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)
Carl Raymon is a name which most Hakodate people are familiar with. After all, his sausages and hams can be found in almost any departmental stores or shops in Hakodate. Born to an Austrian/Hungary family (currently known as Czech Republic) doing meat processing business , Carl Raymon met his wife in Hakodate in 1919 while on his way back from U.S. to Europe. In 1924, he decided to open a Ham & Sausage factory and shop in Hakodate. The business did not do well initially as Japanese did not have the habit of eating processed meat. However, through perseverance as well as large orders from German warships calling at Hakodate, Carl Raymon's reputation and cash flow increased, and he was able to open a 3000 square meters factory.
Currently, you can find Carl Raymon's shop located at Hakodate Motomachi.
A large variety of Ham and Sausages can be bought from the Carl Raymon shop. They also provide delivery within Japan as well, so you can purchase their meats from the shop and arrange for it to be sent back home.
There is even an exhibition on the 2nd floor, showing the history of Carl Raymon.
You can also purchase ready made sausages, hotdogs or sandwiches in the shop. But they don't come cheap... a Raymon dog will cost you JPY399 (approx SGD6).
Sausages are cooked on the spot after your order is taken.
This is the Raymon dog which we ordered. The hotdog has a crunchy bite to it which I like, unlike some hotdogs which stays soft even after cooking.
Condiments are also set aside on the table, so that you can add your preferred condiments on your hotdog. Do drop by the Carl Raymon shop and try out their hotdogs, sausages or ham if you are at Motomachi. Carl Raymon Hakodate 北海道函館市元町30-3 Motomachi 30-3, Hakodate Open daily: 9am - 6pm Nearest station; Jiujigai Tram station (十字街市電) www.raymon.co.jp (Japanese only)
The Hakodate Bay Area offers a range of unique shopping experience, with many of the stores selling a variety of handicrafts.
It was during December when we visited, and there was a huge Christmas tree set up at the Bay Area, with Christmas tree light up and fireworks held every evening. One shop which caught my interest is a chopsticks store (手作り箸工房 遊膳), selling a variety of different handmade chopsticks and more interesting are the chopstick rests (called Hashi-Oki in Japanese) which they sell.
Chopsticks range from JPY840 TO JPY2100 per pair. Free name engraving service on the chopstick is also provided. You can choose from a range of different function chopsticks, such as suitable for dishwasher, chopsticks made for men or even chopsticks which give you a good gripping posture. Below are the different kinds chopstick rests. Some are made into food items, and you won't even know that they are chopstick rests by just looking at it!
At the Hakodate Bay Area, you can find a huge store selling a variety of Hakodate local produce at the Hakodate Fresh Seafood Market Square (函館海鮮市場) .
Most of the local produce here have been processed, vacuum sealed and refrigerated to keep it's freshness. For fresh local produce, you can visit the Hakodate Morning market.
We were welcomed by a huge variety of dried cuttlefish, from cuttlefish strips and to even whole cuttlefish.
Among all the cuttlefish varieties, this one is the most interesting. Do you realise that it is shaped like a glass? Yes, it is called Ika Glass, which is best used with hot sake poured inside. After using for 2-3 pours, toast the ika slightly before eating for best results.
Ika Meshi is a type of local food only unique to Hakodate. Ika - meaning cuttlefish / Meshi - meaning rice; this dish literally means steamed cuttlefish stuffed with rice.
Salmon is also an ever popular fish, and you can buy it either as a whole fish, deboned into half (only JPY1500!) or in slices for easy cooking.
Japanese also love their crabs! but these are not sri lanka crabs like those found in Singapore. The crabs have longer claws which most of the meat comes from. Here they are selling the Tarabakani (red king crab) claws (JPY9800) or a the cheaper whole Zuwai Kani (JPY2800)
You can even find frozen whale meat here! But they don't come cheap.. selling at 100g for JPY800, each packet will cost you JPY3500 (approximately SGD50). Recommended for sashimi or deep fried.
Some other seafood items include air dried cuttlefish and Hokke fish. Best eaten by just grilling it in the oven.
This is my favourite! Called shoukara (塩辛) it is a marinated seafood dish (mostly using Ika) using various kinds or marinates and best when eaten together with piping hot rice. Too bad I can't buy some home as it needs to be kept refrigerated.
Besides seafood produce, sausages or what they can wiener in Japan (which means sausage in German) is also a popular item in Hakodate. As most items here need to be refrigerated, a pity that I couldn't buy any of these stuff back home. Hakodate Fresh Seafood Market Square (Bay Area) 函館海鮮市場 北海道函館市豊川町12-12 Open daily: 6:30am - 8pm Nearest station: Jiujigai local tram station www.hakodate-factory.com (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)
