Fei, Sapporo

Sometimes, when you've done enough good deeds and your karma meter is sitting on full, life pays you back with an introduction to a place such as Fei. It's the sort of place you could walk past everyday for a year and still not know it's there, un-signposted and down a back ally off a back street, it even took M1 two times to find it and he's been there before.......several times.



The interior is a blend of of New York speakeasy, rustic country house and art space, with exposed beams, chandeliers made from full campari soda bottles and walls fixed with egg trays full of half egg shells and dandelion flowers, all bits of a little weird mixing to make just right.



Quickly sat (bookings essential) we give the menu the once over, broken down Italian style into cold antipasti, warm antipasti, first plates (pasta) and second plates (meat). There's such a great selection that we decide to go plate by plate with a few from each section.

The first plate to set the tone for the evening was the Hokkaido venison prosciutto, slices of soft venison slightly cured and just melt in the mouth, with baby dressed greens to cut it which disappeared in a flash.



The next dish lasted only slightly longer but this was probably only because as it was placed on the table we were transfixed with it's beauty, I mean really this artists palette of tiny baby vegetables surrounding a small bowl of bagna cauda, no one wanted to break the spell, but as soon as it snapped we were all in. The bagna cauda was fantastic! A rich heady blend of garlic and anchovy and the mix of perfectly blanched veg was crazy, baby beans, yellow and purple carrot, baby horseradish, snap peas, tiny Roma tomato's and what looked like a small cape gooseberry. For me this was the dish of the night. Absolutely outstanding!



Next came out our warm antipasto a fritto misto of little fish and maitake mushroom, covered with a quick squeeze of lemon they were snapped up.



Then shaako which we ordered without any one being able to explain what they were, "ahhhhh mantis shrimp, oishii", we'd tried these bad boys before in Thailand. Teamed up with a roast tomato sauce and a smoky eggplant halves, these tasty morsels immediately jumped into second place for the evening.



We then flicked onto a rabbit terrine, we had to have a go as rabbit is a bit of an oddity here in japan, well on menus anyway (we saw a girl walking her rabbit on a lead the other day).

The terrine in a nice fat slab wrapped in bacon it's well seasoned and a great match to the wedge of fruit bread we have with it.



Getting into our rhythm now with make short work of a perfectly cooked marron (chestnut) risotto.



We then move on to roasted Hokkaido venison with caramelised pears and a wild mountain grape sauce. Mountain grapes are tiny and it would have taken not a small amount to even make the sauce on our plate, it is an excellent match for the venison with is cooked just medium rare and again just melt in the mouth.



For dessert we each decide to go our own way and maybe share a bite......maybe. Kat has the creme caramel, delectable is the word used and it's a tough job to get past her spoon defence to confirm, but it is just that.



M1 has a pistachio gelato. Bright pistachio green in colour the flavor is intense and rich, you really couldn't eat more than the scoop given.



I go for a martini glass of truffles, five (well three by the time I'm forced to share), covered in bitter cocoa and definitely moreish.



With great food like this and warm friendly staff it's no wonder bookings are recommended.



As we leave I'm trying so hard not to fall in to contented relaxation and remember a few landmarks, it doesn't happen. They'll just have to excuse us if we're a few hours late next time.

Fei
Tel: 011 219 8244
Again, no chance of an address or even directions ... Sorry!
Open 17:00 Close 26:00 (That's what it say's on the card)

Hofe, Sapporo

We're in Sapporo on a mission to find some kitchen supplies and scope out some of the local Hokkaido produce on offer. It's an 8am departure from Hirafu and we're only on the road for about 20 minutes before we start passing these amazing little street-side fruit and vegetable vendors. We stop and browse their goods, with everything from Japanese mushrooms to wild Hokkaido walnuts. We get maybe half way there when we stop at a little roadside (it's actually on both sides of the road) fried potato place. The car park is packed with buses and weekend drivers, all stopping in for a hit of fried potato early on a Saturday morning .....



