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Selasa, 04 Februari 2020

Sapporo: The Food Journal

Let me share my Sapporo food diary with you all. Actually, I'm not really ambitious with food when I'm on a trip. I do look for references but I don't always stick to them. Care to follow my Sapporo food journey? Let's!

The top three food you must try in Sapporo are: Sapporo style miso ramen, soup curry, and jingisukan (grilled mutton). Initially I wanna try all of them, but I gotta miss Jingisukan on this trip. Restaurants those are selling these dishes could be easily found all around the city, especially around Susukino area.

There's quite a list for the best miso ramen in Sapporo, and it's impossible to try all of them. So the first one on my Sapporo food diary will be this place.

1. Ramen Shingen (らーめん信玄)

Located within walking distance from Susukino Station, Ramen Shingen is one of the most mentioned ramen place when you search on 'ramen + sapporo'. Just follow your Google Maps direction and you will easilly spot this place.

It was odd hour when I came to this place so there was no queue at the time. I think most queue happens at popular Japanese because there are only a few seats available at the place. Ramen Shingen catered only 8-10 people at a time, so it won't be strange to have queue at this place around lunch/dinner time.

I think this place is popular both with locals and tourists. At the time, I spotted more locals slurping into their bowl of ramen. I ordered their Shinshu (tasty miso) Ramen for JPY 800. The portion was adequate.

I'm not really familiar with this Sapporo style ramen, the broth got a strong miso hint and was not as thick and savory as my favorite tonkotsu broth, but it was still enjoyable. For the noodle, they used the curly and springy noodle. To my surprise, the egg was fully boiled, for I thought half boiled egg is a must for ramen, but I was wrong. Well anyway, this bowl would be nicer if they use half boiled egg.

2. Kinotoya Bake (ポールタウン店)

Location: Sapporo Station

Hokkaido baked cheese tart is quite common since there are a few brands those sell this yummy tart in Jakarta, so I need to try this cheese tart from its origin place. From what I found, Kinotoya is one of the most famous brand for this cheese tart, and since I stayed nearby Sapporo Station, I just had to walk for a short distance to get my cheese tarts.

We bought half dozen of these tarts for JPY 1,080. These tarts are best enjoyed when they are still warm. The tart itself was sweet and crispy, the cheese cream was gooey, creamy, and cheestastic!

3. Tokachi-butadon Ippin (十勝豚丼いっぴん)

Location: Sapporo Stellar Place - Sapporo Station

Since we did some day trips from Sapporo, we usually went back to Sapporo around the afternoon and since we were tired, we just looked from some dining option around the Station. Thank God the malls around the stations are filled with great and interesting restaurants. This time we visited Tokachi-butadon Ippin at Stellar Place. We need to wait for a while to get seated since the place was quite packed.

How they grilled the pork was an interesting sight. They use hairdryer instead of a fan. You could order your Butadon with lotsa options: small portion of rice, normal portion of rice with extra meat, small portion of rice with half meat and so on. I ordered Butadon Special (more meat) for JPY 1,210.

I thought the meat would be the fatty one, but it wasn't. The meat was thick and almost fat free - well I like the fatty one better - very well grilled with strong smoky aroma. And why do Japanese rice taste that good!

4. Sapporo Ramen Kyowakoku (札幌らーめん共和国)

Location: Esta - Sapporo Station

This one was a random pick after another day trip. We headed to the 10th floor of Esta and found this ramen theme park. We really didn't know which ramen place to pick and we just picked the one with the longest queue.

Can somebody translate the name of this place?

I tried their Miso Ramen with Flavoured Egg (JPY 960). It was a hearty bowl of ramen, and the broh was a bit gingery.

5. Gyoza Ohsho (餃子の王将)

Location: Susukino

We had dinner quite late that day, it was Saturday Night, and Susukino was filled with people. We entered this restaurant after looking at their food models on the display.

This place is called Gyoza Ohsho and it turned to be a famous Chinese food chains in Japan. No wonder we were tempted by the food models, for Chinese food is hard to resist.

Some of the menu came in package, so when we ordered the Fried Rice, it came with Gyoza and Egg Soup as a set. We also ordered a small portion of stir fried Vegetables and Sweet and Sour Pork as extras. What's good about this place is that, they do serve in small portion. So it won't matter if you come alone and crave for a few dishes, since usually Chinese dish comes in a huge portion.

The food here was also affordable, we did not spend more than JPY 1,000 (or maybe just a bit more) for the food above.

6. Soup Curry King (セントラル)

Location: Nearby Susukino

I did not expect much from Soup Curry though it is a must-try food in Sapporo, people said. It was my last night in Sapporo and finally I gave this dish a try. There are many Soup Curry restaurants in town, but I picked Soup Curry King for it was one of the closest one from where I spent my afternoon that day.

I ordered Beef Vegetable one (JPY 1,450). It came with a plate of yellowish rice which was fragrant and a bit savory and a bowl of colorful vegetables and meat in yellow curry soup. How good this dish would be? I thought...

