Sake and Soba Kinsuian （酒とそば 錦水庵）| Soba Restaurant | Kuriyama （栗山）

We came to Kuriyama （栗山）, 1 hour away from Sapporo, to enjoy delicious sake. Let's go to "Kobayashi Sake Brewery （小林酒造）" first↓

We can try almost all kinds of sake brewed here↓ Wonderful, isn't it?
(If you are interested in the sake brewery and its sake brewery festival （酒蔵まつり）, please refer to my other post→★)

After enjoying fragrant sake, we went to "Sake and Soba Kinsuian （酒とそば 錦水庵）", a popular soba restaurant.

The house was built in the early 1900's and renovated as a restaurant recently. I love this nostalgic atmosphere!!!

If you love sake, I recommend prix-fixe menu.

They make soba from buckwheat produced in Hokkaido and mother water for sake. How great it is!

I'll show you a 2,000 yen prix-fixe.

■Baked soba miso （そば焼き味噌）
It really really really goes well with sake!!! You could drink a bottle of sake with this small amount of saba miso!!! Hahaha!

■Soba Salad （そばサラダ）
The topping is fried soba. How amazing it is!

■Deep-fried eggplants with minced duck （鴨みそ田楽）
The duck meat is seasoned with soy sauce and miso, and sooooooooooo delicious!!!

■Grilled duck （鴨料理）
Duck produced in Fukagawa （深川） is very famous. When you come to Hokkaido, you should try it!

We really enjoyed sake with these dishes.......

■Two kinds of soba （そば合盛）
I love this course.
Inaka soba （田舎そば） is made of whole grains of buckwheat. That's why it is dark brown. And seiro （せいろ） is made of milled buckwheat.

Both of them are made of same buckwheat, but have different fragrance!!! We enjoyed comparing with each other....

Just for reference,
this is soba with duck tempura （鴨天そば）↓, a seasonable soba available only during the winter time.

Hot soba and cold soba taste completely different, although the noodles are the same! How interesting it is!!

The tempura absorbs the yummy x yummy broth!!

We cannot finish the course without sobayu （そば湯）, soba water.

■Soba mochi with red bean sauce （そばがきしるこ）

This is a hot dessert, which is very soft and spongy. I love it!

It goes well with green tea! I feel so happy I was born in Japan!!

■Where is "Sake and Soba Kinsuian （酒とそば 錦水庵）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Star Festival and Kyokusui no Utage （七夕と曲水の宴）| Otokoyama Sake Brewery Museum （男山酒造り資料館）| Asahikawa （旭川）

Otokoyama （男山） is a more than 340 year-old sake brewery, and has got gold medals at Sake Competition （酒類コンテスト） for 36 years in a row.

After enjoying this sake brewery museum, tasting awarded sake, I always collect natural water in the compound which is from Daisetsuzan mountain range （大雪山の伏流水） in order to make their delicious sake. This is very delicious, and recommendable!!!

Wow! Wow! Wow! I've found a special event here!
Have you heard "Kyokusui no Utage （曲水の宴）"?

This is how to enjoy this event.

First, write down you wishes on star festival paper strip. Yes, Star Festival （七夕） is held on the 8th of August in Hokkaido, and we have such a custom.

Then wait a sake cup flowing from the upstream, which is regarded as Milky Way in the space.

Use a bamboo bar to catch the cup, and drink sake! Yummy x 2!!!

Lastly, hang up your strip on a bamboo, and make a wish!

We really enjoyed this traditional summer event, and Japanese garden very much!!

■Where is "Otokoyama Sake Brewery Museum （男山酒資料館）"?

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■Tour guide information■
Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Le Calme （ル カルム）| Chiffon Cake Shop | Ebetsu

When I want to eat chiffon cakes, I often go to "Le Calme （ル カルム）", located in Ebetsu, 20 minutes away from Sapporo↓

They serve a lot of kinds of shiffons, tarts, and cakes.......

Almost all of a piece is only 250 yen! How reasonable it is!!!
Among regular cakes, I often order cheese tart↓

pudding cake and

chocolate chiffon↓

I regularly come here, partly because they make special shiffons and tarts in each season, such as sweet potato tart in the spring↓ Yummy x 2!!

How about cherry blossom chiffon? Tastes very flower fragrant!!!

Only this weekend, they serve basil chiffon↓ It looks so delicious that I bought six pieces of this special chiffon♪

When I opened the bag, it strongly smells very basil!!! I love it! 

And from tomorrow, cherry tarts will be on sale! As I'm a regular customer,  I luckily can buy the new tart before usual customers will get it!!

If you are interested in a unique cheese cake, how about this?

Amazake Cheese cake （甘酒チーズケーキ） contains sake cake, and has sake flavor a lot...... Yummy x 2!!!

I'm really looking forward to other seasonable cakes in the next seasons!!!

■Where is "Le Calme （ル カルム）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Hokkaido Shrine （北海道神宮）| Sapporo

We went to a famous Shinto shrine, Hokkaido Shrine, in Sapporo. Shinto is an indigenous religion in Japan. This is a shrine gate called Torii. It marks the entrance to the sacred area of the kami (Shinto deities).

The premises is still covered with snow!

Through this main gate,

We went to a main hall and prayed for the people suffering from the quakes.

You know, the world 4th biggest earthquake hit Japan, but we have to reconstruct Japan! I'm sure we can do it!!!!!

This is the main hall.

I feel comfortable whenever I come here!   

Well, well, well, I always buy my favorite plum wine at the shrine.

Plum trees are planted in the premises.

I also went to a rest place to eat a delicious sweet!

Look at this↓

A famous confectionery maker, Rokkatei, provides worshippers this sweet and tea "free of charge" :)

Adzuki bean paste is covered with rice & buckwheat cake.

I love it!

This shrine is next to Maruyama park, the most popular "cherry blossom viewing" spot in Sapporo, with over 1, 600 cherry trees!!

I surely come here every spring!!

 Beautiful, aren't they?

Spring is also a wedding season. You may encounter newly-wed couples like this↓

Looks very Japanese♪

■Where is the shrine?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!