Hokkaido, Japan's food paradise. You can find all sorts of delicious thing. Make sure to give yourself chance to try out as many types of food and restaurants you can . Here is the list of the top 10 finger licking good food you can't miss in Hokkaido.
1. Crab
Kani Honke or Kani ya are famous crab restaurants in Sapporo among tourists. We went to Kani Honke outlet at Susukino. Every guest will get to dine in private room. If you don't eat crab, do not visit this restaurant. It is all crab dishes, crab porridge, crab sashimi, grilled crab, fried crab cake and etc. Crab lover should pay a visit to this restaurant. Read my day 1 trip report for more photos.
2. Soup curry
Soup curry is something which you can only find it in Hokkaido, especially Suage+ S oup Curry is very popular among local, we saw a long line when we were there at 9pm. We queued for about 30 minutes for 2 bowls of soup curry. A bowl with Hokkaido fried chicken and another bowl with mixed vegetables, both were ordered with spiciness level 4 more spicy. Soup curry is not the usual thick gravy kind, it is more of a soup than curry. I thought it would be rich in flavor but it taste like curry flavor Maggie Mee instead. I'm not a fan of this and it is overrated. Well, you may like it? Read my day 2 trip report.
3. Genghis Khan BBQ
We went to this well known Mongolian style lamb BBQ in Sapporo for dinner, だるま本店 Daruma Honten. It is located in a small alley in between two buildings which can be missed easily. Lamb is not common in Japan except Hokkaido as most Japanese do not take lamb. So this Genghis khan BBQ can only be found in Hokkaido. It's a very small shop which can only fit not more than 10 people at a time. 2 of us were sitting so close (almost skin to skin contact) to the diner next to us, I have to sit further from the table so my man can have more space. Your hair, your winter coat, yourself can be full of the BBQ smell after meal. This restaurant serves only mutton, no other type of meat. I don't usually eat lamb because of the strong smell, but this one is really good and there is no funny lamb smell at all. Their menu is very simple, just 3 different kinds of lamb. Click on the link above, you will see the menu with pictures then. It opens daily from 5pm to 3am. Avoid the usual dinner peak hour, come early if you want to try this out. The wait can be more than an hour during peak hour. You don't want to stand in the cold. Credit card is accepted. Highly recommended!
4. Hokkaido wagyu beef
If you are not a fan of mutton, like me (but please try Daruma Honte, their lamb is damn damn good!), wagyu beef BBQ may suit you. I went to this Gyu-kaku BBQ restaurant near our hotel. Gyu-kaku also has a few outlets in Singapore but I just wanted to visit them in Hokkaido, as personally I feel the meat quality is better.
5. Ramen
If you are a fan of ramen, you should come to this Ramen Yokocho (ramen street) in Sapporo where many popular ramen restaurants can be found here. We ended up eating at Teshikaga ramen 弟子庄. It's a small shop which can only hold not more than 10 guests at a time. It's pretty good to have a bowl of delicious hot noodle soup in a cold winter. Read my day 2 trip report.
6. Sushi
Otaru is well known for sushi and there is this sushi street. It is about 200m long and has a few big sushi restaurants such as Masazsushi 政寿司, Nihonbashi 日本桥, Shikamaz 寿司和食, Yamatoya 大和家, Machino 町の寿し and 20 over smaller sushi shops. We choose to dine at Masazsushi. We ordered sushi set, chawanmushi and chutoro sashimi.
7. Fresh seafood
Hakodate morning market is open every morning 5am (start from 6am during winter). Fresh seafood such as salmon egg, crab can be found here. Many nice restaurants are also in the market area. It's a nice place to do last minute souvenir shopping. It's a market, so you can actually bargain with these vendors to get cheaper price. You can also order fresh grilled seafood in the market. Read my day 9 trip report
8. Hokkaido dairy product
Hokkaido is famous for its dairy product. The rainbow tower ice cream from a stall beside art museum. It looked beautiful on picture but didn't taste that nice actually. Better don't waste your money on this but you should still try Hokkaido ice cream.
9. Sweet souvenirs
I know Shiroi Kobito is famous and it's everywhere, even in Singapore, so please do yourself a favor, try something else in Hokkaido.
Le Tao, famous for its double layers fromage cheesecake. Fellow Singaporeans now do not need to travel to Hokkaido for this, LeTao had just setup a takeaway kiosk at ION Orchard basement 1 since December 2016.
Read my day 3 trip report.
Cream puff from Rokkatei 六花亭
If you happen to be there, you should buy their famous Marusei butter sandwich.
This one also another must buy, Kitakaro 北果楼 Okaki (flavored rice cracker).