It was so good! The meat was tender, the veggies were well cooked, and the curry was amazing! I never tried this kind of taste before. It wasn't like the ordinary curry, it was rich, savory, a bit spicy and addictive. It was around 5°C outside the building and this bowl of Soup Curry warmed me from the inside out. My favorite dish in Sapporo so far!

7. Ebiten Bunten (蛯天分店)

Around 10 minutes from the heart of Susukino and you'll find this place. The place was a bit hidden that we were confused at first, we have arrived according to the map but we found no restaurant around. After a while we managed to find this tempura place.

Just across this place is Baristart, a popular coffee shop in Sapporo.

If you see this orange cloth sign across Baristart, then you're at the right place.

The restaurant itself was humble and homey yet convincing.

Got myself a set of Tempura Rice Bowl (JPY 800) that came with a bowl of miso soup and yellow radish pickle. What confused us was, our meal came quite a while after we order, and came alongside with other tables order (they came much later after we arrived).

The tempura batter was awesome, it was not that thick and that oily, and the crunchiness was just right. The rice was also so good and the seasoning was just right, sweet, but not too much. The prawn was plump and chewy, overall this dish was just right.

8. Seicomart

Location: All over Hokkaido

I've been to 7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, Daily Yamazaki plenty of time,but Seicomart was new to me. It turned out that Seicomart was a Hokkaido-born convenience store, no wonder I came across this konbini for the first time here.

What's so special about Seicomart is, you could find fresh and unique Hokkaido specialties here. Cheese, salmon jerky, Hokkaido cheese/melon ice cream are a few items you could find here.

Got myself these Snow Brand cheese products - the string cheese was addictive.

And where else could I get this Hokkaido Cheese Ice Cream. It was cold in Hokkaido but it won't stop me from having this cheese ice cream.

Their ready to go food selections were also great. I tried a few and I gotta approve them. They were comparable to restaurant dishes.

So when in Hokkaido, you gotta stop at Secoma!

Bonus: Ishiya Hokkaido Chocolate Drink

You won't find this drink at konbini, but you could find this drink at some souvenir shops.
Verdict: it is for those, who love their chocolate drink super creamy and sweet.

Next on the blog: Furano-Biei, Otaru, and Hakodate.

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JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Otaru: The Serene and Charming City of Hokkaido
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015

Hello JAPAN!

JAPAN TRIP: Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

JAPAN TRIP: 20 Random Facts about Japan
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 1 Welcome to Osaka - Umeda!
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 2 Universal Studios Japan
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 3 Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium) & Osaka Castle
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 4 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Shibuya, Tokyo Tower, Shinjuku
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 5 Sensoji, Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 6 Gotemba Premium Outlet
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 7 Tokyo Disneyland
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 8 Tokyo DisneySea
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 9 Fujio F. Fujio Museum & Yanaka Ginza
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 10 Kyoto - Kiyomizu Dera, Nishiki Market, Tsujiri Honten, Gion
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 11 Half Day Trip to Nara, Smile Burger - Kyoto
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 12 Fushimi Inari Taisha & Ichiran Ramen - Kyoto
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 13 & 14 Osaka Shopping Heaven - Shinsaibashi Suji & Dotonbori

Senin, 30 Desember 2019

Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)

Now, let's head to Hokkaido. First stop: Sapporo.

My last trip to Japan mainly focused on Hokkaido. Actually the only reason I went to Tokyo was because my Japan first-timer friend. I've been looking for Jakarta-Tokyo and Sapporo-Jakarta airplane tickets months prior to this trip. From my previous visits to Japan, I found that arriving and departing from different cities could be the most efficient way to save on the transportation fee. After weeks and months of ticket hunting, I found that PAL got the best deal for this route. I got my return tickets for around IDR 4,8mio, and sometimes cheap bargain came with a risk - in my case was 6 hours transit at NAIA airport (which was quite dull) on our flight back home.

Meanwhile, I purchased another flight ticket from Tokyo to Sapporo for around IDR 1mio (Jetstar with extra 20kg baggage). You could fly for one and a half hour or if you have JR Pass, you could actually ride shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin Hakodate then change to limited express local train from Shin Hakodate to Sapporo for a total 9 hours trip.

There are two parts of Sapporo which I recommended you to stay, and these two areas located quite near to each other. The first area is the Sapporo Station area. Sapporo Station is the main transportation hub of this city both for train and bus.

The other great things about staying in this area is its shopping malls! Sapporo Station is connected to few shopping malls and department stores (Esta, Daimaru, Paseo, Apia) with good restaurants and variety of shops.

Just a few steps from Sapporo Station is Odori Park, one of Sapporo Snow Festival main sites. Talking about snow, Hokkaido is known being colder since it is located in the northern part of Japan. It was early October when I went there, and it was around 25°-30°C in Tokyo but the temperature started to drop to 15°-20°C in Sapporo. It was even colder on the last few days of my trip.

I found a very good deal at Hotel Keihan Sapporo on my date of visit. It was a quite decent hotel, and I stayed there for a cheaper price than my stay at a hostel in Tokyo. Plus point: They have free bathhouse inside the hotel.

