Showing posts with label Hakodate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hakodate. Show all posts

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Travel | Hokkaido mid-May 2015 | Hakodate - Lucky Pierrot ラッキーピエロ

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Lucky Pierrot, or locals may affectionately call it as "LaPi", is a fast food burger joint that is overflowing with kitsch. Exclusive to Hakodate area, this surely warrants a visit!

However, Hakodate was raining from the moment I arrived. Locating the hotel was an  in adventure in itself, and 'Grand' is surely a misnomer! But, that story can wait.

Sky was gloomy, weather was cold and the pavements wet. Thankfully, rain had reduced to a slight drizzle so it was time to hunt for food.

@6.49pm

Most buildings and the streets were dark, so I headed towards that one nearest location where bright lights shone. Hey, turned out there's a Lucky Pierrot just minutes away from my block. Nice.

Lucky Pierrot - where everyday is Christmas
more Santa figurines at the upper floors balcony

Walking into the shop felt a tad like entering into those creepy amusement park that you'd likely see in a B-grade American movie.

ordering counter
Its menu is pretty extensive with over many types of burgers, and curry rice. Liked how they'll tag the bestsellers so I had an easy time choosing one. Naturally, went for their #1 item. After ordering, you'll be issued with a ticket. Then, wait.

collect with this ticket

Was quite a long wait for a fast food joint but that's because food was made upon order. Service was polite, as usual.

Lucky Pierrot 人气No.1  - Chinese Chicken Burger @¥385

Got a can of Sapporo Classic from the vending machine outside the hotel room. How convenient! About SGD3 for one can.

huge chunks of juicy chicken thigh meat, deep fried and coated with sweet sauce
so good

That was one good burger. Value for money. All chicken burgers should look like this.

wash it down with good old beer

Lucky Pierrot

Website: http://www.luckypierrot.jp

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Travel | Hokkaido mid-May 2015 | Hakodate - 函館朝市食堂 馬子とやすべ Mako to Yusube and Kikuyo Shokudo Honten きくよ食堂

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Everyone knows that when one is in Hakodate, head on to Donburi Yokocho どんぶり横丁市場 for delicious kaisen don 海鮮丼. There's about 19 shops to choose from, so where do I begin? Since my time in Hakodate is limited, with probably just enough time for two meals at the market or this donburi alley, I need to choose wisely. I'd probably walked back and forth a couple of times outside the shops, scrutinizing its display and probably earned some glances from the people whom may be watching.


Finally, decided on this shop called Mako to Yusube 馬子とやすべ. Simply because they have five toppings that I liked for the Asaichi Rice Bowl.

shop front

The shop is smaller than I expected but the people inside are very friendly. I was the lone customer then, because it was rather late for lunch, at around 1.40pm.

small and cosy
inner section
closed on Wednesday

Green tea is complimentary and the food arrived after seven minutes of waiting time. The bowl looked impressive for its price.

Asaichi goshoku-don 朝市五色丼

For just ¥1500 (~SGD16) nett, one gets a regular bowl of rice topped with five kinds of fresh seafood - ikura, hotate, salmon, uni and 3 pieces of botan ebi, served with a bowl of seaweed soup and some pickles. Yummilicious and definitely value for money. Totally loved the sweet scallop, the generous amount of ikura that added umaminess to the bowl and creamy uni. Not one, not two but three pieces of mid-sized botan ebi? Nice.

Good choice indeed and totally recommended. Wanted to eat it for the next day lunch too but it was closed.

list of shops at Donburi Yokocho

So, found another shop to lunch at on Wednesday before the train back to Sapporo. It is not within the Donburi Yokocho but somewhere near the market. It's called Kikuyo Shokudo Honten きくよ食堂. Was just walking past it when a man called out and asked if I wanted to lunch there. I told him that I wasn't that hungry, so he said they do mini-dons as well. Not knowing what to eat, made it easier to decide. Ok, I said.

image credit: http://hakodate-kikuyo.com

It feels rather retro inside the shop and yes, it was like eating in a canteen. Apparently, this shop was founded in 1957 and there were a few locals having their lunch while I was there. The menu is in Japanese so am not able to read it. Fortunately for set meals, there are pictures. Chose the mini don with 3 toppings, served with a side of hokke fish (Okhotsk atka mackerel) and seaweed soup.

self serve tea
sanshoku-don 三色丼 set with hokke fish @¥1966 (~SGD21)

The bowl was only slightly bigger than the seaweed soup. Diners are free to choose their choice toppings. I chose crab meat, scallop and sea urchin. Should have chosen ikura instead. The crab meat didn't have much taste in them. Was advised to drizzle a bit of soy sauce onto the scallops prior to eating.

