Araton （あら焚き豚骨 あらとん 本店）| Tsukemen Bar | Sapporo

I dropped by the most delicious tsukemen bar in Sapporo during my tour the other day. Well, tukemen is a cold or hot ramen noodles accompanied by soup for dipping. Sounds very yummy x 2, doesn't it?
"Araton （あら焚き豚骨 あらとん 本店）" located in the Sapporo Central Wholesale Off-board Maket（札幌市中央卸売場外市場） is so popular that it is always packed with tsukemen lovers.

Usually we have to wait for a while before taking a seat, but that day two seats were available when we came here! How lucky we were♪

This is the most popular tsukemen; "Araton Tsukemen".

This soup is a well-balanced blend of two kinds of broth; fish and pork bone broth. They buy fresh fish directly from the fish market. Perfect!!!

This pork is produced in Akaigawa village in Hokkaido, and very juicy!! Yummy x 2!!!

The bamboo shoots are cut a little bit bigger than normal ones, which makes us enjoy the texture very well!!

Thicker noodles go well with their condensed soup!!! I love this tsukemen!!

See? It looks very very delicious!!!

The noodles were gone quickly! Hahaha! I've never eaten such delicious tsukemen so far!!!

We can dilute the tsukemen soup with additional broth after eating the noodles. I really enjoyed this final soup, too!

As this tsukemen bar is located in the Sapporo Central Wholesale Off-board Maket（札幌市中央卸売場外市場）, please enjoy this deicious tsukemen after enjoying shopping in the market!

■Where is "Araton （あら焚き豚骨 あらとん 本店）"?

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■Tour guide information■

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Oden Ippei （おでん一平）| Oden Restaurant Listed by Michelin Guide Hokkaido 2012 | Sapporo

Today we went to "Oden Ippei （おでん一平）,  an oden restaurant listed by Michelin Guide Hokkaido 2012.

It is not a big restaurant, always packed with their frequent customers.

Cheers!

Their ingredients are carefully selected, and they always serve the best ones in this area!
This is meat balls and bracken↓
The broth has very sophisticated flavors!

This is deep-fried tofu bag↓

When I broke it....................
Chinese cabbage and other vegetables were simmered for a long time, and yummy x 2!

We also ordered seasonable vegetables!
This is azukina, a mountain vegetable, available for a short time in this season.

This is hanpen (fish cake), which was HUGELY swelled, and very fluffy!!!

Don't forget seafood caught in Hokkaido!
This is surf clam. The chef perfectly heated it, and it was very juicy!!!

This tuna and leek are his art works. It really suites with sake!
BTY, they have only one kind of sake here, carefully selected the best sake!! Please enjoy it with delicious oden!!

Actually I was sooooo surprised at the original cost of this mitsuba (Japanese honewort). He showed us a small box filled with this vegetable. Unbelievably, it is 15,000 yen!!! Wow!

He said, "If everybody orders mitsuba, we are in red, but we also serve oden items whose original costs are not high such as white radish..........."
Then I said, "I'll have white radish!"
He said, "Hahaha! This is on me. Here you are!"
We really enjoyed the conversation with him!

This konnyaku is made of konnyaku potatoes (elephant roots) produced in Shimonita, a famous production site of the ingredient. It tastes very delicious!!!

Gunmo (deep-fried tofu with some vegetables) and eggs are very popular oden items!

Last but not least, we ordered rice with bamboo shoot, a very seasonable vegetable in the spring time! 

This miso soup is very tasty!!!

Small egg plants are more than perfect! I love the pickles!!!

When you come here, please enjoy carefully selected ingredients, and wonderful conversation with the owner! It is a so popular restaurant that you should make a reservation in advance!

■Where is "Oden Ippei （おでん一平）"?

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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!

How to Make Beef Tataki | Ezo Tajima Ushi 〈Japanese Black〉 （えぞ但馬牛・黒毛和牛）| Ebetsu

Tajima Ushi （但馬牛） is a brand beef (Japanese Black) raised in Hyogo prefecture. It is very very delicious, but very very expensive...........
How can we get it at reasonable prices? There is loophole, actually.
Baby Tajimaushi are also raised in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, and send them back to Hyogo when they grow up. The meat is called Ezo Tajima Ushi, which is cheaper than Tajima Ushi sold in Hyogo.
The other day, I bought a block of its round tip in order to make beef tataki!

It is 600 yen per 100g, which is still expensive, but if you eat it at restaurants, it may be several times more expensive than this one! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Here's how to make beef tataki!

①Sprinkle black peppers on the meat.

②Grill its surface for a very very short time.

③Put it in cold water with ice.

③Slice it very thinly. That's it!

Please dip it in soy sauce with some horseradish! Yummy x 2!!!

I love beef tataki, especially of Tajima ushi (Japanese Black)!

■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!

Zensho （夕日ヶ丘レストラン善生）| Farm Restaurant | Iwamizawa

Would you like to eat delicious rice? If so, I recommend "Zensho （夕日ヶ丘レストラン善生）", a farm restaurant run by rice farmers in Iwamizawa, 40 minutes away from Sapporo.

It is always crowded with local people, and we have to wait for a while. But it is worth a wait! They are using carefully selected ingredients, some of them we can buy in this restaurant↓

I really recommend their rice especially! There is big difference between one sold at supermarkets and theirs!!!

The restaurant is like this!

From the windows, we can enjoy rural landscapes. They have still some snow, but it will be covered with vivid green grasses and plants in just one month!
One of the recommendable points here is a beautiful sunset from this hill! We have to come back here for dinner!!!!

During the lunch hours, they serve some lunch sets such as a hamburg set, a pasta set, a today's meat set, and a today's fish set. Surprisingly we can eat their delicious rice as much as possible!!!

It is a pity that their fresh vegetable and fruit juice was already sold out when we came here............... It is only 100 yen, and tastes very thick!!

Look at the drink menu!

We can order local alcohols such as Housui wine in Iwamizawa, Yamazaki wine in Mikasa, and production limited sake made by Kobayashi Sake Brewery. Sounds very attractive, doesn't it???
(If you'd like to know the sake brewery, please refer to my other post! We went to the Sake Brewery Festival the other day→click ☆)

I really recommend this salad, which comes with every lunch set! Tastes very thick, and I love it!

This is a main for today's meat lunch set. Look at a lot of kinds of vegetables on the thick pork stake! Yummy x 2!!!

Side dishes are like this↓ We can fully enjoy delicious vegetables in this restaurant!!

This is a hamburg lunch set named a sunset lunch set!

It looks like a sunset; demi-glace sauce and cheese!!!

Hot! Hot! Hot! And yummy x 2!!!

The set has the same side dishes as today's meat lunch set.

This is milk jelly, a dessert for a sunset lunch set!

Last but not least, I'll show you their rice!! I strongly believe that this is a "real" main for their lunch sets!!

It is so delicious that I had a refill of rice!!! It is free of charge!!! Perfect, isn't it?
They blend two kinds of brand rice: Yumepirica (70%) and Nanatuboshi (30%). I've never eaten such delicious rice!!! I have to come back here to eat this super-tasty rice!!

After eating delicious rice, we ordered additional dessert!
A drink can be selected among several kinds, and I chose ginger ale↓

We had a wonderful time here!

Of course, I bought their delicious rice in this restaurant! When it's gone, I'll be back again! I became a big fan of their rice!

Black bean and soy bean snacks look great, and I bought one of them!

On the way back home, we enjoyed talking about today's lunch!! We really recommend this restraurant, serving delicious rice and vegetables!!

■Where is "Zensho （夕日ヶ丘レストラン善生）"?

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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!