This carries us through the morning and we manage to look at a few places after arriving in Sapporo. But then, it's lunch time! We are with M1 & M2 today who are doing the deed of showing us around a bit... We pull up somewhere on the outskirts of the city and park the car. There's not too much around, I'm almost wondering what's planned. But then we arrive at a little shop front, writing on the windows with the recognizable words "Lunch" and "Drink" on the door, and what appears to be a list of wines on the window. Nice!



We walk in, there's a table of four downstairs and a minuscule open kitchen. We're lead up a small flight of stairs to a cosy little room with another 14 seats.



The table is set with a lunch set menu and the knife and fork resting on a very cool little 'hashi' rest.



We get some much needed help from M1 & M2 deciphering the Japanese menu as there's not a word of English. There is the option of 2 starters, pate or marinated saba (a Japanese mackerel). Kim, myself and M1 choose the pate. It arrives a very generous slice, wrapped in thin bacon with chunks meat, liver and nuts. We are all intrigued by the accompanying puree, it's a rich, intense but slightly sweet banana puree. I really like it! It has such an concentrated banana flavour, and seems to cut through the richness of the pork quite well. There's a couple of little cornichons, as well. Yum!



The M2 goes for the saba. It's so beautiful, 3 slices of the marinated saba nestled between pieces of roasted apple and a blush pink apple puree. We all manage a tiny taste, and it is just divine!



Then arrives the soup course. Hokkaido bean soup with chorizo. The soup is rich and nutty, with a touch of creaminess. There are a few pieces of sauteed chorizo floating in the bowl, a little virgin olive oil and some toasted cumin on top. A tremendous soup and a perfect size portion.



We're chatting away, sipping away at our glasses of wine for only a few moments when our cutlery is reset, with some very cool Laguiole cutlery, and our main courses arrive.



There were four options, so we chose one of each, with the idea of sharing and sampling each one. They are all so good, that whatever we ended up with in-front of us, aside from allowing the others a little taste, was polished up in no time. Kim had the Mulloway, arriving with crispy scored skin on a little bed of cabbage, what we think was salsify and a few mussels.



M2 has the chicken hot-pot, arriving in a pretty little Staub La cocotte. It is filled with bits of roast chicken, Hokkaido potatoes, cabbage and some clams. It smells divine! and taste fantastic! The juices in the bottom require some more bread, as four hands devour the lot...



M1 has the roast lamb rump. It's roasted MR with a very pink centre, served with a few mild but floral roasted green chilli's and a chunk of caramelised pear.



I definitely end up with the pick of the bunch. Roasted pork (Wow, have I mentioned how amazing the flavour of Hokkaido pork is?) that has a nice layer of crispy fat and a deliciously moist rosy flesh. There's a few pieces of roasted Hokkaido sweet potato, deep purple skin with a velvet yellow interior. Then there's a roasted pumpkin puree, with a nice little hint of sweetness and a piece of caramelised fruit, maybe apple? maybe pear? maybe apricot? A winning combination none-the-less, with Autumn written all over it.



This amazing ¥2200 lunch set, which also includes a glass of wine and coffee or tea, also includes dessert. It's another hard choice to make ... There are 6 options! Kim takes the salted hazelnut semi-freddo. Two little squares come piled high with a splash of Frangelico sauce underneath.



I go for pure simplicity, poached rhubarb with fromage frais. Delightful!



M has the chocolate. It's just that, a slice of a rich set chocolate, with a hint of chilli and a star anise ice-cream to accompany....



Then there's the tea brulee. It's a roasted green tea, so the brulee is a nice caramel colour. It's in a beautiful wide dish, so the crisp sugar topping is there for each mouthful. There's a scoop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting on the hot sugar....



As we're leaving, and offering our best thanks in Japanese, we get a chance to survey the tiny little kitchen from which this is all produced. There is 1 chef, a 4 burner and barley enough room to swing a tea-towel. And all of this spectacular food is being produced by this guy in this tiny little space, and he's cooking main courses as he sends desserts and plates pate's. Very impressive! Very delicious! Very much looking forward to visiting here again soon ......



