Izakaya Tamari ba

You might have to drive around Kutchan to find this corner restaurant that doesn’t appear any different from the other izakayas around the area, but once you enter you’d be made to feel right at home. The chef used to work at at Fuji Lodge, and after that closed down, he decided to make it out here on his own, and it proved to be a wise decision. This place is packed every night, mostly with the locals, as the sake flows freely, the conversation grows slurry, and everyone goes home with a full belly. The all-you-can-drink menu is always popular, with a good selection of Japanese and Western alcoholic drinks and soft drinks for the designated drivers.

The great thing about this place is the excellent ventilation, so you don’t go home with clothes that smell like they’ve been through the chimney. There are seats by the counter, tatami tables for groups, and tables spaciously laid out along one side of the restaurant.

The food is your typical Japanese small dishes, carefully crafted by the chef and skillfully executed by the team.  The menu has English translations (and occasionally providing a source of entertainment, such as “miso hormones”, and the “bolls”), and the food are organised into categories that make choosing all the easier.

We ordered plenty, and we were in for a treat. The usual suspects of chicken salad and ramen salad made it to the list, as well as several yakitori items such as tsukune, negi, bacon and asparagus, and those that are more of an acquired taste such as gristle and innards.

We never pass the opportunity of ordering the deep fried chicken – kara-age (or zangi as the Hokkaido locals call it), and each nugget was crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. In contrast, the tofu was refreshing and cooling on the palate, and made for an interesting contrast against all the other grilled and fried items. We also had grilled shishamo (smelt) with full bellies of briny roe, and a bubbly pot of melted cheese and potato gratin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both versions of the onigiri rice balls were perfectly symmetrical from all sides, packed with different fillings in each, and I especially love the crunchy skin on the grilled one.

And finally, dessert was a complimentary slice of cheesecake that rounded off the meal perfectly.

Tel: 0136-55-6311

Opening hours: 17:30 – 01:00

Rest days: Sunday and public holidays

Seats 32

 

Rakuichi soba

Tucked away behind Karabina is this wooden soba joint run by the parents of Karabina’s owners, and yes, they ONLY do soba. And you have to queue to get some, if you’re lucky that they haven’t sold out yet. And to make matters worse, Anthony Bourdain has turned it into an open secret. We waited almost an hour, and normally we are never patient enough to queue that long for food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you’ve walked on the wooden bridge that leads to the entrance of the restaurant, the lady owner who’s dressed in a kimono welcomes you and you hang around with the dozen or so other people milling around. Once you get a seat at the long bar table, that’s when the fun begins. The owner makes the soba noodles fresh in front of you, so just watching him turn a ball of dough into the finest threads of soba noodles is already a good way to be entertained. The noodles then get sent to the kitchen where it is expertly cooked to the second, and then brought out by the lady and laid out in front of you with the utmost grace. The choices are not difficult to grasp – hot or cold, then either plain noodles or with meat. And all the time people are slurping noodles to your left and right, as slurping is a Japanese way of showing your appreciation of how good the food is.

Dinner ain’t cheap, you’re looking at 3500 yen for a full meal, but then again it’s the experience that counts too. Definitely worth trekking all the way out of here, especially in summer, to experience the local delicacy in its purest art form.

Address: 048-1511 431, Niseko, Niseko-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido
Tel：0136-58-3170
Opening Hours：11:00-15:00、17:00- （reservation required in the evening)

 

Teuchi Soba Ichimura

Summer time. Crickets chirping. A cool breeze ruffles the long blades of grass and willowly branches of the trees along the river bank. Sitting out on the deck of this soba joint looking out at this Monet-esque landscape, anticipating a wonderful bowl of soba. Nothing beats this magnificent feeling. And this soba joint delivers.

 

The broth is clear like a consommé, brimming with a fragrant umami flavour that coats the al dente soba noodles and leaves a delicious I-want-more taste in your mouth. The ingredients are nothing less than a bunch of freshness, the vegetables still crisp and green, complimenting the juicy tender meat beautifully.

Soba doesn’t get better than this.

http://ichimura.michikusa.jp/

Address: Hokkaido, Kutchan-cho, Abuta character Yamada 68-4
Telephone (0136) 23-0603

 

Rakuda

Tucked away on a side street in Niseko Town, this great little izakaya is run by a young vibrant couple who’s just as much into food as they are into…. camels. The decor is warm and inviting, with two low tables for a Japanese style dining, a couple of tables and bar chairs where you can interact with the host. The ventilation is great despite the small size so you never come out feeling like a smoked sausage, and there’s free wifi.

But what really makes this place rock is the food. It’s all freshly prepared with delicious ingredients, mostly Japanese food with a modern twist. And they do great pizzas, our favourite is the anchovy pizza. The taco rice is also very satisfying. There is an English menu so don’t worry about struggling with the ordering (or missing out on daily specials that are only written in Japanese!)

Address: 048-1502 95, Hondoori, Niseko-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido
TEL：0136-55-5817
Opening Hours：18:00-24:00 Regular holiday：Sunday

 

 

 

 

Hanayoshi

It’s worth coming all the way out to Niseko Town for Hanayoshi, famous for their sushi and seafood. They’ve now moved a couple of blocks down the road and the new place is really nicely done up – clean, bright, comfortable, with the option of sitting at the chef’s counter, tatami room, or regular tables.

