Travel: Trip to Sapporo-Otaru-Hakodate-Onuma, 17-27 Apr 2016 (Part 10 - Day 9 in Sapporo)
>> Friday, May 13, 2016
Our 'final day' at Sapporo before we flew back the day after was dedicated for shopping! It was a beautiful day for walking, shopping & to breathe in the last few moments of Sapporo before we head back to our homeland.
Cherry blossoms have started to bloom at Odori Park, opposite our hotel!
Our final lunch was none other than the special "soup curry", something that we can't find in Malaysia, but is a taste that we're ever, so familiar :D We decided to give soup curry a go since we've not tried it before throughout our entire trip & we certainly won't mind something spicy, especially since we love curry in general.
Garaku ガラク
串とりさん2F, 中央区南3条西2丁目7
Sapporo, 〒060-0063 Hokkaido Prefecture
Japan.
Tel: (+81)(11) 2335568
URL: http://s-garaku.com
Business hours: 11:30a.m. - 3:30p.m. (Last order at 3:00p.m.); 5:00p.m. - 11:30p.m. (Last order at 11:00p.m.)
GPS: 43.056802, 141.3549932
Getting there: Subway Nanboku line (300m walk from the station)
How much we spent in total: JP¥3230; RM116.28
Garaku wasn't our 1st choice. We were searching for another restaurant, which we couldn't locate somehow & so happen, we took a turn at a junction & stumbled upon this restaurant. Little did we realize that Garaku's one of the most famous, if not the most famous, soup curry restaurant in Sapporo! *yippee!* It was full house even before lunch hour, so we actually had to wait for 15-20 minutes to be seated. While waiting, they passed us the menu & took our orders, which we thought was a great idea as once we're seated, we could have our food served in a jiffy :P
The taste of soup curry reminded us very much of Nasi Briyani, probably due to the same spices used e.g. jintan putih, star anis, bunga cengkih...etc.
Ordering is quite straight forward although it took me a while to realize that there's a "process flow" on the menu itself:
1. Select the type of soup curry that you would like to order
2. Select the portion of rice you would want to have with your soup curry
3. Select the level of spiciness for the soup curry
4. Select any add-ons/toppings that you would want to add into your soup curry (optional with additional charges)
5. Select your beverage of choice to add to your soup curry set (optional with additional charges)
How the restaurant kinda looks like (it was packed, but the staff were really efficient!)
L->R: Pear lassi & Yuzu lassi (JP¥250/glass during weekday lunch hours/JP¥380/glass; RM9.00/RM13.68)
Yup, flavors that you can rarely find back in Malaysia's indian rice shops, so we gave these a try. Both the lassi were very refreshing & slightly on the sweeter side. It felt like drinking those bottled yogurt drinks that you can get from the convenience stores, but the taste was SO Hokkaido (you can taste the difference in the milk that they used for the lassi!). The Yuzu flavored lassi was more appetizing while the pear flavor felt more 'soothing & comforting'.
Shabu-Shabu Soup Curry (JP¥1200/serving with rice; RM43.20)
Kamifurano pork shabu-shabu & 7 types of mushrooms
This was SO DELICIOUS! We loved the thin shabu-shabu style pork slices in the rich, flavorful & spicy soup, filled with vegetables & mushrooms! Each soup curry comes with fried brocolli, carrots, potatoes, a quail's egg, cabbage & the meat as per order. I need to learn how to cook this!
Cheese Soup Curry (JP¥1180/serving with rice; RM42.48)
Grilled cheese, bacon & tomatoes
Totally no regrets ordering this flavor! The stringy cheese was in every mouthful of soup curry & oh, the bacon was those thick-cut bacons, which was heavenly! The smoky-taste of the bacon & the rich flavors of the cheese brought this soup curry up to the next level of delight :D Furthermore, this bowl had tomatoes, so it was slightly sweeter & has a slight tang, which was very appetizing....blogging about it now makes me want to eat soup curry at this hour....
Regular-Size 200g Rice
I think this is some lemon, spiced rice. It tastes TOO GOOD with the soup curry! *salivates even more*
Tori Karaage (JP¥350/serving; RM12.60)
Not as tasty as "pig-backside uncle's" recipe, but fried chicken any time is good for the hubs...hahaha...
Our delectable lunch
We spent the rest of the day on a shopping spree, buying all that we want for the very last time. After shopping, it was packing, so we went back to the hotel to pack, rest, shower & came out again in the evening to hunt for sushi for the last time this trip. Each hunting time was "Hello Google...where is the nearest sushi restaurant?" *lol*
It's another hidden gem & a jackpot as Katsuissen was rated one of the must-go sushi restaurants in Sapporo! Woohoo!
Katsuissen 活一鮮
Lower Ground Floor, NORBESA
5-1-11 Minami 3-jyo Nishi, Chuo-ku
Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido
Japan.
Tel: (+81)(11) 2523535
URL: N/A
Business hours: 11:00a.m. - 3:00p.m.; 4:30p.m. - 11:00p.m. (Weekdays), 11:00a.m. - 11:00p.m. (Weekends & Public Holidays)
GPS: 43.0556823, 141.349984
Getting there: Subway Nanboku line (260m walk from the station)
How much we spent in total: JP¥5788; RM208.37
It was our last dinner at Sapporo, so we went all out to eat all that we want, all that we can 'til I couldn't really move...hahaha...
Aburi Salmon Belly (JP¥290/plate; RM10.44)
Grilled Eel (JP¥290/plate; RM10.44)
Fresh Bluefin Tuna Belly (JP¥480/plate; RM17.28)
Inari (JP¥100/plate; RM3.60)
Mayo Tuna (JP¥150/plate; RM5.40)
Seared Tuna Belly (JP¥480/plate; RM17.28)
I can't recall what's this (JP¥480/plate; RM6.84)
Grilled Aubergines with Pickled Ginger Mash (JP¥100/plate; RM3.60)
Mixed Sushi Platter (JP¥1200/serving; RM43.20)
The hubs said we didn't eat that much, but I was stuffed!
The night was still quite young & hey, it was our last night at Sapporo, so we had to do what tourists would do i.e. go on the Noria ferris wheel on top of the Norbesa building! Hahahaha...
Noria @ Norbesa
Top Floor, NORBESA
5-1-11 Minami 3-jyo Nishi, Chuo-ku
Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido
Japan.
Tel: (+81)(11) 2618875
Business hours: 11:00a.m. - 11:00p.m. (Mon - Thurs); 11:00a.m. - 3:00a.m. (Fri - Sun);
GPS: 443.0560901, 141.3498299
Getting there: Subway Nanboku line (260m walk from the station)
Fee: JP¥600 per person; JP¥1,200 for two persons; JP¥1,800 for three persons; JP¥2,000 for four persons; JP¥400 for the handicapped
"This 45.5-meter-wide Ferris wheel – the first in Sapporo – stands 78 m above the ground and has a total of 32 gondolas. The four-seater gondolas take approx. 10 minutes to go round. Since all the gondolas are barrier free, people in wheelchairs can also enjoy Noria. Thanks to electric heating, visitors can enjoy "air walking" in Sapporo throughout the year." - taken from Sapporo Tourist Association's website.
The ticketing machine
Our 1st time on a ferris wheel together! *yippee*
That's the Sapporo TV Tower at a distance
The lights on the ferris wheel changes color every minute or so
Night view of the Sapporo city from the Noria ferris wheel
It was a GREAT & memorable trip! I'll attempt to put the photos & some videos up into a slideshow to share in the next blog post, after which, I'll begin a new food series on food in Kuantan! :) Stay tuned!
Missing Sapporo :(
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