We’d spent the day wandering around Odori Park for the Yuki Matsuri (Snow festival) in Sapporo, and golly me it was cold.
After a shower and a freshen up it’s over to the Suskino end of town where we’re told the Ice Festival takes place. And indeed it does. Upon reaching the Route 36 / Suskino intersection as far as we can see it lit up with lights and there are some amazing ice carvings. We have a little wander around, we’re trying to find Blanc, which is a little wine bar over this side of town. We wander around for a while and don’t manage to find it (we later find out its upstairs in one of those vertical buildings housing a whole range of things, duh). It starts snowing quite heavily, which is very picturesque, but we’re now in desperate need of 3 things; shelter, drink and food.
Right on Suskino we see a very welcoming sign “Bar Espana”. And as we look in its bustling with Japanese couples and groups sitting and drinking but there’s a little spot at the bar for the 2 of us, perfect.
That’s the first thing sorted, now we both need that drink. There’s a fair sized wine list with about 12 by the glass. Kim starts with a glass of ’05 Motersierra Rosato. I decide on a fresh fruits sangria. (yes I know I said fruits, but it on the menu like that, and it’s cute.) A single ice cube is placed in the glass then topped with the red wine sangria mix. A generous spoonful of macerated berries is then added, which are sitting in a nice rich syrup. A splash of soda is added and then it’s checked for seasoning. All good! Then a little tray of fruit emerges from the fridge and artfully crafted and displayed on the top of the drink. A single orange segment, 3 perfect slices of apple and slice of kiwi fruit, a plump strawberry and 2 blueberries are threaded onto a tiny toothpick. As I pick up the glass I’m already impressed, its paper thin Japanese glassware and a fair size. I take the tip of the little toothpick and stir through the fruit then take a sip. It’s sweet, a little tart but still a nice robust wine flavour and is oh so soothing with the snow falling just beyond the door.
And lastly, food. We love these sorts of places, we just order a few things with no idea about where the night is heading. First up, we can’t resist the Spanish Anchovies with Bucket. We were both curious about this one …. A plate arrives with 8 plump little fillets that are doused in olive oil with a little chopped herbs and cracked pepper. Then there’s a little basket with 2 thick slices of crusty baguette, ahhh, bucket. It’s a case of JapEnglish translation and not some bucket filled with something exciting.
Mmm, pig. We’re already drooling over the leg of Jamon, sitting on the bar top that waiters are just slicing chunks from, filling little plates and delivering them all over the little tiny room.
But firstly, fried pig’s ears with garlic. They are deliciously chewy on the inside but a crisp crackly outside is coated in fried garlic. Mmm.
While we’re savouring each moment the delicious pigs ears are in our mouth, a plate of Iberico chorizo arrives. 12 paper thin slices are laid out on a little wooden tray. There’s a few caperberries, cornichons, parsley, dill and chervil to one corner and it’s spiked with a few toothpicks for easy eating.
Ah, rather than ordering a plate of sliced Jamon there was something else that caught our stomach. Jamon sandwich. We had seen this little beauty crafted in front of our eyes, the anticipation almost becoming too much ….. As one waiter is slicing chunks of Jamon from the bone someone else is grilling a nice chunk of baguette. The baguette is then rubbed with a garlic clove and a sliced tomato. The smell on the hot bread is amazing. It’s then drizzled with virgin olive oil and the sliced Jamon piled between the 2 slices. Wow! The hot, crusty, garlicy tomato baguette is such a nice contrast with the room temperature, chewy and smooth Jamon. Amazing.
We order some more drinks and some olives. There’s a jar of them sitting on the counter, a scoop of olives is placed in a boat and topped with some fried shallots. There were 3 different Spanish olives all marinated in a strong garlic oil and they were all delicious.
We see a paella being served behind us. They have about 5 different ones on the menu. It looks and smells incredible. We will be back some other time just for this ….
But for now, back to the drinking and tapa’s. Slices of barely cooked octopus are sprinkled with good Spanish paprika. They are resting a cute little terracotta pot. The octopus is so fresh and tender! And underneath we discover some boiled potatoes and garlic dressing.
We get talking to the bartender, who’s really nice and asking all about what we do / where we’re from. We then get to asking him about all the stuff that written around the walls in Japanese. Ah, of course, today’s specials. We manage to get a fair idea of what’s on offer with our little Japanese and his little English. Wagyu carpaccio. Eh? We need one of those now! The meat is so tender, I just love the way with each chew a good wagyu gives you the flavour from the fat, the texture from the meat and an all over body excitement … There’s a little squeeze of lemon, salt flakes, cracked pepper, a few mini tomatoes and more garlic oil (we won’t have to worry about vampires tonight!).
Well, we sure are glad we asked about the specials. The next up, some local Hokkaido deer that is seared to a golden crisp with a deep red gamey flesh. There’s a nice pink peppercorn sauce, roast garlic and purple potato.
While we’re sitting there enjoying our last drink, we ran into some customers I had served at Sekka. It was so funny as I was telling them they had to go to the Suskino end of town to see the ice carvings…. And there they were! They snapped a nice happy pic of us, we shared some stories over our extremely cold adventurous day we’d both had and then we confirmed directions to Blanc from our bar tender.