These shops can be found in Sakaimachi street in Otaru
10. Lucky Pierrot
Lucky Pierrot is a very famous hamburger chain which you can only find in Hakodate. Food came in big portion and the price was also reasonable. It's a good choice if you are overloaded with seafood or sushi. It's open until quite late. Read my day 8 trip report.
1. Crab
Kani Honke or Kani ya are famous crab restaurants in Sapporo among tourists. We went to Kani Honke outlet at Susukino. Every guest will get to dine in private room. If you don't eat crab, do not visit this restaurant. It is all crab dishes, crab porridge, crab sashimi, grilled crab, fried crab cake and etc. Crab lover should pay a visit to this restaurant. Read my day 1 trip report for more photos.
Soup curry is something which you can only find it in Hokkaido, especially Suage+ S oup Curry is very popular among local, we saw a long line when we were there at 9pm. We queued for about 30 minutes for 2 bowls of soup curry. A bowl with Hokkaido fried chicken and another bowl with mixed vegetables, both were ordered with spiciness level 4 more spicy. Soup curry is not the usual thick gravy kind, it is more of a soup than curry. I thought it would be rich in flavor but it taste like curry flavor Maggie Mee instead. I'm not a fan of this and it is overrated. Well, you may like it? Read my day 2 trip report.
We went to this well known Mongolian style lamb BBQ in Sapporo for dinner, だるま本店 Daruma Honten. It is located in a small alley in between two buildings which can be missed easily. Lamb is not common in Japan except Hokkaido as most Japanese do not take lamb. So this Genghis khan BBQ can only be found in Hokkaido. It's a very small shop which can only fit not more than 10 people at a time. 2 of us were sitting so close (almost skin to skin contact) to the diner next to us, I have to sit further from the table so my man can have more space. Your hair, your winter coat, yourself can be full of the BBQ smell after meal. This restaurant serves only mutton, no other type of meat. I don't usually eat lamb because of the strong smell, but this one is really good and there is no funny lamb smell at all. Their menu is very simple, just 3 different kinds of lamb. Click on the link above, you will see the menu with pictures then. It opens daily from 5pm to 3am. Avoid the usual dinner peak hour, come early if you want to try this out. The wait can be more than an hour during peak hour. You don't want to stand in the cold. Credit card is accepted. Highly recommended!
4. Hokkaido wagyu beef
If you are not a fan of mutton, like me (but please try Daruma Honte, their lamb is damn damn good!), wagyu beef BBQ may suit you. I went to this Gyu-kaku BBQ restaurant near our hotel. Gyu-kaku also has a few outlets in Singapore but I just wanted to visit them in Hokkaido, as personally I feel the meat quality is better.
If you are a fan of ramen, you should come to this Ramen Yokocho (ramen street) in Sapporo where many popular ramen restaurants can be found here. We ended up eating at Teshikaga ramen 弟子庄. It's a small shop which can only hold not more than 10 guests at a time. It's pretty good to have a bowl of delicious hot noodle soup in a cold winter. Read my day 2 trip report.
Otaru is well known for sushi and there is this sushi street. It is about 200m long and has a few big sushi restaurants such as Masazsushi 政寿司, Nihonbashi 日本桥, Shikamaz 寿司和食, Yamatoya 大和家, Machino 町の寿し and 20 over smaller sushi shops. We choose to dine at Masazsushi. We ordered sushi set, chawanmushi and chutoro sashimi.
Hakodate morning market is open every morning 5am (start from 6am during winter). Fresh seafood such as salmon egg, crab can be found here. Many nice restaurants are also in the market area. It's a nice place to do last minute souvenir shopping. It's a market, so you can actually bargain with these vendors to get cheaper price. You can also order fresh grilled seafood in the market. Read my day 9 trip report
8. Hokkaido dairy product
Hokkaido is famous for its dairy product. The rainbow tower ice cream from a stall beside art museum. It looked beautiful on picture but didn't taste that nice actually. Better don't waste your money on this but you should still try Hokkaido ice cream.
Yoghurt and cream puff from Niseko Takahashi
9. Sweet souvenirs
I know Shiroi Kobito is famous and it's everywhere, even in Singapore, so please do yourself a favor, try something else in Hokkaido.
Le Tao, famous for its double layers fromage cheesecake. Fellow Singaporeans now do not need to travel to Hokkaido for this, LeTao had just setup a takeaway kiosk at ION Orchard basement 1 since December 2016.
Read my day 3 trip report.
Cream puff from Rokkatei 六花亭
If you happen to be there, you should buy their famous Marusei butter sandwich.
This one also another must buy, Kitakaro 北果楼 Okaki (flavored rice cracker).
These shops can be found in Sakaimachi street in Otaru
10. Lucky Pierrot
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