Restaurant #39: Tototo, Sapporo

Totoro is one of my favorite restaurants in Sapporo station area. My friend and I went there for first time in five years. Menus were changed a bit, but still, they have fresh seafood and tofu! The restaurant is located in front of Sapporo JR station, so it is very easy to access.

My friend and I went there without a reservation, but since it was weekday, there were a plenty of seats. Unfortunately, this restaurant allows smoking. It is still common for people to smoke in public in Japan. Luckily, people around us didn’t smoke, therefore I didn't have to suffer from extra frustration. The décor was modern and elegant, kept Japanese Izakaya style. Jazz music was played and it would be recommended for a date or friends’ meeting.

Salad with Steamed Sesame Chicken

We started with a salad with steamed sesame chicken ( 蒸し鶏の胡麻たっぷりサラダ ) (609 yen). Some pieces of sunny lettuce, colorful bell pepper, shredded Daikon (Japanese radish), steamed chicken with oriental sesame sauce, covered with shredded Negi. Domestically raised chicken was steamed well, and it was so juicy! Veggies were fresh, especially paprika.

Ladled Tofu

This fresh tofu was named “引き上げ掬い豆腐” (504 yen). The worker brought just made tofu to us with a big wooden container, and served us some scoops of tofu. Of course it is okay to eat just a tofu, but usually enjoy it with some ingredients, called Yakumi (薬味). Four different yakumi were served; negi, ginger, salt, and katsuobushi. Tofu was great! Once I put it in my mouth, it melted right away with fresh soy bean taste.

Deep-fried Yuba Bundle with Prawn & Cheese

海老とチーズの湯葉包み揚げ (714 yen) was one of my favorites at that night. We wanted to eat more, but sadly just two pieces were served. Yuba was golden colored and crispy, and the taste of a big fresh shrimp and creamy melted cheese were really matched! They served right after they cooked, so it was hot and juicy!

Pork Yakitori

豚串 (one stick 189 yen). It was quite a long time since I ate yakitori last time. I love yakitori~! (^-^)

Kimo yakitori

砂肝串 (charbroiled gizzard) (one stick 189 yen). Very fresh!

Chicken & Negi yakitori

ねぎま串 (Negima: one stick 189 yen). I liked Negima the most.

Overnight-dried Aburi Squid

いか一夜干し (504 yen) was chewy enough.

Japanese pickles

漬け物 (Japanese pickles: 445 yen). My friend's favorite. She always order this. ha ha. Taste was fine, but I thought it was a bit expensive...

Chicken Rice

The last item that I ordered was Chicken Ochazuke (鶏飯) (504 yen). My “shime” item is always onigiri or ochazuke. This chicken ochazuke was lightly flavored, but the chicken was steamed well, and the broth was from this chicken. If you’d like, put a little bit of Wasabhi; it gives a surprising accent at the end of the great meal.

Overall, I really enjoyed the meal here. The only disappointment was that the restaurant was not non-smoking. Unfortunately, in Japan, many restaurants, especially Izakaya style, allow customers smoke. I really hope that they at least arrange some area for non-smokers…

Total: 4498 yen (for 2 people with some drinks)

Tototo Asty 45: 地鶏と旬魚 手づくり豆冨　ととと
1F Asty 45 Bldg. Kita 4-jyoNishi 5, Chuo-ku
Sapporo, JAPAN
011-219-4566
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/h061900/

Restaurant #07: Hareruya, Sapporo

Plum wine and an appetizer

Good, small izakaya/restaurant is fun to find, and once you find it, you make a friend with the owner. The owner usually cooks, and a wife usually helps. This small izakaya, Hareruya (晴れる屋), is one of those. The owner/chef seems to work alone, so he has to take care of food and service by himself, looks busy. The chef was trained in Japanese, Italian and French style. Eventually, he opened an izakaya style restaurant based on Japanese taste, although he always plays American rock’n’roll.

The décor is in wooden color, warm. The owner decorates some posters of Rolling Stones. Yeah! You see how much the owner loves Rock’n’Roll. Of course, the music he plays in the restaurant is the same. You might expect him as a singer or rocker, but he seems to be quiet person, nicely coming to us and said “Irasshaimase”. Music is not noisy, and I liked the quietness even though with the rock music. My friend and I ordered some dishes from a la carte menu.

Drinks were served first. I ordered Oolong tea, and my friend did umeshu (梅酒: plum wine). I don’t drink alcohol, but plum wine looked good. When you ordered drinks, a small appetizer, so-called Otoshi (お通し), came with drinks. Very simple tapas, but tasted good especially with drinks.

Hiyayakko

Hiyayakko (ひややっこ) was served next. It was fresh and tender. Putting extra grated ginger made tofu’s taste richer, but too much green onion killed it. It would be enjoyable if fresh tofu and some condiments were served separately.

Lamb Carpaccio

This lamb carpaccio was amazing. You may think that lamb’s smell would be very strong, yet amazingly, no smells would be noticed until you bite it again and again. Meat was beautifully marinated with the sauce, and strong smells are gone. Once you put the slice of lamb tenderloin into your mouth, and bite it several times, the rich lamb flavor begins spreading into your mouth. I like lamb flavor, but this taste was much richer than I expected. Adding some green onion and soy sauce made this dish Japanese taste.

Yakitori

Main dish that I expected was Yakitori. Their yakitori menu was appropriately various. We order tsukune (つくね), suna-gimo (砂肝), and buta-bara (豚バラ), 2 pieces each. Tsukune is a Japanese-style meatball. Usually, tsukune dipped with the original sauce dips into beaten yolk. This tsukune was with Yuzu Koshou (柚子胡椒: Yuzu Pepper), which is popular condiment recently, with salt. I loved this taste better than a regular tsukune. I usually prefer salt than sauce taste, because I can enjoy the pure taste of each ingredient. It was delicious. Be careful with the power of Yuzu pepper sometimes. I mean it really depends how a chef use it. No problem if a chef uses the right one, but it occasionally happens that the poor quality of Yuzu Koshou killed the delicious dishes. Suna-gimo, a gizzard, is another favorite of mine. Many of my female friends don’t like gizzards or guts, but I like it if it is fresh one. Their gizzards were fresh, and I was pleased with the appropriate firmness. Buta-bara (pork) is delicious as well. Even though the term “yakitori” (Japanese barbecued chicken) is for a chicken, we still say Pork Yakitori. It doesn’t make sense, does it?

Fresh Salad

Interestingly, the last dish the chef served was the salad. We were expecting it earlier, though… The Japanese dressing was attractive; ginger based sauce comes with a soft-boiled egg. It seems a half-boiled egg is getting popular recently. Remember the baked cheese curry??? It is simple, but I can tell that the chef carefully selected fresh veggies from Hokkaido’s farms. Fresh veggies make me happier since I came to Sapporo.

Overall, I enjoyed the dinner at this izakaya. It is just not easy to find a place…

Total: about 6500 yen (for 2 people)

Hareruya
3F, Parking Tokiwa Bldg
7-3, Minami 3-jo Nishi 1-chome Chuou-ku
Sapporo
011-207-1170
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kansky/