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/