Apart from the impressive wine/sake/champagne list, ranging from USD30 to USD850, so there’s something for everyone. I opted for a dried plum shochu mixer and the hubby asked for his usual, draft Sapporo.

The house specialty was the seafood salad with deep fried potato, coming in a 3-4 person (950 yen) or 1-2 person portion (600 yen). No brainer, definitely the bigger portion for the two of us. And was it worth it. A tall pile of crispy, super thinly grated potatos that resembled vermicelli rice sticks more than the earthy tuber sat atop plenty of fresh crispy lettuce and plenty of tuna, swordfish and octopus sashimi, all jet fresh and brimming with flavours of the sea. The second most impressive dish was the crispy fried chicken with vegetables, and with 6 large pieces of chicken, this dish is definitely enough to go around a few people.

And they have an English menu! So that made our work much easier. Apart from the usual sushi, sashimi, they have rice bowls and temaki rolls. We went for the conger ell rice bowl which was a huge portion of eel, topped with cucumber and a lovely bowl of sweet pearly rice. The miso soup was a delicate bowl of fresh homemade umami goodness, this is a notch above the rest, and puts those dried miso soup packets to shame. The grilled cod was nicely seasoned and executed well, but compared with the other dishes it wasn’t much to write home about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Address: 048-1502 80-2, Hondori, Niseko-cho, Abuta-gun, Hokkaido

Tel：0136-44-3444
Opening Hours：17:00-23:00 (last orders 22:30)

Closed on Mondays

 

K’s Factory

Located on the main road between Kutchan’s train station and Hwy 5, this newly opened restaurant is run by the son of the legendary Hirotsugu Hashimoto-san of Shunsai. The two restaurants are linked at the back and you can order from both their menus, which means you can kill two culinary birds with one stone. And the selling point of K’s Factory is the wine selection, extensive cocktail menu, and really cheap beer. The decor was comfortable and modern with some funky touches (such as using a hessian matting to cover the ceiling lights), and soft jazzy tunes in the background. And did I mention the food was fantastic too?  .

The daily menu is written on the wall, and there’s also a chef’s recommendation menu, both in Japanese, but the chef is happy to help you order to your heart’s desire. We started off with some cold draft beer, a calpis sour and a mojito, then moved onto a bottle of Spanish red and a frozen Margharita , and more beer. Food-wise, we left it to our hosts and they did an excellent job of ordering a wide selection of salads, appetisers, meat and fish dishes, and we also received a complimentary special from the chef of sweet briny tsugu, or sea snails. The burdock and pumpkin salad was light and refreshing, and the cold ramen with dipping sauce and ramen salad helped whet our appetite, as well as filling our carb craving. The smoked salmon with asparagus was mild in taste, compared with the mackerel in spicy rub that was more intensely flavoured. The scallop “burger” was a big fat juicy piece of scallop breaded in a thin batter and fried to perfection, then smothered in a homemade tartar sauce and sprinkled with both small black fish roe and large translucent pearls of red fish roe, creating a perfect balance of texture and taste. Another great appetiser was the deep fried burdock that went down so well with the beer. The “raw” lamb steak was actually pan seared and cooked thoroughly but still retained the juiciness of the meat, while the wine stewed venison with mashed potato was a divine dish of melt-in-your-mouth gamey-flavoured meat. In addition to this we had a great beef burger that came in a casserole smothered in gravy and steamed vegetables, which paired immaculately with the leek rice (in itself a great dish, but made all the better with the gravy). The only dish that didn’t have a wow factor was the pizza, which was too thick on cheese that hardened quickly, but the topping of fresh cherry tomatos, olives and salami was a smart combination.

The pictures don’t do it justice, go try it yourself.  http://syunsai.p-kit.com/

Tel: 0136-55-8300

Address: 3 3-chome Kita 1 Nishi Kutchan-cho, Abuta, Hokkaido

Hours: 17:00 to 24:00    Closed: Sunday

 

Gokoro Udon

Across the road from Teuchi Soba Ichimura and the paintball field is this equally awesome udon joint in a beautiful house with a perfect view of Mount Yotei. Their udon is made with love, and the process is illustrated by cartoons that provides both entertainment and a lot of guesswork for those who don’t read Japanese. Luckily the menu has beautiful pictures that lets you see exactly what you’re going to order, and they come out of the kitchen looking even better than the photos.

We made the mistake of ordering three dishes for the two of us, thinking that one of them was just tempura without udon, but oh no, it wouldn’t be complete without the thick, white, chewy goodness. The waitress kindly repeated our order three times just to make sure that she got everything right – cold sauce with the vegetable udon (limited to 10 a day), and hot sauce with the other two – the tempura (another 10 a day limited edition) and the mushroom.

