Jo Jo's, NAC, Hirafu

Jo Jo's is located within the Niseko Adventure Centre. You walk up a spiralling staircase into the big open room. There's a reasonable sized climbing wall occupying the back half of the room which works it way up from the lower floor .....



We sit down and order drinks. I go for the melon soda. My first impression is "Yike's, it's really green!" but it doesn't have that sickly syrup sweet that I though it would judging by the colour. It's actually a really mellow melon flavour, mixed with soda. mmm



Kim try's the Heartland Beer. This is made by Kirin. It's a well-rounded larger and very easy drinking beer.



On this occasion that we're here, it's rather quiet. This makes the very large open room almost a little lonely .....



But we place our order and within moments we here rustling, but it's not coming from the kitchen! Someone is getting kitted up downstairs to start climbing. Cool! So we just sit back and watch them, which is a rather unusual, all be it rather cool, way to pass the time while waiting for dinner.

Then the food arrives. Kim's gone for the cheeseburger. It's nice and generous, a plump meat patty topped with melting cheese, a bit of lettuce and the additon of a fried egg. There's a few hand cut fries on the side.



I get the BBQ chicken wrap. There are tender pieces of marinated grilled chicken, with loads of lettuce and tomato. But the real surprise was the delicious wholemeal flatbread in which it was wrapped ... this is made on site, and it was really really good! It had great flavour, and a wonderful texture. It was thick enough, but still thin enough to encase the chicken just nicely.



All this was enjoyed with another side order of hand cut Hokkaido potato wedges.



Have I said the potatoes are good here in Hokkaido?

Jo Jo's
NAC - Niseko Adventure Centre
179-53 Yamada, Kutchan
Abuta Gun
Hokkaido, Japan
T: 0136 232 093



Opening Times
April - October 9am - 9pm
November - Mid December 11am - 9pm
Mid December - March 11am - 11pm

In Love, Hanoi

Have we told you we love Vietnam yet? It's incredible the hustle, the bustle, the way food is not just a fuel but a way of life. You can't go five meters without seeing some sort of eatery even if it's just a few charcoal pots and a piece of sheet metal set on some tiny plastic chairs, which is where we found our selves today.

Just behind the puppet theatre (which is very cool, people) the empty sidewalks suddenly fill as if by some magic signal around 4pm grills and woks are dragged out, produce produced, seats thrown down and whammo your standing in the midst of a street long food court.

Of course we can fit a wee snack, it would be rude not to. So we go for some saigon rolls .. a spring roll filled with mushroom, vermicili, pork mince wrapped in a fresh rice paper wrapper and deep fried. Yummy!

This little place is the does a sideline in fresh pork, just sitting out next to the rolls, but you know it wil all be gone in a few hours with a fresh batch sitting there tomorrow and still healthy and kicking repeat customers coming back for more.

Often makes me wonder about the highly sanitised place 1st world law makers want us to live in.

Snack in hand we grabed a seat at a beer hoi stall on the corner and watched the locals enjoying their favorite past time.

So in love ....