Hofe, Sapporo

Back in Sapporo and trying to find our way by ourselves back to Hofe ... it's not as easy as one might think. The Japanese, like America, have a block number system for their streets although here the whole block has the same number so there are four corners that could hold the destination you are looking for. In our case it was the forth corner we tried that gave us the reward of seeing the small unobtrusive window frontage we were seeking. Popped our heads in but were told "sorry, full." Mangled some perfectly fine Japanese language and were told we could come back in twenty minutes. Cool, actually freezing is the more correct term, it was still snowing so twenty minutes was spent browsing the candle shop next door; maybe we should have brought something to say thanks for the shelter.

The deal with Hofe for lunch is a set menu but with several choices for the appetizer and main courses. Always wanting to try as much as possible we order different things and do a bit of a plate swap midway, much to the bemusement of the wait staff.

Appetizers away and it was lightly battered fresh water eel with jamon for me and smoked duck with glazed marron for Kat. Both were nice but not memorable enough to be able to tell you anymore.





We then moved on to a local potato soup, perfect for this weather, so warm and comforting.



The mains a roast pork and persimmon for myself, the pork nice and juicy and tasting like only Japanese pork can. The persimmon adding depth, and a bit sweetness.



Kats choice of lamb tagine was rewarded with a decent chunk of lamb infused with spice and falling apart, along with the lamb, root vegetables and preserved lemon that had all added to the flavour.



In its desserts Hofe really comes into its own always providing great flavour combinations. Kats spiced chocolate proved no exception, a fat slice of delicately spiced chocolate terrine with a perfect quenelle of vanilla ice cream along side.



My own a warm baked pudding with a Okinawa brown sugar ice cream (in another perfect quenelle) was deliciously perfect winter food.



Finishing off with a couple of coffees we were fortified and ready to face the bite of Siberia once more. I tell ya we suffer for this blog sometimes.