Otaru Sankaku Market - Uni Hotate Don

I love to eat. Whenever I am travelling, my priority will be food food food food, and hence I decided to visit all the markets that I could find in various cities in Japan.
I love kaisen don (seafood bowl) and it is so hard to find one that is good and yet still within my budget in Singapore. When I went to Hokkaido, I seem to lose my mind. I made a point to visit the Hakodate market, Otaru sankaku market and Sapporo nijo market.
I am going to write about the uni hotate (sea urchin & scallop) don that I ate in Otaru sankaku market. Otaru Sankaku Market is located so near the train station you can see it from there, like seriously.
More info on Otaru Sankaku market here.
Otaru sankaku market is like really small, there is only like a stretch of shops and that's it. It is very small compared to Tsukiji market in Tokyo, Nishiki market in Kyoto, Kuromon market in Osaka. However, theere are still good food in there.

So, we went to the market. I swear it kept raining when we were in Otaru, it rained like the both days we were there. Nevertheless, I still insisted that we go to the market for breakfast. I wonder if we went early (9-ish) cos it was really empty or was it ebcause it was a weekday and it was raining? hmm, but less people = better for us anyway :D
More info about the shop here.
I knew I wanted to eat uni hotate don and I read about this shop online and hence I wanted to visit it. Sorry I didn't took a photo of the exterior but the shop name is  食べ処あい田 . Click on the link above and there will be photos of the shop. It wasn't that well-lit or bright and I wonder if that was why the shop was empty when we went but it was alright cos the food was so good omg. I personally think it is better than the other shop in the market.
Live scallops in the tank at the entrance of the shop~~
Here's the menu. Sorry it's not that clear but we ordered the uni hotate don (2,800 yen), if you only want the hotate don, it will be 900 yen (which is so affordable!) and they have other cooked set meals (if you don't like raw food) and there are some which are under 1,000 yen as well. Very affordable.
We were served tea once we were seated & the owner will cook in front of us. Our order took some time because the SCALLOPS WERE FRESHLY SHUCKED. After you order any scallop dish (I think), the daughter actually goes out with a box (?) to take scallops from the tank to be prepared for your dish. Talk about fresh~~ Can't get any fresher than that. For the uni though, I heard they got it from another store pre-packed (this might explain why the uni hotate don is more expensive than the hotate don by like 1900 yen) , but the uni is still fresh and sweet. I can't eat uni that good with that price in Singapore so I went for it.
My meal~~ comes with soup, two side dishes which tasted really good as well and fruits too! I thought the side dishes and fruits were a really sweet gesture. Usually most shops will just serve you soup, no side dish or fruit so I was pleasantly surprised.

& the taste? SUPERB. The scallops and uni are so fresh and sweet, no weird taste at all. The uni was so buttery and creamy with just the right amount of saltiness. I wish I could eat this everyday ugh.
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Japan travel guide : Sapporo Nijo Market Kaisen don

So, I finally went to Hokkaido this year (YAY - I’ve been saving for a year omg). I went to Japan in July 2016, wanting to catch the One Piece Premier show at USJ (Totally worth it seriously, all One Piece fans should go if you know Japanese, although I'm certain you will still enjoy it even if you don't).

As we went to Japan in July, it was freaking hot (I hate summer), I couldn't stop sweating and was suffering from mild dehydrated (starting to feel giddy, headaches etc). People, if you travel in summer, please please keep cool and remember to drink lots of water, apply sunblock, bring caps and umbrellas as well.

To escape the heat, we squeezed in a 6-7 day Hokkaido trip this time. BEST DECISION MADE. It was way cooler in Japan and the food was so damn good (good cheesecake, good milk ice cream, good ramen, good milk, good melon, good seafood).

I LOVE THEIR MARKETS SO MUCH.

Alright, I went to the Nijo market in Hokkaido cos I wanted to eat kaisen don and wanted to walk around the markets (I didn't have much time to walk around at Nijo Market cos I had to get to the airport to fly back to Osaka in like 2 hours time or smthg), but I had a greatly satisfying meal to end the Hokkaido leg of my trip.

Find out more about Nijo market here.

The shop name is Ohiso (大磯), I walked there from my hotel and it took about 20 minutes or more.

Here's the English menu.

I ordered the small Uni, Kani, Ikura and Salmon don (2,880 yen), I added a hotate for 500 yen). You can also add prawn for 500 yen.

A photo of the don with my hand for comparison. My hand is about the size of an Iphone 6, just in case you guys are wondering. The shop staff will show you plastic models of the sizes before you order, so you can order the regular bowl if you are a big-eater. As I went in summer, I did not have much appetite. more of fatigue but I still really wanted to eat the don. All I can say is, Hokkaido seafood is so fresh and as the bowl is deep, it is surprisingly filling. It might not be considered cheap especially if you are on a budget but I think an occasional splurge is fine.
















Comes with miso soup.  All I can say is, it definitely is worth the money. The seafood is fresh and they are generous with their seafood. The seafood that I ate in this trip are the sweetest and freshest I have ever tasted. It probably will cost like 3 times or more in Singapore and the quality wouldn't even be as good.



One last pic, cos it's so good. I can't wait to go Hokkaido again!

Find out more about Nijo market here.
The shop's website here.

Thanks for reading this post, if you would like to support me, please make a small contribution through here.