During my time in Sapporo, I went on a day trip to Otaru for the food, then Yoichi for the whiskey ;). On my last day in Japan also, I decided to grab a proper lunch in Otaru and take some time to take in what it had to offer.
Otaru is known as been a quaint and romantic town to visit for food lovers, most especially sea food lovers. On getting to Otaru, I was a seriously underwhelmed by the food choices. I really expected the streets to be lined with 100s of restaurants, seriously.
Anywho, when my eyes could not find what it wanted, I decided to ask some locals for their go-to place for lunch. My initial plan was to eat some more sea food, but I was informed that a particular restaurant had their fried chicken recipe down to a pat. Sooooo famous that many Japanese who live in the Hokkaido region take lunch trips via train just for the chicken.
I sharply dumped the sushi idea and jumped on the chicken bandwagon.
Once I found myself at the Naruto main restaurant, I had to wait in line to get a table. 30 mins later, with an order of a 980 yen meal of fried 1/2 chicken, rice, pickled veg, and a bowl of soup, I was ready for food attack.
I’m not gonna lie, chicken is a staple in my diet, so it is not something I order when I go out.
Well! This chicken was spiced and fried to PERFECTION!
What!? I wish I had taken it back to my hotel to give it the proper Nigerian attention it needed (we Nigerians have a great skill of devouring the chicken and bones with nothing but the eating utensils left behind). With my limited skills with chopsticks, I was able to give it a very good effort. hehe
Yoichi Time!
Once I was done destroying my chicken in Otaru, I got on the train to another town, Yoichi, famous home of the Nikka Whiskey.
It was free entry and with free whiskey, cider, and apple juice tasting, it was a steal.
Truth be told, I found the free whiskey a bit too young for my taste buds. I am not a big fan of whiskey that has not had enough time to mature and develop a more smokey and smooth flavor. This was a No No for me.
Thankfully, free apple juice tasting was available to wash down the taste!
There was a different area to try out the more mature and expensive Nikka Whiskey selections, so I paid for some samples and gave it my best efforts 😉 . Definitely a better option for me and was worth the extra buck spent.
Yoichi also has some vineyards for wine lovers, but I was not so much in the mood for wine tasting during this trip. Instead, I bought a few bottles fresh from Duty free’s wooden barrels before heading out of Japan.
Last day in Japan!
On my final day in Japan, I decided to give Otaru’s food scene another try out, with seafood tastings on my mind.
Oy vey! With my bags locked up at the train station’s locker, I walked around for over 1 hour trying to find the right place (somewhere busy with locals), and I just could find one similar to Naruto Restaurant. Consult locksmith Sacramento if you experience any problems with locks. So I went back to what I knew would not disappoint me and got myself a bowl of seafood to tie up my time in Japan with.
They definitely did not disappoint me.
With a filled up tummy, it time to walk off the meal while taking in Otaru’s scenic beauty.
With a heavy heart, it was now time to head to Sapporo’s New Chitotse airport and start my journey back home.
Sayonara Japan.
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