Gastronomic Destinations : Hokkaido (4)

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sake, shochu and sushi

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In spite of all those oysters in Sapporo devoured in Sapporo, our next destination on the following day was Otaru City and its fish market. The latter is located just left of the JR Station exit. Small in scale, itis still a must-see in that citiy as it will offer sights of seafood consumed all over Japan!

OTARU SANKAKU FISH MARKET

Go down the steep narrow alley between the various booths.

Bear in mind that Hokkaido is also famed for its summer vegetables, especially tomatoes, and wild mushrooms!

Fresh and dried fish are ready for consumption or will be sent all over Japan as every stand benefits from a home-delivery system!

Even the numerous Russian tourists buy those crabs!

Salmon, the King of fish!

An Otaru delicacy: “Sankaku/Sand Borer Fish”. A beauty, raw, dried or cooked!

We arrived pretty early in the morning and for once, to get a break from all that fish, looked around for some meat.
Although Hokkaido is celebrated for its beef and mutton, we decided to try chicken instead:

NEW NARUTO

New Naruto is a minuscule place seating less than 20 people.
It is constantly crowded. Either you come early or wait, knowing they might run out of meat, in which case they momentarily close the place!

The prices are simply ridiculous low by any standards. The portions are Gargantuan (thanks to the Russian tourists?) like the above half chicken,

or fried pieces of chicken. We had ordered two of each for the four of us with a couple of beers. We could not finish them all and gave the leftovers to some happy youngsters next door who were waiting for their orders!

New Naruto
Otaru City, Hanaen 1 Chome, 10-10
Tel.: 0134-328003

There is one more in town just in case at
Otaru City, Ironai 1 chome, 1
Tel.: 0134-241233

OTARU MASASUSHI

That particular night, which was our last one in Hokkaido, we decided to have a last try at the local fish.
We found a very reasonable, if a bit modest, sushi restaurant we can safely recommend to all:
Otaru Masasushi

Not only their fish is of good and reasonable, but they also have the merit to serve a couple of local sake.
I found Onikoroshi (Kill the Devil) by Tanaka Brewery (Otaru City) quite amenable with the sushi offering.

If you are not sure what to order, just ask for the Special Set/”Moriawase”.
It comes first with ika somen/thin strips of raw cuttle fish you eat with a sauce you prepare yourself with soy sauce, one raw egg yolk and raw urchin. Just challenge it!

The second dish consists of a plate of sushi (the uni gunkan is not featured as I was no patient enough to wait for it for the pic!) and Japanese soup and pickles!