Iwaki （いわき）| Gigantic Tempura Rice Bowls Restaurant | Naganuma

It is snowing in Hokkaido even in May!! It's spring right now, right?  Do you believe it?????

Today I went to Naganuma town in order to eat famous huge tempura bowls! It takes within 1 hr from Sapporo, but look at the traffic signal! It has only one color, blinking the light ((((((ﾉﾟ⊿ﾟ)ﾉ

This is the destination! I cannot wait to eat jumbo tempura!!!

I was so excited to see this menu! Wow wow wow wow.......(-_＼)(/_-)三( ﾟДﾟ)

This is a tempura bowl set called "Akajidon, or Tempura Rice Bowl in Deficit!" I like this name о(ж＞▽＜)ｙ ☆
I put my iPhone as a measure beside the tempura bowl! You can imagine how titanic it is!

 

Five pieces of massive prawn tempura !!!!!

And Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!

This is a different tempera bowl set, named "Kurojidon, or Tempura Rice Bowl in Surplus"! Hahahahah (*^▽^*)

It has five pieces of mammoth crab tempura! It's more than I can imagine!

If you need more source, you can pour it like this!

There are small jars on the table like this and we can eat pickled green chili and salt-cured squid guts, if you like!

 I love them! The squid really goes well with sake or beer!

You can take flakes of tempura free of charge, but I was too full to enjoy the great service (￣_￣ i)

■Where is the restaurant in Naganuma town?

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■Tour guide information■

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Koropokkuru-sansou （コロポックル山荘） | Soba Restaurant in the Forest | Ebetsu

Today, I set a quick access to my favorite soba (buckwheat) noodle  restaurant in my navigation system.

We went through a countryside like this↓

The restaurant is on the hill and we turned off the pavement onto this dirt road↓

We arrived the destination! 

There's nothing but this building.

But whenever we visit this shop, some customers are always enjoying soba here even though it is located on the hill. Amazing! Where do they come from????

We entered the house.
Look at the atmosphere! Very traditional Japanese style, isn't it?

I remember this "museum" clock was in my grandma's house !! That reminds me of my grandma smiling all the time!

Through the window, we can enjoy the nature and fresh air! Very relaxing!!!

I've already known this owner takes apprentices, but today I discovered "A" name on the plate. I met the person through my job last month! What a small world!

Whatever you order, you can eat this deep-fried soba as an appetizer.
It's full of soba flavor!

First, we ordered this cold soba with vegetable tempura!

If you appreciate soba itself and its flavor, I really recommend cold soba! The handmade noodles are unbelievably wonderful!!!

 

Next, we eat this warm soba with tempura!
This is a warm version of the first soba, but tastes really different!

Last but not least, we ate this cold soba with grated bitter daikon radish, the most popular soba menu in this restaurant. Usually Japanese eat soba with grated wasabi condiment, but I prefer this Japanese horseradish.

Looks & smells very delicious, doesn't it? I love this soba flavor! Do you know that it's polite to slurp up noodles in Japan? Of course, I enjoyed slurping :)

After eating soba, we enjoyed this soba soup. I love it!

I want to come here again in the soba harvesting season in order to eat freshly harvested soba! Smells very different!!

■Area information■
This restaurant is in Ebetsu.
See? The shop is in the forest :)

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■Tour guide information■

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Restaurant Alpha （レストラン アルファ）| Delicious SPF Pork Steak, Ham & Bacon | Tobetsu

I really love meat and I call myself a "meat lover"! Today I went to Tobetu town near Sapporo to eat delicious SPF pork.

*What is SPF pork?
It's pork free from five specific pathogens.

Thanks to the minimal use of antibiotics to produce SPF pork, this meat is said to be less odoriferous and retain more meat juice in it than other pork, keeping it from going hard when cold.

Anyway, I visited this reaurant↓

The atmosphere is very relaxing!

First, we ordered wine!

Cheers!!! 

This vichyssoise tastes really creamy. They said that the potato for the soup was produced here in Tobetsu!
That's way.....:)

I really recommend this uncured ham and bacon!
But don't forget the tomatoes!
It's like a dessert! Sweeeeeeeeeeeet! Of course , this is a local product, too!

I really love this bacon! That's why I ordered this carbonara to enjoy it!

This is one of our main dishes, fried SPF pork! It's tender and juicy!

See? 

This is the other main, SPF pork steak (320g)!  The meat was marinated with special seasoning!

I had never eaten such a delicious pork steak!

On the 1st floor, we can get the same ingredients that the restaurant serves.

 I bought this shoulder ham & soft salami! I believe these go well with wine!!!

Of course, I bought delicious tomatoes!!! I asked the owner why the tomatoes are sweet! He said the soil around here is very fertile!

After enjoying the lunch, we went to a dam construction site near the restaurant!

After it is completed, a bridge will also be constructed .
More convenient to go to the Japan coast area than now!

That means I can have a SPF pork tour in Tobetu and a sushi tour in Atsuta, a coastal town, on the same day in the near future :)

I really enjoyed Tobetu today, too!

■Where is Tobetsu?

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■Tour guide information■

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Fukuro-no-Yu （ふくろふ乃湯）| Hot Spring and Vegetable Stall (Fresh Asparagus) | Tobetsu near Sapporo ♨

We went to Tobetsu town to enjoy onsen or hot spring yesterday♨
(*♨ is a sign of hot spring in Japan)

My favorite onsen is near this tiny train station.

It looks like a toy house, doesn't it?
Hahahaha :)

This is my favorite onsen,"Fukurou no Yu （ふくろふ乃湯）", which means hot spring of owls.
Actually this is surrounded by wonderful nature!

At the entrance, they sell fresh local vegetables!
Tobetsu is an agricultural town and its vegetables taste sweeter and full-flavored!
Soil around here is fertile!

They were picked three hours ago! Looks, sounds, tastes very fresh!

I bought white asparagus because white ones are available only in the early spring season :)

Well, we enjoyed hot spring here!
Onsen areas and rooms for men and women are switched everyday and we enjoyed the right onsen.♨
This is an outdoor onsen♨↓

It's not a big onsen, but it's very cozy.
Look at the small water fall!

This water is good for our skin.
We can get 5 years younger whenever we take this onsen :)
I believe it is much much better than expensive lotion like SKⅡ♨

There's still snow on the hillside.

This is indoor onsen♨↓
The water looks black, but actually it is oolong tea colour!

Even on the weekends, this onsen is not crowded. That's way we can relaxed♨ and I love it!

Of course, the quality of water is very high and this onsen keeps us warm even two hours after we take it♨

At home, we boiled and ate this fresh asparagus.

We were very happy to eat such a seasonal food!
Feel very spring, don't you?

We didn't need any dressing for asparagus because of its rich taste!
I think natural salt goes well with fresh vegetables!

■Where is Tobetsu town?

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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!