hokkaido sweets and other foodie stuffs

On my previous post, I forgot to mention that my digital camera battery died, so I used my cell phone camera to take some of the photos. (Note to self: bring charger on trips longer than a weekend!)

In Furano, we found a cute cafe in the middle of nowhere called Cafe de la Paix. The owner used to live in Paris and cooks everything herself. The cafe was cute because it was like entering someone's home and you had to actually climb up a ladder to get to the dining room! We tried her roast pork and potato pie. Delicious.

Cafe de la Paix
19 sen Misawa kibou
Biei
Phone: 0166-92-3489 Closed Thursdays 10:00-18:00

During the whole trip, Satoshi reminisced on the good times he had backpacking during his college life. When we went to Sarobetsu, we stayed at a pension called Ashita no Jo (which he stayed at during "the day"). The original facility was burned down and the new one is closer to the road. If you get their early and the weather permits they'll take you to a secret spot to view the sunset. This was the sunset that day taken with my cell phone.

Their trademark dish is a hot pot dish using milk and stock called gyunyunabe. (sorry no photos of this) They are particular as to how to prepare the dish, so just follow their directions and it will turn out great. It had been almost 20 years since Satoshi stayed there and he really enjoyed chatting with the owner--who was single at the time of his first stay.

Ashita no Jo
Hotoku Toyotomi-cho
Tenshio-gun
Phone: 0162-85-2155

So...now that I've covered the seafood and other foodie things, the only thing left is DESSERT! (right??)

In Obihiro, there is a place called Ryugetsu. They have great sweet treats.

Nissho is a dacquoise--a meringue type cookie which sandwiches almond cream. This one had local Shikaoi soba kernels on top. This one was not too sweet and very light!

They also have a baum kuchen--which looks like the rings of a tree when cut. This one called Sanporoku is made to look like Shirakaba (white birch) with the white chocolate and milk chocolate coating on the outside. The cake was moist and delicious.

Ryugetsu
8-15 Odori, Obihiro
Phone: 0120-669-669 9:00-20:00

Nakashibetsu has many dairies...so they had lots of gelato, ice cream and yogurt! We got to try two places.　　

Risu no mori's (Forest squirrel) gelato. Satoshi tried their cheesecake and wild strawberry. I tried their chocolate chip and gianduja. This was great!

Risu no mori
2-chome Higashi 2 Jonan
Nakashibetsu
Phone: 0153-73-2110

We also got to try a yogurt drink made by La laiterie Nakashibetsu. I didn't care for this one too much, it was kind of too sweet.

La laiterie Nakashibetsu
9-17 Kitanaka
Nakashibetsu
Phone: 0153-72-0777

Betsukai, a small town on the Notsuke coastline, has a dairy called Betsukai Dairy which makes a great coffee milk drink. Lots of milk and coffee but not too sweet.

Kushiro had a uniquely named dessert called Nekonotamago (Cat's egg) which was a really soft mochi (rice cake) outside and different flavored creams inside. We tried the lavender and chocolate ganache. I liked the chocolate one best.

Cream Dowa is a dairy in Teshikaga. They also make good gelato. We tried the yubari melon (a sweet melon similar to canteloupe) and milk cocoa (a milk based gelato with cocoa powder mixed in).

Near Akan at the roadside cafe called Doremifa-sora, there was also another uniquely named dessert called Milk no kodomo (Milk's child). This dessert takes 3 days to prepare and is really creamy and a little tart. They only make 30 regular sized ones a day, so go early. (The one that came with our lunch was a mini)

In Ikeda, there is Happiness dairy. This place sells gelato, homemade breads, cheeses and sausages. Satoshi had their rhubarb and haskap yogurt (more about haskap soon). And I tried the cookies and chocolate and pumpkin. The price was really reasonable and they only serve doubles--most places charge extra! True happiness :)

Happiness dairy
103-2 Kiyomi
Ikeda-cho, Nakagawa-gun
Phone:015-572-2001

In Furano, we tried Shinya, they make cute cheesecake tarts and a moccheese pie. The cheesecake is rich with a hint of lemon. The moccheese pie has a pie crust outside, a thin layer of mochi (rice cake), sweet bean paste and cream cheese in the center. Delicious!

Shinya
4-7 Asahi-cho, Furano
Phone: 0167-22-2042

Furano Jam Factory makes fruit jams and also vegetable jams! I bought a bottle of haskap--blue honeysuckles. These berries can only be found in Hokkaido. I also bought their haskap drink. It sort of tasted like prune, grape and a hint of cranberry.








Furano Jam Factory
3 Rokugo, Furano
Phone: 0167-29-2233

Lastly are sweets from Sapporo, we didn't visit there, but I really like these brands.

Royce makes really good chocolates. I tried their chocolate drink which was rich and creamy and bought the packets to make it at home.

I also bought the black chocolate bar and extra bitter/mild bitter chocolates. This company has shops overseas in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malayasia, check them out if your nearby!

Ishiya makes a cookie called Shiroikoibito--white chocolate sandwiched between two thin vanilla cookies. I bought their black chocolate and pumpkin (milk chocolate with pumpkin seeds) called chokoreito (chocolate).

Hope you enjoyed our adventure. We had fun and are off again this weekend to....Kyushu!