Nameko's Adventures in Hokkaido, Part 2: Otaru

Nameko left Sapporo early to head to Otaru (about 45min west by train). His first stop was the Sankaku Ichiba (三角市場) fish market located just west of the station (to the left and up some stairs).

 

It's a fairly small/narrow market, but luckily a nice man at one of the first shops (Kawashima Sengyo-Ten 川嶋鮮魚店) greeted Nameko and asked if he was looking for anything in particular. Nameko wanted to send some seasonal seafood back home to Aomori, and the man was very helpful in helping Nameko pick out various things. The shop also has a restaurant, Sea Food Restarant Kawashima (鮮魚食堂かわしま), attached to it, so Nameko decided to go for hirame (flounder) sashimi, and anodon (あの丼)--a bowl of rice topped with seasonal seafood as selected by the chef.

The anodon had (starting from the center and going clockwise from the upper right):
- shako (mantis shrimp--tastes more like lobster than shrimp)
- uni (sea urchin); kani (center right: crab)
- ikura (salmon roe)
- shirako (cod milt, a.k.a. cod sperm sac)
- kujira (whale)*
- sake (salmon)

(*Yes, I know people have lots of issues with eating whale meat, but personally, while I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it, neither would I refuse to eat it if served to me. Japanese whaling is a complex issue that I don't really want to get into here.) 

After the delicious meal, Nameko headed to the Marchen Intersection (マルヘン交差点).

In order to walk off some of his breakfast, Nameko did some window shopping at the Otaru Orgel Doh (小樽オルゴール堂 Music Box Museum) and Yume no Oto "Character House" (夢の音 a shop selling goods featuring various goods related to various popular characters, e.g. Rilakkuma, Totoro, etc.).

 

Then he headed across the street to the head store of LeTao. (Incidentally, the name LeTao in Japanese is actually ルタオ RU-TA-O, which is O-TA-RU backwards!) In the second floor cafe, he enjoyed a piece of Double Fromage cake and a special chocolate cake set (available only at the head store cafe) with the monthly special blend tea.

After LeTao, Nameko headed west along Sakaimachi Street (堺町通り), exploring various shops like Ika Taro Honpo (いか太郎本舗), a shop that sells freshly roasted and shredded squid. (Nameko bought a pack to enjoy as a snack later in the evening...)

 

Eventually Nameko swung north from Sakaimachi Street to head to the Otaru Canal (小樽運河).

From there he headed slightly further west to the Otaru-Shi Sougou Hakubutsukan Ungakan (小樽市総合博物館運河館 Otaru Museum Canal Building). Unfortunately the exterior was completely covered in blue sheets as the building is currently undergoing renovations, but at least the museum was still open! Nameko even made some "friends" there...!?

 

 

Next it was back across the Canal for a light lunch at the Otaru Beer Otaru Souko No.1 (小樽ビール小樽倉庫No.1) where he tried the Weiss and Dunkel beers, apple cider (cold and carbonated), pork pate, pretzel, and homemade pickles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling rather tired after so much walking (starting from the previous day!), Nameko headed back to Otaru Station where he did some shopping at a LeTao branch store and Kinokuniya Bookstore and relaxed with some tea at a cafe inside the station until the courtesy shuttle bus from the hotel, Hotel Neuschloss Otaru (ホテルノイシュロス小樽), came to pick him up.

After checking in at the hotel, Nameko had just enough time to check out the luxurious room and attached "open air"* bath before heading down for dinner. (*There was a window, of course, but unexpectedly there was also a screen in front of the window--probably for privacy and to prevent people from sticking body parts out of the window--so it wasn't exactly "open air.")

 

 

 

Dinner was a lovely five-course meal at the restaurant, Blau Kuste (ブラウキュステ):
- foie gras and semi-dried tomato mousse
- buri  (Japanese amberjack, yellowtail) carpaccio with eggplant sauce, and a snowcrab crabcake
- turbot (a type of flatfish) gratin and carrot soup
- duck confit with vinegar and red wine sauce/Wagyu filet steak (120g)
- mont blanc, coffee ice cream, and fruits

 

 

 

After dinner and a good long soak in the bath, Nameko ended the night with a can of Classic Sapporo Beer, a can of guarana soda (sweet, cough syrup taste!), chocolate cake from LeTao, and roasted shredded squid from Ika Taro!

 

 

Links:
Sankaku Fish Market: http://kimi-tourguide.blogspot.jp/2011/06/sankaku-fish-market-in-otaru.html
Otaru Orgel Doh: http://www.otaru-orgel.co.jp/english/e_main.html
LeTao: https://www.letao.jp/global/en/index.html
Sakaimachi Street: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6704.html
Ika Taro Honpo: http://ikataro.tv/e/index.html
Otaru Canal: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6701.html
Otaru Beer: http://www.shift.jp.org/guide/sapporo/bar-restaurant/otaru-soko-no1.html
Hotel Neuschloss Otaru: http://www.neuschloss.com/english/index.html