The next part of Sapporo you should consider to stay at is Susukino. Susukino is comparable to Namba or Shinjuku. Susukino is filled with lines of shops, eateries, and pubs decorated fascinating neon lights and signboards. Do stay in this area if you prefer a lively neighbourhood with late night eateries.

I stayed at The B Hotel Sapporo Susukino which was quite a good place to stay. Extra point for the free coffee machine at the lobby. Actually I got some video footages of the hotels I stayed in, but I was just to lazy to edit them. Let me add them later.

And of course, the store I headed back and forth in Susukino was Mega Don Quijote. I bought all kind of food and stuff here! I think I need to make another post about this place later.

Transport modes you can use in Sapporo are buses, trams, and trains. But I mainly moved around Sapporo Station and Susukino, so I just walked. I did walk with my 28" luggage from Keihan Hotel to the B Sapporo Susukino for around 30 minutes. Well, quite a good exercise before dinner.

Talking about this city won't be complete without talking about its food scene. But let's talk about it on my next post since I found that this post will be too long if I summarize all of it here. Meanwhile, let's enjoy a cup of coffee!

A friend said that Sapporo is not really her kind of city - she likes Tokyo better. But after my visit to Sapporo, I thought that it might be the vice versa for me. Sapporo is a vibrant and lively city with less crowd and hustle bustle that Tokyo which is perfect for me.

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015

Hello JAPAN!

JAPAN TRIP: Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

Senin, 15 Oktober 2018

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama

Shirakawa-go was on my last year trip itinerary, and after some researches, I decided to visit the place from the city Takayama. Actually Takayama is closer from Kyoto, but because of one thing and another, I decided to visit Takayama from Tokyo, which is quite far. So this post will be about my one night stay in Takayama.

You could actually visit Shirakawa-Go from another city, like Kanagawa. But since I found a tour package from a hostel in Takayama, I decided to stay there. It was a total of 5 hours something trip from Tokyo to Takayama. I used my JR Pass and rode Hikari train to Nagoya, then I got transferred to the JR Hida limited express train to Takayama. The view from Nagoya to Takayama was absolutely stunning. Let me share some of the pictures I took from my seat. I was all alone on this trip, but I was not bored at all because of the view.

Since I love konbini food so much, I purchased from food 7 Eleven to accompany me along the way. Konbini food never fails! And yes I bought Evian for the sake of Mickey Mouse, anyway it didn't cost much with other mineral water brand there. They're all expensive.

Finally I arrived at Takayama. This city is much colder than Tokyo, even colder than Kyoto. The weather forecast told that it was going to snow that day. I was excited to experience my first snowing day, too bad it didn't snow after all.

It was Saturday, and the city was quiet. I think Takayama is a perfect city for an introvert who enjoys wandering around alone like me. But if you don't like quite place, you could head to Sanmachi Suji / Takayama Old Town where all the people are buzzing around.

This is the place where you can find the infamous Takayama's delicacies like Hida Beef Sushi, Hida Croquette, Mitarashi Dango and else.

My first joining the queue activity here was for the Hida beef sushi. Don't leave Takayama before you have this! Takayama is all about Hida beef.

Hida Beef Sushi - JPY 500

And yes, they were good! The beef was so tender and nice.

Above is a place that sells Hida Gyuuman, or may I call it beef bun, another well known Takayama's delicacy.

Next, I made a stop at this Mitarashi Dango stall.

Mitarashi Dango - JPY 80

Basically it was a skewered round mochi grilled and covered with soy sauce. Well, not my favourite but worth a try since it was cheap anyway.

My next stop was to purchase Hida beef croquettes. Since the order was made using a machine, I entered the wrong type of croquette and made another purchase for the one I was aiming for. So, two croquettes for me.

Croquettes (2) - JPY 450

They were still hot and good. This was quite a cure for a chilly day like that day.

I spotted a 'sarubobo' in front of a shop.

This red doll is a mascot of Hida region. I think they were on every packaging of the town's souvenir.

I was quite full from all the snacking, and decided to move the other part of the town.

This city was quite tranquilizing for me. It has a countryside charm, quiet yet relaxing and pleasing the eyes. I just walked here and there enjoying each corner I spotted.

It got colder in the afternoon, that I decided to enter a random coffee shop. The name 'Traveller' coffee house bought me.

Black Tea - JPY 400

I chose tea though, afraid that caffeine would affect my night. Nice place to relax my feet for a while.

It was not even 5 PM and the city started to get dark and chilly. The temperature dropped to 0°C and I headed back to my hostel, entered my room, and set the heater on. I was thinking to have dinner but the weather kept me away from leaving my room.

And I paid a visit to the place I planned to had dinner the day after. The place is called Mame Tengu, a restaurant that serves Takayama Ramen.

Hida Takayama Noodle - JPY 800

Takayama ramen is quite different from the other ramen I had before. It has clearer broth, quite unique one since the broth used dried bonito flakes, and vegetables as a base, and mixed with a secret sauce made with soy sauce and miso before boiling. The noodle itself was springy and curly.