Omiki Shochu Bar 焼酎バー オミキ屋

It was our last night in Hokkaido. We were staying in Sapporo. We went to Susukino ramen street for dinner. After which we were walking around for some drinks. We spotted an advertising board for a Shochu bar. We had not been to one that was focus on shochu only.

The bar was located in the basement B1. It was pretty small, typical Japanese bars. There was one lady staff who was the owner. We seated ourselves at the counter. There was maybe about 300-400 bottles of shochus. The good thing about shochu was that they could be kept in normal room temperature.

Normally we drank Shochu from Kyushu. So we would like to try some local Hokkaido one. The first we started with was Jusshoumuhai (十勝無敗), a shochu made from mugi from Tokachi.

Shochu made from Silksweet (シルクスイート) potato that was first "developed" in 2012. However it was very popular now, due to its sweetness and smoothness.

Broad bean shochu (干咾不動尊) from Fukushima. This was the first time we came across such shochu.

Imo shochu (青天桜島) from Kagoshima. This was made from the common sweet potato黄金千貫 .

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010103/1035034/

Junmai Specialist YATA 純米酒専門八咫 札幌狸小路店

YATA 純米酒専門 was a chain of sake drinking place that served junmai sake. Junmai sake means that the sake is brewed without adding any distilled alcohol. Alcohol is added to draw out flavors. However as brewing methods become more refined, there is movement towards pure junmai sakes.

I had first visited the YATA branch at Nagoya. And decided to have a look at this branch at Sapporo Tanukikoji (札幌狸小路). Similarly, one could enjoy free flow of junmai sakes for 60 min at the price of JPY 2,000.

Below were some of the sakes we tried. Sae 冴 from Toyama Masuizumi (満寿泉).

Seikyou (誠鏡) from Hiroshima was a favorite sake brewery. 3600 bottles (1.8L) was produced for this label 三十六石蔵.

Maruda (まる田) sake was made by Kobayashi Shuzo Kitanonishiki (小林酒造北の錦). We visited the brewery earlier.And Nito (二兎 ) sake was from Aichi Prefecture (愛知県).

Website: https://junmaishu.net/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010102/1053594/

Kitanonishiki 北の錦, 小林酒造

We had one more sake brewery to visit for this trip - Kobayashi sake brewery (小林酒造). It was located just east of Sapporo. It was also known as Kitanonishiki 北の錦. Their primary sake label.
It used to produce large volume of sakes until 2008. Currently it produced sakes made from Hokkaido rice only.

Beside the usual sake retail shop, there was the Kitanonishiki Memorial Museum (北の錦記念館) that was open to public. Many of these buildings were registered as national cultural property. The brewery was founded more than 140 years back (1878), old sake wares and documents were displayed here.

We were able to move around the compound, It was amazing that no staff was around to look over these items. We walked round the residence of the founder 初代小林米三郎. Interesting wooden figurines found within the garden (中庭).

The five guiding points (小林酒造五省) on the interest, credibility, customer, development, relevance of the brewery.

There was also a soba shop "Ginsuian" next to this. We had lunch here. The soba were made with the same water as the sakes.

Website: http://www.kitanonishiki.com/

Yubari Melon 夕張メロン

We were on our way back to Sapporo. We made a stop at Yubari (夕張). Japanese melons were well known to be delicious and expensive. The most famous melons were from Yubari. In 2019, a pair of melons were sold at 5 million yen at an auction!

We stopped over at the Michi-no-Eki Yubari Merode. This was a highway road side station, but this was slightly further from the highway than usual. There was a supermarket (below). Unfortunately the season for Yubari melon had ended. We could only try melon ice cream and bun :(

We found another melon shop just beside the road station. They were selling melons from Asahikawa and Furano. Prices also ranged between 2,000 - 4,000 yen. We managed to pack one home :)

Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g1122379-d2546374-Reviews-Michi_no_Eki_Yubari_Merode-Yubari_Hokkaido.html

酒処 丹の Dan

We decided to have a night stay at Obihiro (帯広) on our way back from Eastern Hokkaido towards Sapporo. It was really more vibrant at night here at Obihiro city that our previous other nights.
We stayed at the Obihiro Tennen Onsen Fukui Hotel, and there were many eating options around it.
After dinner, we went in search of a sake bar called 酒処 丹の. With Google map, we still had to walk round the same place a few times before pinpointing the building.

One of the "clue" was the sake labels on the wall up the stairs.

The place was managed by an American named Dan. How lucky. We were able to converse in English and learn more about some of the local sakes.

Kamikawa Taisetsu 上川大雪 (above) was one of Hokkaido sake we enjoyed. We were able to taste ginjo 純米吟醸 made from different kind of Hokkaido rice - Ginpu 吟風, Suisei 彗星, Kitashizuki きたしずく

You could also find popular premium sakes here. One example was the various labels from Aramasa新政  (Akita).


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sakedokorotanno
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0111/A011101/1053484/

Akkeshi Oyster 厚岸味覚ターミナル コンキリエ

Different parts of Hokkaido have different specialty seafood. We found a place called Akkeshi (厚岸) near Kushiro that is famous for its oyster. Lake Akkeshi that is connected to the sea, is well suited for oysters growth.

One convenient place to go for Akkeshi oysters was the Akkeshi Gourmet Park Michi no Eki on Highway 44.

There was a souvenir shop at level one. There were a few eateries on the second floor. We chose the Oyster "Bar" (牡蠣場).

