The day after we arrived in Sapporo, we decided to take the short train ride to a town on the
ocean called Otaru. Otaru is very famous for fresh, excellent quality sushi. After buying some sunscreen at the dollar store so I wouldn't get burnt, we walked down to the area near the seafront, stopping at various places to read signs that give the history of the town. In this area also, there was a lot of development during the Meiji era, so much of the architecture has strong western influences. Many areas in Hokkaido seem to have been strongly influenced by German culture, especially everything related to beer. We had a "snack" at one of the many German-styled restaurants that we either just saw or where we actually ate.
After that, we explored the town a bit more; there is a very famous canal that is now lined with restaurants and shops that were converted from old brick warehouses. We looked in a couple of craft shops (I'm using the word "craft" very loosely- the glass shop we looked in had pieces that were definitely fine art). Next we went to
sushi (restaurant) street--yes, that's REALLY what it's called! We walked up and down both sides and inspected the outside of most of the restaurants. We had no idea how to choose a restaurant, so we finally just chose one of the first places we had seen when we got to the area.
It was mid-afternoon--for most people, too late for lunch, and too early for dinner--so we had the restaurant (and the attention of about four employees!) to ourselves. Tim ordered a set plate, and I just started asking for individual pieces. Since "uni" (sea urchin) is famous there, I decided to try it, even though many people say it has a strange taste if you just get the standard grade from an inexpensive restaurant or a supermarket. I had read descriptions before that if you get good quality uni, it has a taste almost like eating a pat of butter as it melts in your mouth. This was apparently very good quality uni, because that's very similar to what it tasted and felt like in my mouth. So good quality uni is pretty tasty, and maybe I'll skip trying
the so-so quality. I also had maguro (tuna) and my very favorite: salmon. It was, quite literally, the best salmon sushi I have ever had in my life. The taste was fresh and wonderful-completely salmon-ish, but without any of the bad aspects of a fishy taste. The texture was fantastic; I think I had four pieces.
While we were sitting and slowly enjoying the experience, the chef asked us where we were from and tried to talk to me a bit in Japanese, occasionally using a couple of English words. Sometimes there was just too much vocabulary that I didn't understand, but I was able to communicate basic ideas. I wanted to tell him that the sushi was the best I had ever had, and couldn't think of anyway to communicate that, so finally I called Shinya and asked him to tell me how to say it (thanks for being my "on-call translation service", Shinya!!!) I think I made the chef happy. So that was a fantastic experience, but the bill certainly reflected the quality of the sushi.
ocean called Otaru. Otaru is very famous for fresh, excellent quality sushi. After buying some sunscreen at the dollar store so I wouldn't get burnt, we walked down to the area near the seafront, stopping at various places to read signs that give the history of the town. In this area also, there was a lot of development during the Meiji era, so much of the architecture has strong western influences. Many areas in Hokkaido seem to have been strongly influenced by German culture, especially everything related to beer. We had a "snack" at one of the many German-styled restaurants that we either just saw or where we actually ate.After that, we explored the town a bit more; there is a very famous canal that is now lined with restaurants and shops that were converted from old brick warehouses. We looked in a couple of craft shops (I'm using the word "craft" very loosely- the glass shop we looked in had pieces that were definitely fine art). Next we went to
sushi (restaurant) street--yes, that's REALLY what it's called! We walked up and down both sides and inspected the outside of most of the restaurants. We had no idea how to choose a restaurant, so we finally just chose one of the first places we had seen when we got to the area.It was mid-afternoon--for most people, too late for lunch, and too early for dinner--so we had the restaurant (and the attention of about four employees!) to ourselves. Tim ordered a set plate, and I just started asking for individual pieces. Since "uni" (sea urchin) is famous there, I decided to try it, even though many people say it has a strange taste if you just get the standard grade from an inexpensive restaurant or a supermarket. I had read descriptions before that if you get good quality uni, it has a taste almost like eating a pat of butter as it melts in your mouth. This was apparently very good quality uni, because that's very similar to what it tasted and felt like in my mouth. So good quality uni is pretty tasty, and maybe I'll skip trying
the so-so quality. I also had maguro (tuna) and my very favorite: salmon. It was, quite literally, the best salmon sushi I have ever had in my life. The taste was fresh and wonderful-completely salmon-ish, but without any of the bad aspects of a fishy taste. The texture was fantastic; I think I had four pieces.While we were sitting and slowly enjoying the experience, the chef asked us where we were from and tried to talk to me a bit in Japanese, occasionally using a couple of English words. Sometimes there was just too much vocabulary that I didn't understand, but I was able to communicate basic ideas. I wanted to tell him that the sushi was the best I had ever had, and couldn't think of anyway to communicate that, so finally I called Shinya and asked him to tell me how to say it (thanks for being my "on-call translation service", Shinya!!!) I think I made the chef happy. So that was a fantastic experience, but the bill certainly reflected the quality of the sushi.
We returned from Otaru to Sapporo, and decided to take the short bus trip to the mall/restaurant complex that was converted from the former Sapporo Beer Factory buildings. At the bus stop, the driver of one of the buses told me which bus stop to board at. We looked at the signs at the stop, and it looked like the correct place, so we boarded a bus. The trip was supposed to take about 15 minutes, so when it was getting close to 20 minutes after we'd boarded, I decided I had better ask the driver. At a traffic signal I showed him the brochure with the picture of our intended destination and asked if we were going there. He got a surprised look on his face and said "chigau" (wrong or different) and then a concerned look on his face and said "doshio..." ("What should I do ...") Then he said "Chotto mate, kudasai" ("Please wait a minute") and used his radio to start making calls. It turns out we were out in a residential area of Sapporo, not even close to where we were trying to go. After about five minutes, one of the last passengers on the bus talked to the driver. The passenger spoke English very well, and told us the driver was going to show us where to get on a train that would take us back to the main station. After the last passenger got off the bus, the driver turned off the fare board, took off his hat, and drove us directly to a local train station. Then he escorted us into the station, and explained the situation to the station manager in the little neighborhood station. He didn't leave until he was convinced that we understood what to do and where to go. Amazing! So it was another "transportation adventure" that I wasn't counting on, but it was definitely an interesting cultural experience, especially, I think, for Tim. The train ride back to the main station took about 30 minutes, and after that we decided that was enough adventures for the day and went back to the hotel.
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