Hakodate being located at the Southwest of Hokkaido and facing the Tsugaru straits, it is never short of fresh seafood. The Donburi Yokocho is a restaurant arcade featuring 20 eateries, mostly selling kaisen don (海鮮丼) which is a rice bowl topped with fresh raw seafood.
One of the most unique kaisen don featured in Donburi Yokocho is the "Ika Odori don" (イカ踊り丼) or directly translating as Squid dancing bowl.
A live whole squid is put directly on top of the rice bowl and served to you. As you pour the soya sauce over it, watch the squid move (or dance) due to the acidity of the ginger in the soya sauce.
"Ichika tei"(一花亭) is one of the popular restaurant selling Ika Odori don. The squid practically danced out of the rice bowl! Each eatery will display photos or food models of their various kaisen don for you to choose your favourite bowl of seafood to dine in.
The prices are really affordable, with a luxurious bowl of kaisen don selling at an average of JPY1500 (SGD20).
We settled for restaurant "Maekawa" as I was attracted by their 5色丼, a seafood bowl consisting of 5 kinds of seafood - uni, ikura, salmon, hotate and ama ebi selling at a promotional price of JPY1500 (usual price JPY2100)
The eateries there are all small establishments, with just about 6 tables and some counter seats. As we went during lunch time, there wasn't much customers in the restaurant as most customers visit during breakfast time.
My long awaited 5色丼! Look at the freshness and size of the seafood! You can never get this with that kind of price in Singapore.
L ordered 鉄砲汁定食 or what is "cannon soup" set in Japanese. You may be wondering why it is called cannon soup when in actual fact it is crab miso soup, but this is actually how the locals call it in Hokkaido, as when the crab legs pick up the chopsticks look like a stuffed cannon.
I couldn't resist ordering the seafood gratin as well (JPY500) consisting of prawns, squid, crab and scallop cooked in white sauce topped with cheese. Definitely worth ordering for fans of creamy and cheesy stuff. The Hakodate Donburi Yokocho is a must visit place for an early morning breakfast or lunch. Definitely value worth for your money for it's freshness and price and variety. Don't worry if you don't speak English. As many tourist visit this place, the restaurants always have a picture menu for you to point at. Hakodate Donburi Yokocho Ichiba - Restaurant Maekawa 函館市若松町9-15 9-15 Wakamatsu-cho, Hakodate shi Opening hours: 5:30am - 3pm (closed on Thursday) Nearest station: 1 min walk from Hakodate JR Train station www.donburiyokocho.com (Japanese only) www.maekawa.hakodate.jp (Japanese only)
We settled for restaurant "Maekawa" as I was attracted by their 5色丼, a seafood bowl consisting of 5 kinds of seafood - uni, ikura, salmon, hotate and ama ebi selling at a promotional price of JPY1500 (usual price JPY2100)
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