide what you get. Typically an omakase involves sushi and this was the case with Sushi Tanabe, a premium dining venue in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Sushi Tanabe has been around for around 13 years (my visit dates back to July 2018) and 3 years ago moved in the current location a stone throw away from Sapporo station in a fancy commercial tower, The Rokkattei Building, on the 9th floor (where, by pure coincidence, you can find another interesting venue, Molière Café, the coffee shop spin-off of one of the most renown restaurants in town). In 2012 it was one of the 4 restaurants to get three stars (the highest award) in the inaugural Michelin guide for Hokkaido. The stars were abruptly dropped in the 2017 guide (more on this later).

The visit

I was able to make a reservation for dinner (it is not open for lunch) by email (a, rarity in Japan), but it does not look like a sold-out location any longer so walk-ins are probably possible. By the way, they have a pretty large location, with a big counter seating 13 guests and two cooking stations for two chefs to work simultaneously (they also have two private rooms, but the beauty of an omakase is to seat close to the chef).

I ordered the basic omakase set including an appetizer, 10 pieces of sushi and desserts for 10,500 yen plus plus (more on this in the “the check” section). Two more menus were available with additional grilled dishes and sashimi (the most expensive being priced 16,800 yen or around 150 USD).

As it happens in this kind of restaurants, the chef personally grated the horseradish to use in the sushi rice (no horseradish/wasabi available for the diner, all is taken care by the chef including the soy sauce) and cut the ginger (that was not replenished during the meal).

On the contrary of what happened in my previous omakase in Osaka,  the chef served multiple customers arriving at different times and ordering different menus.

Here’s what I got:

  1. Appetizer: a succulent oyster from Hokkaido with vinegar (but it was a small bite, I did not have the time to dip it).
  2. Hirame: white fish usually translated with halibut.
  3. Maguro: classic slice of tuna.
  4. Kohada:  gizzard shad is a small fish (around 5 inches) and the preparation involved to cut the fish slice on the surface, I guess to make it softer and get the flavor to emerge). According to the Sushi Geek, this fish undergoes extensive preparation and is marinated in vinegar.
  5. Hotate: a meaty Hokkaido scallop, cleaned on the spot by the chef from the shell.
  6. Aji: Japanese horse mackerel, with spring onion.
  7. Kin medai: a reddish slice of golden eye snapper.
  8. Uni: served on rice sprinkled with salt.
  9. Sake: salmon, a piece with a bit of skin attached for extra flavor.
  10. Ikura: a generous amount of salmon roe.
  11. Miso soup.
  12. Anago: a melt-in-your mouth saltwater eel.
  13. Tamago: two bites of Japanese omlette.
  14. Two desserts: Japanese tea and a cup of crème brûlée and ice cream with a bite of Hokkaido melon.

From the drink menu I ordered a Japanese peach juice. You can browse the gallery below to see pictures of each dish.

All dishes were delicious and executed by the book by the chef in front of me.

The check

The total damage for the dinner was 12,398 yen (around 112 USD). For an omakase dinner like this I find the price acceptable. I was put off by the flat service charge of 1,500 yen (that’s 13.5 USD) that I had not seen mentioned on the website. I know that it is normal for Japanese restaurants to levy cover charges (usually in exchange for a small appetizer called otashi), but I would have preferred them to embed this charge in the menu price or declare it on the website. While overall I was satisfied and I got my omakase, the large space and the fact that the chef was serving multiple customers with different orders at the same time made the meal less intimate than my omakase in Osaka. I would call this omakase “by the book”. Everything was executed well, no complaints, but I found the chef a bit too mechanic and hasty. Maybe was this the reason the restaurant lost its Michelin award? This is just speculation, but I felt there was no soul in the overall experience and I was in a cookie-cutter type of operation. This is not meant to be a disparaging comment. I would certainly recommend the place to others, especially considering that they are accustomed to deal with foreign customers and that’s certainly a plus. Personally, now I know what I want: in the future I will scout for smaller and more intimate places where I can see the chef/owner truly involved and enthusiast about the food he or she is preparing.

Where in Sapporo:
The Rokkattei Building 9 floor, 3-3, North 4 West 6, Chu-ou-ku, Sapporo city
Address in Japanese: 札幌市中央区北４条西６丁目 六花亭ビル９階
See website in English for more information.

Discovering Shiretoko beef at Teppanyaki Mitsui – in Sapporo

One of the things I like about Japan is that every region, every prefecture, almost every town boast its own food delicacy, usually the labor of love of many generations meticulously improving production techniques. The popularity of Kobe beef is a spectacular example of this local search for excellence, but actually beef from Kobe is only one of many top-shelf qualities of beef available in Japan. When I heard that a particular quality of wagyu (marbled) beef from the remote Shiretoko peninsula was available in Sapporo I knew I needed to give it a try.