The side dishes were boiled squid with some kind of savoury sauce and the red one beside it, I have no idea what it was. Tasted a bit spicy and definitely gooey. Think it was some kind of root vegetable with ika? Not too sure but it was delicious.

closer view

The seafood bowl was not much of a looker, but the sea urchin has a very nice fragrance to it. Almost flowery, and a tad surreal. Hard to imagine, I know. But truly, it has a very nice fragrance to the uni. As usual, scallops were sweet. My favourite in Hokkaido, ほたてだいすきです!


Travel | Hokkaido mid-May 2015 | Hakodate Morning Market 函館朝市 Hakodate Asaichi

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My friend, a frequent traveller to Japan, once said this to me, "Seafood taste so much better in Hakodate." Armed with that mantra, Hakodate naturally had to be included as part of the plan when exploring Hokkaido. Getting to Hakodate from Sapporo, was easy and takes about 3 hours plus by JR Rail. Want to know more about JR ticket reservation, what's the experience was like travelling via the Super Hokuto 6? Read about it  here.

Arrived on a Tuesday at about noon time. The Hakodate JR Station has a souvenir shop right after you're out from the gates. It sells all the necessary omiyage plus alcoholic beverages like beer and wine too. Some items are limited to Hakodate. Ugh, was so tempted to buy those local wine... But first, have to hurry to the market to see if the shops are still open. Still need to get lunch and to recce on dried scallops. The family has indicated that they'd like a kilo of those dried goodies.

Weather wasn't great and the sky was gray with slight drizzle. The Morning Market is within walking distance from Hakodate JR Station. Less than 5 minutes walk.

this way to Hakodate Morning Market
Donburi Yokocho

Decided to check out the market first. Some stalls are still open but most are already done for the day. Operating hours for the stalls are mostly till 12pm, and a few till 2pm.

seafood shopping

Was walking around looking for dried scallops when a sudden attack of delicious aroma was detected. It was so enticing that I went in search of the source of this wonderful smell. Ahah! Found it.

Huge scallops in shell being grilled over the fire. Bubbling in simple shoyu sauce. The stall owner asked if I want any. Nodded. (Tip: If you see this stall, just buy more. One is never enough and its price is good for its size. You'll know in later post.). I think the shop is called 手作り いっせきにちょう or Isseki Nicho.

grilled seafood stall

grilled scallop ¥500 (original price: ¥600)
There are empty tables nearby that stall, so one could eat comfortably there. Piping hot scallop on a cold day, makes a perfect companion. Tasty, sweet and full of umami goodness. Flesh was firm and comfortably bouncy. It was so good that I wanted to slurp all the juice up (but that would be an overdose on saltiness!)

Come to think of it, it didn't occur to me that I should get some other grilled items like oysters or abalone or maybe another scallop, or even beer. Sighs. Think I was saving some stomach space for proper lunch.

closer view of grilled scallops

Didn't buy alot of stuffs from the market though. Bought some snacks of dried squid and of course, dried scallops. Not sure if I'm supposed to get the snack kind or the cook porridge kind. Hmm.

For dried squid snacks, one pack is about ¥500. The guy at the stall was friendly and tried to converse but my Japanese is really rookie. Nevertheless, his prices are reasonable. The "in snack" seemed to be salmon jerky, but I really don't like the texture of that, nor the taste of it. Also bought some dried soft scallops snack. Bought 2 packs of 500gms each for ¥4500 (after discount). Its price ranges from ¥2500 to ¥3500 per pack, depending on vendor.

dried soft scallop snack

Got some dried scallops to boil soup kind at ¥1100 from a stall that's outside the market. Not sure if that's expensive or reasonable.
the loot

 
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