We arrived in Otaru around lunchtime, which meant that most spots were busy and fully occupied. Since we did not know what time we would be arriving and checking into our ryokan, Kourakuen, we didn’t make a reservation for a spot for lunch. Instead, we hoped to get lucky with a spot after the crazy lunch hour rush. To tide us over, we stopped at a cute stall named Kari Kari, which is just a few blocks from the iconic Otaru canal. It had just started to snow, so the beau and I wanted something warm to heat us up. We ordered their famous cheese sticks – one with 3 different kinds of cheeses inside and topped with salt, and one with cheese and Hokkaido potato inside topped with salt. Both were DIVINE. The dough was delicious, crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. The potato had a generous hint of butter, and the cheese stretched far when the cheese stick pulled apart. The beau favored the potato one and I favored the cheese one, but we’d both order both sticks again if we are ever in Otaru. The sticks average around 800 Japanese yen, which is about $5 USD or 40 HKD.

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Behold the best ramen I’ve had in Japan so far! I don’t enjoy eating pork (I understand most Japanese ramen broth is made from pork bone though), so I was looking for a spot that offered something other than pork inside their ramen. A small number of spots in Otaru popped up, but one that seemed highly recommended was this tiny ramen spot located across from the canal called Menya Unga. It’s hidden away in a corner, so you need to wander down some small alleyways to find it. But once you do, you’ll find a statue of a smoking ramen bowl and then you’ll know you’ve come to the right place. We initially arrived at 1 pm, the heart of lunch hour, and we were turned away. We decided to grab a quick snack to tide us over before returning again around 1:45 pm. This time they had seats for us. Inside we understood why we were turned away – there’s only about 10-12 seats total. The kitchen takes up the majority of the space, but there’s no wall so your seat gives you a front row view of all the action. You use a machine to select your ramen (use the Google Translate camera on your phone as all options are in Japanese only), and it prints out a ticket in Japanese that is then handed to the single chef. We were then seated in the corner and got to watch the chef make our ramen from start to finish. We selected their most expensive ramen – wagyu beef ramen – because we are in Japan and were eager to have some wagyu beef. The wagyu beef ramen featured the use of a blow torch to cook the beef on top of the ramen, which then gave the rest of the bowl a delicious smokey flavor. We were in love from the first sip of the broth. The beau has been to Japan many, many times because of his job, so he has tasted all kinds of ramen throughout the country. He agreed that this was one of the best he had ever had. It was also perfect for the cold, winter day outside. The wagyu beef ramen cost 3000 Japanese yen, which is around $19 USD or 150 HKD, but the rest cost around 1000 Japanese yen ($6.50 USD or 50 HKD).

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Looking for sushi? Look no further than this Otaru hotspot. One of the most sought after reservations is at Otaru Masazushi, and we were lucky enough to snatch up two counter seats for lunch on our second day in Otaru. I booked our reservation about 2 weeks ahead of our visit, but when I was looking for a reservation for our initial travel dates in early February there was no availability. So just try to book ahead of time if you can!

The beau and I dined on their chef’s omakase course while sipping crisp, dry sake. If omakase makes you nervous (there’s no menu… everything is up to the chef’s discretion), try not to let it stop you from trying something new. Masazushi is extremely selective about their fish, meaning everything is carefully selected and usually locally caught earlier in the day, so you’re getting the freshest options for your multi-course sushi lunch (or dinner). They took my allergies very seriously as well, adjusting some things from their omakase course to accommodate my restrictions (sadly no world famous Hokkaido scallops for me as they are a level 1 allergy of mine). The beau had their original omakase course, and instead of scallops and octopus, which I do not eat, those items were substituted with o-toro (fatty tuna).

I’m pretty sure we rolled out of Masazushi. We ate so much sushi and we were more than satisfied. Not only was the sushi divine, but getting to watch the chefs master the art of preparing and serving sushi and sashimi made our counter seats even more worth it. This meal was our priciest during our Otaru visit, with it costing around 36,000 yen for 2 (about $230 USD or 1800 HKD). Reservations are not required but highly, highly recommended to guarantee a spot. Reserve the counter if available, it’s the best.

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Down the alleyway from Menya Unga is a cute little stall making fresh churros, conveniently called Otaru Churros. Despite feeling like we could not fit anything more into our stomachs after devouring our ramen, we still decided to try some churros because several of the flavors were some you could only find yourself grabbing in Japan, such as Uji-Matcha and Purple Potatoes. I decided to grab a chocolate sugar churro (I wish I was more adventurous but I was craving chocolate!) just as it began to snow again, and so the warmth of the churro felt comforting as the flurries danced around us. I had never had a chocolate churro before, only cinnamon, and I really liked it with the chocolate! Or maybe I really liked it because it was my birthday that day, and so it felt like the perfect birthday treat. Either way, it was a great way to conclude the afternoon. Our churros cost 500 Japanese yen, which is about $3 USD or 25 HKD.

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Last but not least, you can’t come to Hokkaido and not try Hokkaido milk ice cream. Yes, even in winter when it is snowing. It’s that good. Hokkaido milk is so revered, even here in Hong Kong. It’s rich, and the flavor is so delicious by itself that there is no need to flavor it. When you order Hokkaido milk ice cream, that is the flavor. It’s a wonderful, hearty milk flavor that needs nothing else, except maybe a yummy waffle cone. Yamanaka Dairy Farm was the first place I ever tried Hokkaido milk ice cream the last time I visited Otaru in 2019, so we decided to come back again on this trip. It was just as heavenly as I remembered it. Deliciously milky and creamy, I ate mine pretty quickly despite still feeling a bit full on sushi. Somehow, your stomach just seems to make room. It was the best way to conclude our little 2-day food tour of Otaru. Our ice cream in a cone cost 350 Japanese yen, which is about $2.25 USD or 18 HKD.

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