Good ol' fashioned Lemonade

Again, we're at Graubunden for our sandwich fix, but today it's not the sandwich that's of mention.

We see on the menu 'Homemade Lemonade, with or without'. Sounds good! A tray is delivered and carefully unloaded. There's a glass full of ice, with ton's of freshly squeezed lemon juice and a big slice of fresh lemon. There's a bottle of Canada dry soda and we work out the with or without must mean the sugar? A little jug of sugar syrup is given on the side for you to add at your discretion.



We feel a bit mad scientist mixing it all together, checking the sweetness just so, and adjusting to taste.



It was delicious. Nice lemmony punch, full of bubbles with just a little sweetness. How lemonade should be!

Graubünden, Hirafu East Village

Living in a strange land is exciting and well, a bit strange sometimes. Sometimes you can end up longing for a little taste from your memories unable to find a cure. And so it is with Japan, within minutes you can always be snacking on delicious sushi, ramen, soba and the like, but, it can take quite a bit of effort to get a good sandwich (especially not one made of the ubiquitous should-be-a-dessert sweet bread). To our delight located within a brief five minute walk of our house, named after a region of Switzerland, it’s a cute little brick house all warm and cosy inside.



The menu is the famous sandwich (seriously, people drive two hours just to come for one) Once you finally make a filling choice you then have further agony deciding the type of bread; baguette, soft baguette, rye bread, or bagel all baked by the fantastic White Rock bakery in Kutchan so you know it’s going to be the real deal.

Today I go for the Graubünden original, omelette with bacon egg and cheese on rye.



Kat has the chicken, cream cheese and tomato also on rye.



In the brief wait we take the time to look around, there’s a showcase filled with fantastic cakes and a small shop selling herbal teas, cookies, candles and a good range of organic oats, maple syrup and other gourmet treats.



The sandos arrive and they are every bit as good as they sounded, the rye cut thick, the filling fresh and generous, mine full of just cooked omelette, grilled bacon and melty cheese is the perfect breakfast as far as I’m concerned and Kat’s piled high with chicken and slathered with cream cheese is a classic classic, on the side of each cute as a button cherry tomatoes a few sticks of cucumber a little carrot salad and a good blob of mayo with a potato salad, whipped to make it creamy.



They do some great home-made soda's.



And stock a full range of Dr. Stuarts teas, also available to take home.



Seeing we’ve being making eyes at the cakes a massive slice of banoffee pie is soon organised, and again it’s as delicious as it looks and prompts yet another fork duel (chivalry smivalry).



How does that song go? The one about the weather outside being frightful but inside delightful? That’s how I feel sitting here in Graubunden, content and relaxed and toasty, I don’t want to leave…..I think we have time and room for a maple hot milk.

Let it snow let it snow let it snow....

Graubünden
Hirafu East Village
Tel: 0136 233371
Open 11am - 7pm
http://www.graubunden.jp/

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