Hokkaido

Rating: OK
Meal: Dinner
Price: 1840 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Pork rice bowl, sake
English Menu: Yes (electronic)
Smoking:  Smoking section available

Hokkaido is another izakaya in town that has a very "chain" feel to it.  It's located at the top of the building across from Chuo station, next to another similar restaurant and our favorite cheap karaoke spot.  I love Hokkaido (the island) and have had really good food there, so I was interested to see how this restaurant stacked up.

Not being very hungry I opted for a "butadon" (pork rice bowl), a specialty of the area around Obihiro where we once stayed for a week at a restaurant/butcher where we helped them make sausages and washed dishes up after dinner.  In exchange we got room and board, including local butadon and free Sapporo beer from the tap.  It was a really good time that we look back on fondly.  BTW, the website where you can do this sort of thing all over Japan and the world is WWOOF.  And here is a link with the story and pictures from our experience.

But back to the restaurant.  I also tried a sake from Hokkaido.  The sake was not the greatest, but it was cheap.  Same with the butadon.  The pork was thicker, chewy and not well marinated.  Oh well, it was good enough for dinner.  Most of the rest of the menu consists of a lot of seafood which I can't imagine is the freshest, though they did have live crabs available in a tank.

My meal was just an Ok this time.  I might come back with my wife if she's interested and try some other stuff on the menu.