Hofe
Tel: 011 272 1118
Lunch 11am - 3pm, last order 2pm
Dinner 6pm - 11pm, last order 10pm
(Sorry no address, it's written on the back of the card in Kanji :))

Iwanai, Hokkaido

Went for a bit of a tiki tour today in search of Hokkiado cheese. We found our selves on the western coast of the island in a fishing town called Iwanai. As usual we had no idea about anything so were more than happy to be shown this small eatery. Tacked onto the side of a seafood market the kitchen is no more than a grill a rice cooker and a single burner for a soup pot.



We ordered three of the fishes available to day on a hand written menu on the wall.



All the sets came with the same accompaniments, a bowl of miso, some bright yellow pickled diakon, a bowl of blanched bean sprouts which were then tossed with sesame oil and topped with aonori, a small plate of braised octopus, rice and on each of the fish plates was a seaweed relish and grated diakon.

Salmon belly; lightly glazed and grilled to perfection



Saba; a japanese mackerel, needed a little soy to bring out the flavor



Hoke; firm white fleshed fish lightly glazed



Through to the market



I liked that as the fish was used the woman working just walked through to the market and picked up a couple more pieces. Not much fresher than that.

On the way home we came across this spring near the Konbu spa. The local council has put some plumbing into the ground so people can take advantage of the constant running water.



Filling up our soft drink bottles I could understand why there were people there with dozens of large water vessels filling up, it is delicious, clean and crisp possibly the best water I have ever tried, and the bonus is it's free. How cool is that??

Sen chou pt. II, Niseko Hirafu

Though we have been trying to try as many new places as possible without giving in to the temptation of just returning over and over to the same ones, Senchou was always just sitting at the back of our minds. Just to good to resist we headed back, but with the resolve that if we did we would have to try something new. Once again greeted and seated in a flash it was straight into the draft beef with this time the little side snack was jellied pork rib. Oishii!



Our resolve as it turned out was not that strong as we couldn't make it past two of the favourites from the previous visit, so the chicken and pork yakitori were once again the first dishes on the table, with our longing somewhat sated we able to the look at the menu a little more broadly, and so glad we were.

There are two types of salmon sashimi available regular and delicious, well I don't know about you but delicious always sounds like a good path to follow. Coming from the fatty belly of the salmon it certainly lived up to its name, the flavor delicate and the flesh melting in our mouths.



The fried octopus was several pieces from the leg of a lager animal, but there was not the slightest hint of toughness, the crust golden and seasoned with a hint of curry powder, topped with a squeeze of lemon it vanished fast.



Next came the show stopper of the night, scallop butter. This amazing dish consisted of a live scallop being fished out of a tank, then quick as a flash opened, sliced and whipped back into the shell with a touch of soy broth and a square of butter. The shell is then placed onto a small candle burner and brought to the table where it slowly heats and cooks to your liking.



As it was placed down the chef pointed out all the pieces, heart, flesh, coral as well as the skirt, in fact there was not a lot missing. As soon as it looked good to go we started first was the heart, firm and tasty!



Then the flesh and all the bits fell prey, quickly being scooped up.



As the scallop disappeared the reason for the little spoon served with the dish became apparent. What was left in the shell was an unbelievably tasty broth made up of the simmered scallop juices and the butter, too good to waste this was also quickly slurped down. (lucky slurping is a compliment here)



Then a moment of serendipity occurred, maybe through miscommunication or misunderstanding (don't know don't care) the next dish to arrive was potato gratin, we definitely hadn't ordered it but after a cautious taste we weren't going to give it up. The dish was like a Russian doll revealing little surprises layer after layer. On the outer roasted Hokkaido potatoes and asparagus gratinated and topped with a little sour cream.



Under that a layer of crispy grilled bacon and under that grilled scallops and baby squid. We were soon tapping the bottom of the plate to make sure there was nothing else there.



Finally to the table came a spin on chicken karage, rather than a few small pieces it was one thigh crumbed and fried whole, sliced then topped with a spring onion sauce, crispy, and cut with the slight sweetness from the sauce it was a fine finish to another great meal.



As we stepped out into the night I knew it won't be to long before we'll be experiencing Sen chou Pt. III....