There were 2 main kind of oysters, the Maruemon (マルえもん) and Kakiemon (カキえもん). Maruemon was a breed from Miyagi Prefecture that was grown at Akkeshi. Kakiemon would be the true Akkeshi breed. In the past there were overfishing of Akkeshi oysters, and hence oysters had to be brought from Miyagi Prefecture. It was only in 2004, the Kakiemon was produced.

We ordered the fresh oysters with whiskies pairing. It came with 3 kinds of oysters and 2 kind of New Born whiskies. Akkeshi Distillery was Hokkaido second whiskey distillery, and its whiskies had received great attention since launch. We were lucky to be able to have a taste of it.

We also ordered cooked oyster in the various styles - Pesto, gratin and 田楽風 .

Dark beer specially made by Sapporo for Akkeshi area.

Other kind of oyster drinks were available as well.

Road Station Akkeshi Gourmet Park Website: http://www.conchiglie.net/
Kaki Bar Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0112/A011203/1058525/

回転寿司花まる

Nemuro Kaiten Sushi Hanamaru (回転寿司花まる) is a popular sushi chain in Japan. There is also an outlet at Orchard Central, just across Donki.

We went to the original outlet 本店 just before leaving Nemuro. We arrived while the staffs were just opening, but there were already a few customers in the shop. It filled up quickly within the next half hour.

We had counter seats. We had to write our orders on pieces of paper. In Singapore, we just had to write the dish number. Here, we actually wrote down the name of dishes in Kanji!

The Hanasaki crab (花咲かに) was a local specialty, so we got to try it. The allowed fishing period was between July / August, and would be available to consumers between September / December.

We tried a few daily specials. Below was the Taraba (king) crab fundoshi.  Fundoshi (ふんどし) is the meat around the crab stomach area.

Crab guratan (gratin) with melted cheese.

Aburi engawa was always a favourite. The slightly torched engawa just melted in the mouth.

Chawanmushi with hanasaki crab.

Taraba crab uchiko 内子 was a rare item. It referred to the ovaries of the female king crab. It looked like squid ink, but this was also the most expensive colored plate. These were rare because of the unfertilised eggs. This had to coincide with the allowed fishing season.

Sea pineapple (赤ホヤ ) was also something we had not tried before. It should be some kind of sea animal that looked like plant. Anyway, it was not easy to chew.

Website: http://www.sushi-hanamaru.com/
Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0112/A011203/1004975/

Cape Nosappu 納沙布岬

We headed towards the extreme east of Hokkaido. This was also considered the eastermost of Japan that was open to public.

Many come here to catch the 'first' sunrise. Especially so for Japanese on New Year Day. In order to catch the sunrise, we checked into Hotel Nemuro Kaiyoutei (ホテル ねむろ海陽亭). The sunrise was about 5am. We started off around 4am. But we realised we should start off earlier, as the night sky was full of stars as well. The cape was about 30min drive away. As we drove towards our destination, we could see glow of crimson red in the far horizon. Yet when you looked into the rearview mirror, it was pitch darkness.

There was already one guy setting up his camera when we reached. After a while, about 20+ people came one after another.

Below is a video of the sunrise (初日の出)

Interestingly, the place to see the "first" sunrise is on top of Mount Fuji (富士山山頂). It has a height of 3,776m. Due to the tilt of our Earth, at ground level, there is another place Inubosaki, Chiba (千葉県の犬吠岬) that sees an earlier sunrise for 55 days in a year.


Website: https://www.city.nemuro.hokkaido.jp/lifeinfo/kakuka/suisankeizaibu/shoukoukankou/3/915.html

Sanma Roll さんまんま魚政

Kushiro (釧路) is a port city in eastern Hokkaido, one of the top fishing port. Sanma (pacific saury) is a common fish here. One of the food specialty is sanmanma.

A whole sanma was deboned, wrapped around rice and grilled. We visited the famous Uomasa that was located at the Fisherman's Wharf MOO. There was an open air carpark next to this building.

After our meals, we continued our drive to Nemuro. After seeing numerous road signs in Hokkaido, we sighted a few deers trying to cross the road!

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0112/A011201/1008797/

Kushiro Washo Market 釧路和商市場

Kushiro Washo market is one of the 3 famous markets in Hokkaido (the other two are Sapporo and Hakodate).　The famous item here was the Katte Don (勝手丼). One would be able to purchase pieces of sashimi from seafood stores. However, these stores did not sell rice (don), one would have to go those "rice" store for that.

There was a great variety of fish, uni and crabs. You could just simply purchase the raw fish without any rice.

Here is a photo of a "rice" (ごはん) store. There was choice of normal or vinegar rice. Vinegar rice would make it feel like eating a bowl of sushi or chirashi.

Website: https://www.washoichiba.com/

Lake Akan 阿寒湖 Bokke Trail ボッケの森

We woke up early in the morning to catch the sunrise.

It was a chilly morning, but the view of Lake Akan was amazing. Breathing in the cold air and watching the gentle ripples moving on the waters just give one a nice calming effect.

We wanted to have a morning walk to burn off the food we had been eating. We followed the Bokke (ボッケの森) walking trail. The starting point was about 200m from our hotel.

Bokke (ボッケ) means boiling mud pool. You can see from the video below.

Here is a photo of the exterior of New Akan Hotel.

Website: http://business4.plala.or.jp/akan-eco/bokke.html