Adventure #137: Yat Lok Restaurant

Day after Boxing day, a work day but HK is still very quiet with many still away on holidays.  A perfect time to be in HK.  Anyway, it was also rather quiet in the office, so headed early for lunch.

Yat Lok is famous for its roast meat, especially roast duck. G used to drop by once in a while before they were included in the HK Michelin guide. Since then there's a permanent queue outside.  When we got there today, no queue!

I had the roast goose leg on rice noodle.  The goose was not fatty (we preferred this) and the skin crispy.  Definitely worth a try.

G had roast goose leg and cha shui on rice instead.  This way, his goose will remain crispy (not soaked in soup) as he eats.

The roast goose leg was really good but not cheap!

Yat Lok Restaurant
G/F, 34-38 Stanley Street
Central

Adventure #136 : Tasty (Elements) Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop

Boxing Day. The girls, fresh from our ski trip in Niseko, wanted to go ice skating today. So, we went to the Rink at the Elements.  When at Elements, we normally have noodles at 夏麵館.  We have not been to the Elements for quite a while and was surprised to find that where 夏麵館 used to be is now Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop.  Our experience at Tasty (IFC) was pretty good, so we decided to give this a try.

Chef making Ha Gao (prawn dumpling).

The fish and beef porridge was excellent.

We saw others eating soy sauce noodle and decided to give it a try.  Not bad.

The 炸醬麵 noodle's texture was good.

G had a craving for Cha Shui Pao but he was rather disappointed by what he got.

Pork liver, a must have for G and at least this one was good.

The was 炸兩 freshly made, very good.

Fried turnip cake - this was for the kids.

Once again we over did it on the quantity, we ended up with a doggy bag to take home.  Food quality was good but the service left a lot to be desired.  Could be due to shortage of staff during holiday period but no excuse. 

Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop
Shop 1080-82, Level One, Elements
1 Austin Road West
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: 2327 2628

Adventure #135: Tozanken (Hirafu)

Tozanken is a ramen restaurant.  We tried it once for lunch and took the girls back on our last evening in Niseko.

This is the Specially-made Ashahikawa Ramen.
Huge bowl of ramen in special soup base which takes 10 hours to make topped with slices of roasted pork.

Soup is delicious and the roasted pork was tender and moist.

Just look at the size of the bowl!

The second time we were there, G had the special ramen again while I opted for Hot Ramen (spicy). Although not as good as the special ramen, I preferred it as it was not as big and I just wanted to have some ramen (the special had too much meat for me)

The kids had fried chicken and fried dumplings with rice.  They liked the fried chicken but thought the dumplings were not as good as the ones we had in Kyoto.

 

A good place to stop over for lunch.  We waited almost an hour for dinner as someone reserved 2 tables (we didn't think you could make reservations at a ramen place) and the staff kept it for them for almost 45 mins.  I don't think they turned up at all.  We could have eaten and left in that time!

Tozanken
Hirafu-Zaka Street, Kutchan-cho
Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-00081
Japan

Tel: +81-136-23-4549

Adventure #134: Rin (Hirafu)

Rin is another Izakaya restaurant and it is a little further away from the main road but it was again recommended to us by a friend, so we bundled up and went in search of this little gem.

Japanese sweet peas -
G thought these were sweeter than the ones we have in HK

Grilled pork skewers - delicious

Scallops with butter - yummy

Grilled Camembert with Japanese soy sauce - very interesting. However, the wow factor not there as we had tried this before at a friend's who obviously had it here before!

Chicken meatballs with sour plum - an interesting combination, not sure I would have it again though

Crispy chicken with garlic sauce - well made

Grilled chicken skewers - this one is really for the little one

Grilled sardines - very nice

 

Rin is a very small family-run restaurant. Although like Abucha 2 i.e. an Izakaya restaurant, we feel the food quality here is much better.  Definitely worth a try.

Rin
163-88 Yamada, Kutchan-cho
Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-0081
Japan
Tel: +81-136-22-1444

Adventure #133: Ezo Seafood (Hirafu)

Updated on 27 January 2014 at Ezo Seafood (Take 2) 

We didn't pick this restaurant initially but the reviews were quite good and G was recommended this restaurant by one of the skiers in our ski class.  Lucky we did as the food quality here is excellent.  The restaurant is somewhat similar to the Malaysian style seafood joints where the fresh seafood is displayed, you pick the seafood you want and then decide how you want it cooked. 