We did make it to Blanc and wished to continue the night with drinking and eating. The menu was all in Japanese and we tried to get some help. They blantantly said, No help, Omakase. We reluctantly agreed. Then we tried to order a bottle of wine. The first one, no stock. Second one, no stock. Third one, no stock. Finally we’re in luck, the ’96 Vin D’Alsace Pinot Blanc was in stock. But then the waiter tried to tell us we not like this wine, very very sweet. What the?? And the food was about the same…
After a shower and a freshen up it’s over to the Suskino end of town where we’re told the Ice Festival takes place. And indeed it does. Upon reaching the Route 36 / Suskino intersection as far as we can see it lit up with lights and there are some amazing ice carvings. We have a little wander around, we’re trying to find Blanc, which is a little wine bar over this side of town. We wander around for a while and don’t manage to find it (we later find out its upstairs in one of those vertical buildings housing a whole range of things, duh). It starts snowing quite heavily, which is very picturesque, but we’re now in desperate need of 3 things; shelter, drink and food.
Right on Suskino we see a very welcoming sign “Bar Espana”. And as we look in its bustling with Japanese couples and groups sitting and drinking but there’s a little spot at the bar for the 2 of us, perfect.
That’s the first thing sorted, now we both need that drink. There’s a fair sized wine list with about 12 by the glass. Kim starts with a glass of ’05 Motersierra Rosato. I decide on a fresh fruits sangria. (yes I know I said fruits, but it on the menu like that, and it’s cute.) A single ice cube is placed in the glass then topped with the red wine sangria mix. A generous spoonful of macerated berries is then added, which are sitting in a nice rich syrup. A splash of soda is added and then it’s checked for seasoning. All good! Then a little tray of fruit emerges from the fridge and artfully crafted and displayed on the top of the drink. A single orange segment, 3 perfect slices of apple and slice of kiwi fruit, a plump strawberry and 2 blueberries are threaded onto a tiny toothpick. As I pick up the glass I’m already impressed, its paper thin Japanese glassware and a fair size. I take the tip of the little toothpick and stir through the fruit then take a sip. It’s sweet, a little tart but still a nice robust wine flavour and is oh so soothing with the snow falling just beyond the door.
And lastly, food. We love these sorts of places, we just order a few things with no idea about where the night is heading. First up, we can’t resist the Spanish Anchovies with Bucket. We were both curious about this one …. A plate arrives with 8 plump little fillets that are doused in olive oil with a little chopped herbs and cracked pepper. Then there’s a little basket with 2 thick slices of crusty baguette, ahhh, bucket. It’s a case of JapEnglish translation and not some bucket filled with something exciting.
Mmm, pig. We’re already drooling over the leg of Jamon, sitting on the bar top that waiters are just slicing chunks from, filling little plates and delivering them all over the little tiny room.
But firstly, fried pig’s ears with garlic. They are deliciously chewy on the inside but a crisp crackly outside is coated in fried garlic. Mmm.
While we’re savouring each moment the delicious pigs ears are in our mouth, a plate of Iberico chorizo arrives. 12 paper thin slices are laid out on a little wooden tray. There’s a few caperberries, cornichons, parsley, dill and chervil to one corner and it’s spiked with a few toothpicks for easy eating.
Ah, rather than ordering a plate of sliced Jamon there was something else that caught our stomach. Jamon sandwich. We had seen this little beauty crafted in front of our eyes, the anticipation almost becoming too much ….. As one waiter is slicing chunks of Jamon from the bone someone else is grilling a nice chunk of baguette. The baguette is then rubbed with a garlic clove and a sliced tomato. The smell on the hot bread is amazing. It’s then drizzled with virgin olive oil and the sliced Jamon piled between the 2 slices. Wow! The hot, crusty, garlicy tomato baguette is such a nice contrast with the room temperature, chewy and smooth Jamon. Amazing.
We order some more drinks and some olives. There’s a jar of them sitting on the counter, a scoop of olives is placed in a boat and topped with some fried shallots. There were 3 different Spanish olives all marinated in a strong garlic oil and they were all delicious.
We see a paella being served behind us. They have about 5 different ones on the menu. It looks and smells incredible. We will be back some other time just for this ….
But for now, back to the drinking and tapa’s. Slices of barely cooked octopus are sprinkled with good Spanish paprika. They are resting a cute little terracotta pot. The octopus is so fresh and tender! And underneath we discover some boiled potatoes and garlic dressing.
We get talking to the bartender, who’s really nice and asking all about what we do / where we’re from. We then get to asking him about all the stuff that written around the walls in Japanese. Ah, of course, today’s specials. We manage to get a fair idea of what’s on offer with our little Japanese and his little English. Wagyu carpaccio. Eh? We need one of those now! The meat is so tender, I just love the way with each chew a good wagyu gives you the flavour from the fat, the texture from the meat and an all over body excitement … There’s a little squeeze of lemon, salt flakes, cracked pepper, a few mini tomatoes and more garlic oil (we won’t have to worry about vampires tonight!).
Well, we sure are glad we asked about the specials. The next up, some local Hokkaido deer that is seared to a golden crisp with a deep red gamey flesh. There’s a nice pink peppercorn sauce, roast garlic and purple potato.
While we’re sitting there enjoying our last drink, we ran into some customers I had served at Sekka. It was so funny as I was telling them they had to go to the Suskino end of town to see the ice carvings…. And there they were! They snapped a nice happy pic of us, we shared some stories over our extremely cold adventurous day we’d both had and then we confirmed directions to Blanc from our bar tender.
We did make it to Blanc and wished to continue the night with drinking and eating. The menu was all in Japanese and we tried to get some help. They blantantly said, No help, Omakase. We reluctantly agreed. Then we tried to order a bottle of wine. The first one, no stock. Second one, no stock. Third one, no stock. Finally we’re in luck, the ’96 Vin D’Alsace Pinot Blanc was in stock. But then the waiter tried to tell us we not like this wine, very very sweet. What the?? And the food was about the same…
