Otaru was our second stop in Hokkaido. It is a small city located northwest from Sapporo. It was about 2.5 hours of drive from Asahikawa.
Our first stop in Otaru was Yabuhan (籔半) for lunch. It is one of the best places for soba in Otaru. It was easy to find the place using Google Map. There is a parking place just opposite the store. We did not see it so, we parked at Times which is really close to the store as well. One of the tips I found online was it says that the queue can be quite long. Fortunately, we did not have to queue when we arrived. The waitress that served us asked us if we wanted to dine at the Western or Japanese style dining table. We went for the latter option. However, I would suggest you to just go for the former option. More comfortable and easy to dine. It was hard for the husband since he has long legs.
Yabuhan provides English menus. Each menu comes with the history of how their soba came about as well as how to enjoy soba. Each item on the menu comes with 2 options, the “Jimonoko” type, a Hokkaido specialty and the “Namiko” which is mixed with imported buckwheat flour. Another tip found online was Jimonoko noodles are more chewy whereas Namiko noodles are softer. Hence, it really depends on what you are into. As my brother is not a fan of soba and my mother loves to eat rice, they both ordered donburi. My sister in law is a big soba fan so, she ordered their cold soba whereas the husband went for hot soba – Jimonoko Atsu Nameko Soba. Me? I ordered a soba that came with 3 side dishes – wariko soba. However, it turned out different than what I had imagined. I would advise you to share this with another person should you want to try it out. Our lunch cost us ¥5,115.
We went to Tanaka Sake Brewery Kikkogura (田中酒造亀甲蔵). We went to the wrong place initially. The place we got it wrong is located at Ironai Road. It is just a normal shop that sells sake. The one that you should go to is the one in Nobukacho Road. The short tour is free. What else is free? Sake tasting! Since sake is famous in Otaru, do make a stop here.
What else is famous in Otaru? Music box! We went to Otaru Orgel Museum (小樽オルゴール堂). It is the city’s cultural heritage, a music box museum and shop. Feast both your eyes and ears with the beautiful lighted room, filled with pleasant music. As it was only the second day in Hokkaido, I managed to control myself not to burn a big hole in my pocket. If you wished to get a beautiful gift for someone, this is the place.
We went to check-in our hotel at Hotel Nord before we continued our journey by heading up to Mount Tengu (天狗山). We took the ropeway to reach the peak of the mountain which only takes 5 minutes. You can enjoy the spectacular night view of Otaru. You can obtain a map at the ropeway station so you could explore Mount Tengu. We did not though as it was freezing, thanks to the strong winds. We took some photography, while enduring the coldness before we quickly went back into the observatory hall. There is a cafe for you to dine while enjoying the view. We ordered a few dishes which cost us ¥3,300.
As it was still early, we decided to walk around Otaru Canal. The city was really dead. A lot of shops were already closed and it was not even 9pm. Mostly bars were still open. We randomly entered a sushi restaurant, Kantaro Sushi (函太郎), and apparently, it is the best place to have sushi in Otaru. We ordered 6 sushis and cost us ¥1,562. We also came across Otaru Denuki Koji (小樽出抜小路) where there are a lot of small shops with narrow pathway. We did not get to check out the shops as they were mostly closed at 8pm. Hence, since most of the shops were already closed, we decided to return to the hotel to call it a day.
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