The focal point of the restaurant was the chilled counter full of various seafood from fish to clams to crabs to.....etc

The proprietor is a fluent Jap speaking Aussie chap (and his Japanese wife)

Chilled Hokkaido snow crab legs

The crab legs were out of this world and priced as such.  We planned to savour it between G and I, with a share for the older one as she is normally reasonably adventurous with food.   Little did we realize that it was the little one who was munching down those legs.  Aiyo...even the little one knows a good thing when she taste one.  Poor parents...literally. 

Fish and chips

The fish and chips was ordered for the little one but she preferred the crab legs.  It was an interesting dish as the fish used was salmon.  Never had that one before.

Braised fish

The simple braised fish in soy sauce was excellent.  The kids loved it mixed with Japanese rice.  The little one even preferred this to the fish and chips.

Steamed clams in sake

Clam chowder...Japanese style

We certainly overdid it on the quantity but everything looked and sounded so delicous. We were not disappointed and thoroughly recommend anybody visiting Hirafu to try this place out.


Ezo Seafood
170-165 Yamada, Kutchan-cho
Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-0081
Japan

Tel: +81-136-22-3019+81-136-22-3019

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Adventure #132: Abucha 2 (Hirafu)

Back to Japanese cuisine today at Abucha 2 which serves Izakaya or Japanese tapas.  Basically, that means it serves all type of Japanese food from sushi to yakitori to ramen to shabu-shabu to......  I guess for this reason, it is one of the most popular restaurants in Hirafu village.  It seems like everyone who has been to Hirafu knows about this place and when we were there we overhead the waitress telling someone that they were fully booked out to January.

We ordered sukiyaki with Hokkaido beef.

Sukiyaki with udon and eggs added to it.  I quite liked the sweet sukiyaki soup base but this is not G's cup of tea..... 

Rice with minced meat topped with an egg.  This was quite tasty.

Fried chicken wing stuffed with "dumpling". I ordered this for the little one since she likes both fried chicken wing and fried dumpling but unfortunately she didn't quite like this variant.

The food quality is not excellent, just OK. Thus, this place is definitely overated.  However, if you have a large party with different preferences, this would be a good option.

Abucha 2
191-29 Yamada, Kutchan-cho
Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-0081
Japan

Tel: +81-136-22-5620



Adventure #131: The Niseko Supply Company (Hirafu)

Updated on 29 January 2014 on The Niseko Supply Company (Take 2)

The Niseko Supply Company ("TNSC") is a creperie/bakery attached to a store. Its very convenient location in the middle of Hirafu Village makes it an ideal location for lunch.  We popped by twice this week and tried 2 galettes and 2 crepes.

 

La Complete' - a galette with ham, egg and cheese. 
G is generally not a galette fan but he loved this one.

Crepe with banana, roasted almonds and topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. I prefer crepe to galette, so I think this is very delicious.

The latte was very good as well.  Must be the Aussie influence.

Spicy chicken with mushroom and cheese galette.

Supposedly the most popular dessert - crepe with poached apples topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.  I still prefer the banana one.

If you are ever in Hirafu in between skiing, we totally recommend this place for a simple but relaxing lunch or dessert if you have a sweet tooth.

TNSC

191-13 Yamada, Kutchan-cho

Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-0081

Japan

Tel: +81-136-55-8861+81-136-55-8861

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Adventure #130: Steak Rosso Rosso (Hirafu)

Today we tried steak at Steak Rosso Rosso.  They have in their menu, Australian beef, Japanese Wagyu beef, Hokkaido beef as well as Kobe beef. But since we were in Hokkaido, I think we should try the Hokkaido steak.

The restaurant is housed in a very interesting structure, very striking amidst the snow.

G and the older one tried the more reasonably priced Hokkaido steak.  It was good but both of them preferred our home cooked Australian ribeye steak.

I had the more interesting seared tuna with tomatoes, avocados, olives etc in balsamic vinegar dressing.

We order a side dish of fries to share - not half as good as those from Bang Bang yesterday!

The little one was very happy with her chicken nuggets and fries.

Not our favourite restaurant but serves as a nice break from Japanese cuisine.

Steak Rosso Rosso

167-61 Yamada, Kutchan-cho

Abuta-gun, Hokkaido 044-0081

Japan

Tel: +81-136-21-7100