First came the vegetable udon, and it looked like a Jenga pile of fresh tempura vegetables with a generous heap of spring onion, a good pile of grated radish topped with some ginger, all topped with a fluff of thinly sliced onion that looked like a cloud. This dish should be more aptly called the Mount Yotei in line with everything else in this area, because it looked just like it. The batter of the tempura was so thin and delicate you could see the bright colours of each vegetable stick, the vivd orange of the carrots, the deep purple of the eggplants, the verdant green of the cucumbers and courgettes, and the light yellow of thick cut potato chips.

The tempura udon gave the previous dish a run for its money, with a giant fresh shrimp artfully placed across the heap of vegetables, this time with a large chunk of mushrooms, sliced eggplant, sweet potato, courgette and pumpkin. The dish itself was a palette of colours and a mix of textures, a pleasure for all the senses.

Finally the more subtle but equally delicious mushroom udon made it almost impossible for either of us to walk back to the car out front, so full we were from all the loveliness of the udon and fresh ingredients. Next time we will be sure not to order too much so we can leave feeling sated but not gluttonous.

Open
11:30-15:00 week days
11:00-13:00 Sat, Sau and holidays
※Please note that the sale will end when all the stock of the noodle has been sold!

〒044-0081
TEL.+81 136 233 939
FAX.+81 136 233 933

 

 

 

Nakama Ramen

Famous for being the oldest ramen restaurant in Kutchan, this unassuming restaurant on a side street serves up an amazing bowl of ramen up to 4am on a busy night. The ramen is almost an afterthought when you’ve punched back some nama-biru and getting the munchies. But we came early on a Sunday night to get our stomachs filled with some tasty soupy noodles.

There are many variations on the ramen – spicy onion, spicy/super spicy ramen, kimchi ramen, double cha-shu, or runny yolk egg ramen…. Great that they have an English menu too so you can leaf through the various options before deciding. They also have several kinds of gyoza, or dumplings, from ume (plum, first time I’ve heard of it!), to veggie-pork, the Original, to the kimchi. We got half a dozen each of the original and kimchi and was rewarded with some juicy dumplings with a thin and lightly pan-fried skin. We also ordered a dish of stir-fried vegetables with pork which turned out to be just bean sprouts and pork, but oh boy that pork was melt-in-the-mouth fabuliciously tender.

The ramen did not disappoint. Thick chewy al dente homemade noodles coloured red by the special spicy ingredient in a hot and flavourful bowl of broth, with two fatty pieces of cha-shu on the top accompanied by spring onion and a dollop of chilli paste was just a combo made in heaven. Although I ordered the super spicy ramen, it wasn’t throat-burning at all, rather it gave an intense umami flavour instead. The whole bowl was simple, satisfying and satisfied my every need.

Tel: 0136-22-0660

Open everyday for lunch (except Wednesdays) and dinner until 2am

 

Sanpachi Ramen

This is the Japanese version of Super Size Me – a Mega bowl of ramen that has three times as many ramen and twice as much soup, that will fill you up to the brim like no other meal. But for those mere mortals like us, we opted for the regular sized ramen, which are tasty and filling, but admittedly nothing that would stand out amongst the dozens of ramen joints around. They do a decent gyoza and other side dishes too. As a welcoming gesture, they have free ice cream sticks at the cashier, which is creamy with thin layers of chocolate swirls.

You can’t miss the large sign post outside along Route 5. Plenty of parking space.

South 8 West 1, Kutchan / 0136 22 2238 / 11am-12pm

 

Kushi Dining Fuji

The owner of Fuji Lodge who ran a great rowdy izakaya previously, has moved his gig to J-Sekka and started this upmarket dining, together with its sister Sevenstar’s Cafe.

On the first floor of J-sekka (above Hermosa angel massage parlour), the interior is simple yet elegant, with nicely spaced out tables and an open bar. Frontier skis (the brand from the owner Yoshi Tanaka) adorn the walls above the entrance, adding a nice touch of Alpine ski resort feel to the place.

The food though, is the main attraction. Kushi is the skewer, and Kushi dining here refers to kushiage, which is deep fried skewers or kebabs. The batter is very light so the food is never heavy and stodgy. Tanaka-san had just bought a whole ostrich from the nearby ostrich farm (apparently they’ve never sold any ostriches before as food, makes one wonder why they rear them at all). He also bought a whole Wiltshire pork and a whole cow from the nearby agricultural school, where they raise two of each animal in a WHOLE YEAR with utmost tender, love and care. If you have a hundred farmer students looking after your everyday needs, you can be sure that the animal is going to produce the most stress-free, chemical-free, succulent and tasty meat ever.

Although I’m not a huge fan of offals, ostrich gizzard, heart and liver actually taste pretty nice in a carpaccio style, and the ostrich steak in a thick gravy was heaven:

The kushiage items we had were scallop, pork and asparagus rolls, triangular Camembert cheese, potato croquette and pork croquette:

Salmon and scallop sashimi in a light olive oil dressing was fresh and flavourful:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The salmon steak was beautifully presented, and the chicken salad was brimming of freshness with a lightly battered fried chicken breast to top it off:

Good selection of special cocktails and wine/champagne to keep everyone happy. Their single malt is also worth a try.

http://nisekoresortservice.com/Restaurant.html