Hitsujiya （ひつじ八）| Cafe/ Restaurant | Kuriyama （栗山）

We enjoyed a short trip to Kuriyama on the weekend, and visited "Hitsujiya （ひつじ八）", my favorite cafe↓

This cafe is in "Kurimanjyu Mitsuwa （栗まんじゅう 美津和）", a famous Japanese sweets shop in this town.

Let's enter it!

They serve a lot of delicious meals, but we first chose our favorite one.

This is "Cutsu spa （カツスパ）". Cutsu stands for breaded pork "cut"let. Yummy x 2!!

It comes with salad and

consommeclear soup.

Under the cutlet, Voila!
Spa stands for "spa"ghetti. Isn't it wonderful that cutlets and spaghetti can be eaten at the same time????

We ordered one more dish for lunch from this page.

This is "Bacon Omelet Hamburg （ベーオム）”↓ , which comes with soup and salad.

 I ordered pumpkin soup. Yummy x 2!!!

Look at the inside of the omelet! I love this bacon rice!!

As I don't drink coffee, I enjoyed grapefruit juice after lunch.

As I said, this cafe is in "Kurimanjyu Mitsuwa （栗まんじゅう 美津和）", a famous Japanese sweets shop in this town, we cannot leave here without ordering Japanese sweets.

This is "Azuki beans and chestnuts desserts （栗ぜんざい）"↓
The bean jam is perfectly delicious!!

This is "Hitujiya parfait （ひつじ八パフェ）"↓

Look at the rice-flour dumplings in the azuki bean jam!!!

Macha or green tea ice cream is under the fresh cream. I really recommend this Japanese parfait!

We had a wonderful time in Kuriyama!

■Where is "Hitsujiya （ひつじ八）"?

View Larger Map

■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!

Ristorante Kaoru （レストランテ 薫）| Italian Restaurant | Ebetsu （江別）

I've found a wonderful Italian restaurant in Ebetsu.
This is "Ristorante Kaoru （レストランテ 薫）", not located on the main street, and easy to miss it. Please be careful!

The secret restaurant has only four tables, and you should make a reservation in advance!
Time passes very slowly here. There are no noisy kids, or housewives, neither. Wonderful, isn't it?

This is a 1,500 yen course.
(If you want to order a 3,500 yen course, you should make a reservation at least one day before your visit day)

The focaccia is homemade and yummy x 2!!!

Look a the salmon, scallop, and asari clam↓, which are cooked at a low temperature.

The soup is not too rich, enhancing the seafood flavor itself!

All of them are heated properly, and appetizing!!!

This is today's pasta.
The Berkshire pork produced in Niikappu （新冠） is very tender and tastes deep!!

Next time, I'll order a 3,500 yen course!!!!
I'm so sad that I've missed their main dish today!!!!

This is today's dessert; mascarpone cheese cake and chestnut ice cream.

As I don't take caffeine, I ordered pineapple vinegar juice. How healthy it is!

I love everything in this restaurant; service, dishes, atmosphere, and smiles of the staff. They choose best ingredients produced in Hokkaido very carefully.

I'm sure I'll be back!

■Where is "Ristorante Kaoru （レストランテ 薫）"?

View Larger Map

■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!

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）"?

View Larger Map

■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!

Dining Kinoya （ダイニング 木の家）| Italian Restaurant | Ebetsu （江別）

It is snowing heavily in Hokkaido..... How about your place?
Today we went to "Dining Kinoya （ダイニング 木の家）" to eat delicious pasta↓

Happy New Year!!

Let me see.... What should I order?
I wanted to eat pasta, but now want to eat risotto, too.... Hahaha!

■Appetizer
Homemade ham, zucchini omelet, carrot and sweet potato salad
I love this omelet. It is fluffy and yummy x 2!!

The focaccia is freshly baked, and hot, hot, hot!!!

■Main 1
I ordered two mains(!!) This is pasta with beef tendon ragout and mozzarella cheese （牛すじ肉のラグー）. As I took a lot of collagen today, my skin will look younger tomorrow! Hahaha! I love this delicious ragout!

■Main 2
Cream cheese risotto with scallops （ホタテのクリームチーズリゾット）
As Japanese rice is used for this risotto, it is a kind of mixture of Japanese and Italian cuisine...
Surprisingly, it has a lot of scallops! Lucky me!!

■Dessert
Custard pudding and chocolate cake
Before coming here, I wanted to eat pudding for dessert!
Look at this↓
My dream comes true!!!

They constantly serve around 10 kinds of lunch sets at the price of 1,260 yen.

■Where is "Dining Kinoya （ダイニング 木の家）"?

View Larger Map

■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!