The visit

Reading an article on Savory Japan, I learnt that Shiretoko beef was available in a teppanyaki restaurant owned and operated by a native of the town source of the beef. By the way, if you fancy quality meat in Japan, the teppanyaki style (based on a flat surface grill) is the way to go, not only because it ensures an uniform and perfect cooking, but also because you have a chance to seat at the counter and observe the chef doing his or her magic.

I visited the restaurant very early (5pm or so) because I was afraid of possible competition. I ordered the signature 100-gram beef rump steak (medium rare) and the Sachiku pork in tonpei yaki style. I also got the customary otoshi appetizer in the form of a soup and some eggplant.

First came the pork that was ably prepared in front of me on the hot plate. Sachiku pork comes from a farm in Sachi, a town also located on the Shiretako peninsula. According to an online source, this “red pork comes from the crossbreeding of male Duroc and several other breeds. It has been trademarked for ten years. This farm’s breeding area is twice as large as typical breeding grounds, and they feed the pigs original vegetal fodder made of barley. The farm also strictly controls its hygiene and quality by not putting stress on the pigs. The pork that comes from these pigs is sweet and fatty without a strong pork smell.”

I can attest that the pork chop that was cut in front of me was ostensibly reddish and it tasted sweet, but without too much fat. In the tonpei yaki style, the pork meat was enclosed in an omelette, also cooked on the teppanyaki, and a number of sauces were added, including mayonnaise and the sweet tonkatsu sauce. This set up is very similar to the dressing of the classic okonomiyaki, the Japanese savory pancake. The pork meat was slightly rare to enhance its flavor. It was a large portion, ideal for two people to share.

Then the beef steak came! The preparation included warming up the meat (you can see how marbled it is in the picture above), cooking it with the addition of beef butter and some use of the blowtorch to light up the oil. The steak came cut in eight pieces (chopstick friendly) with some salt and mountain horseradish (this is a very light wasabi, not spicy at all). I enjoyed trying this tasty and juicy meat that seemed as natural as it gets. It was less marbled than original Kobe beef, but to me this was a plus, since I find meat that is too marbled (hint: marbling comes from the fat!) a bit difficult to digest. Overall it was a great piece of meat!

Finally, I had the guts to add a dessert: matcha (green tea) ice cream coming with slim chocolate cookies (pictured above, on the right, while the otoshi is pictured on the left).

The check

The check was 4530 yen (around 40 USD) that I found reasonable for a dinner in Sapporo with this kind of ingredients. The steak was 2000 yen before tax and the pork 900 yen. The otoshi added 500 yen.

I truly enjoyed the visit and the owner/chef spoke some English and gave me some insights on the cooking process. Beside the food, I really liked the atmosphere. I immediately felt to be around family. This, in the best tradition of Japanese cooking, is a family business; the wife was around attending to the tables and the restaurant has a warm and cosy feeling. I also appreciated their attention to the details in decorating the restaurant. Their chopstick holders are particularly kawaii and you really get the feeling to step into someone’s living room. I highly recommend this place if you are in Sapporo (they also have okonomiyaki and an extensive selection of wines and sakes and I wish I had time to try their hamburger steak). I personally liked this establishment more than some luxury restaurants I visited in Tokyo or Sapporo. I am surprised it is not listed yet as a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin’s guide, but for once I might just be ahead of the curve.

Where in Sapporo
7-7-2, Minami 3-jo Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido
Address in Japanese: 北海道札幌市中央区南三条西7-7-2
Tip: with the English name you won’t find it on Google map, but you can use this map or Google map with the name in Japanese. It is six minute from Susukino subway stop and even closer to the Shiseikanshogakko-Mae Station of the tramway. Finally, you can find on Google map the location of a nice coffee shop that is just adjacent to the restaurant.

Godiva gourmet dessert at a convenience store – in Japan!

Japan loves limited editions. Or at least marketers in Japan do. Even the most trivial product gets special editions released in limited quantities for a limited time. Japan also loves convenience stores (called combini)… the Lawsons and 7/11s in Japan offer quality food for quick launches and dinners (nothing compared to their counterparts in other countries).

Combine these two elements and you will get limited editions gourmet desserts.

At the beginning of June 2018 Lawson launched a dessert featuring a collaboration between the famed chocolatier Godiva and Uichi Café, a brand of quality desserts sold in convenience stores. At the time of this post – late June 2018 – a few units are still available here and there (we found ours in Kyoto). They will be gone soon. Limited edition marketing has the upside to keep things interesting, but it clearly has the downside to abruptly interrupt the supply of a new product you might end up liking.

The Godiva roll cake is delicious. It is basically a sponge chocolate cake with soft serve Godiva chocolate and a layer of gianduia chocolate that gives additional texture and flavor. Sold for 450 yen (around 4 USD) including tax.

So next time you travel in Japan pop up in Lawson, 7/11 and maybe Family Mart (they are the major chains and are literally everywhere); chances are that you can get something special and unrepeatable.

PS: do not exaggerate… this small cake alone is 420 calories.