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

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

NeNe Chicken @ Star Vista

Located at Level 1 of The Star, 1 Vista Exchange Green otherwise known as Star Vista at Buona Vista. Small small shop, and rather warm inside. Visited on a Friday evening, and its diners composition was made up of small group of friends, couples and single diner. Takeaway waiting time is 15-20 minutes.

Service staff that night were young teenagers. Service was alright.

takeaway

attractive looking box

Green Onion Chicken Tender Meal with extra freaking hot sauce (@$10.90)

Hmm. The chicken tenders and buffalo sticks (fries) looked rather sad, don't they?

tasty but limp as limp can be

breast meat

The chicken pieces were quite small, and could be finished in two bites each. It was cold, and as it was breast meat, it was rather dry too. Best to reheat the cold chicken.

green onion sauce and freaking hot sauce (red)

Its original green onion sauce (tasted like a mix of soy and wasabi) was quite nice. Loved the freaking hot sauce. No worries, its heat was bearable and likeable. Mix these two sauce together for better effect. Nice.

The small radish cubes were good too, but only if you like pickles in the first place. Just found it abit too sweet.

chicken pieces coated with sauce

Perhaps, wings or chicken pieces with bones would be a better choice as compared to chicken tenders?

Mel's Drive In @ Universal Studios Singapore

Located at Resorts World Sentosa Universal Studios. Pretty near the entrance. Visited on a Friday, during lunch hour, around 1-ish.

lunching in

plenty of photo opportunities with the retro cars

best burger in town?

The air-conditioning inside the diner wasn't very strong, but any cool air is better than the scorching hot sun outside.

Its interior reminds me of the show 'Happy Days'. Think neon lights, think juke box.

order and pay at this counter

interior

It claims to have the best burger in town, hence ordered a double cheeseburger (@$12+) to try. The burger comes with fries, and without drinks. Had a bottle of apple juice (@$3.80+). Payment via Mastercard to get a 10% discount.

double cheese burger (beef), served with fries and a bottle of apple juice

Such a small bottle of apple juice. For about the same price, one could get a large carbonated drink or ice-lemon tea.

double cheese burger with lettuce, onions and tomato, smothered with thousand island

The beef patty actually had very little taste. Most of the flavour came from the sauce and cheese. The fries were rather limp.

time for more rides

A meal here would costs about $15.

Arnold's @ City Plaza

Located at Level 2 of City Plaza, this place was sure packed. To enter the shop, one would have to get a queue number first. Its menu looked like any other regular fast food joint, but one can find certain local desserts like iced-kachang with ice-cream, here as well. I spied banana boat ice-cream...

For our Friday night dinner, we got the combo meal for 3 pax.

combo meal

For the sides, we had coleslaw, french fries and mashed potatoes. We got 3 pieces of chicken each and a fried bun. We had coke for as our drink. How sinful was that...

mashed potato

french fries

sweetish coleslaw

I was actually late for the dinner and my friends had already started. They were onto their second or third piece of chicken when I arrived. But surprisingly, the chicken were still hot! So, probably it's not a good idea to sink your teeth right into the meat once it's served. Caution.

deep fried and oily

thigh meat is the best!

The fried bun, for some unknown reason, had a 'hard' base. Maybe too compressed prior to frying. Not sure. The fried chicken was hot and nice, especially if it's thigh or drumstick meat. Its skin was thin and crispy and oily. Breast meat was difficult to finish as it was quite dry.

This meal costs us $13 per pax.

Freshness Burger @ The Central Clarke Quay

Located at The Central Level 1, accessible by outerside of the building at a corner near the bus stop. Visited this outlet on a weekday night. Actually wanted to eat ramen but Marutama was kinda packed, so went to Kusabi but was turned away at 855pm because the service staff said last order is at 9pm. Hmmm... maybe she doubted that I could order in less than 5 minutes or the kitchen people might have already packed up for the day? Not sure.

So there I was at Freshness Burger at 9pm. The shop was empty saved for a two or three occupied tables. I ordered salsa hamburger, chicken nuggets and a cranberry soda drink. From the menu, it looked like they do not have any set meals, hence everything is ala-carte mixed and matched. Currently, they have a promotion where you can get $2 off your meal if you order a burger, a side and a drink.

dinner

The regular burgers are quite expensive. Imagine paying $6.90 for a classic burger with cheese? The salsa burger that I ordered fell under the hamburger option and costs $3.50.

salsa burger

thin patty, loads of chopped onions and lettuce

Salsa burger was enjoyable, with its tangy tomatoes. The patty was thin though.

chicken nuggets

tender and hot~

The chicken nuggets were quite a good buy at $2.80 for about 6 pieces. Served piping hot. Yums. As for the drink, I would not recommend cranberry soda to anyone. It was way too sweet and tasted strange with the soda.

Total meal costs $7.80 (after $2 discount).