Kita no Ryoba, Sapporo, Hokkaido (Revisited)

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abalone, awabi, crab, curb market, Hokkaido, japanese, kani, lunch, market, restaurant review, sapporo, tourism, travel, uni

Back here again at Kita no Ryoba (curb market, Sapporo). It’s become a common haunt now every time I’m in Sapporo. You can read my previous post about it here.

So, I decided to try a couple of new things on the menu.

Clearly this uni don is not one of them. Still a favorite, and still delicious. Probably not the top quality grade A uni (or at least not in my humble opinion), but nevertheless a very satisfactory bowl.

Thought this was interesting and gave it a go. Uni and abalone grilled with a big lump of butter. I still prefer my uni raw and creamy, is that not the whole point of it anyway? The texture of it? Cooking it seems like such a waste.

The abalone however, was decent. I would order it again.

I requested for lightly seared otoro and was pleasantly surprised to find it perfectly seared. I’d half expected it to be overcooked to canned tuna standards or not quite cooked enough. This saddled the fence just right.

Now this is what I’m talking about! A whole crab! I’ve never ordered crab as it is often difficult to eat (read: I’m just a lazy eater), but my sister had been looking forward to this, unbeknownst to me. So she ordered a whole crab and ate her way through most of it.

The Japanese way. They make it so convenient to eat, there is no excuse not to have it!

Part of my concern with all the fabulous looking cold pre-boiled crabs ostentatiously displayed in the market, and even in the New Chitose airport, is that all the natural sweetness has been voraciously boiled out of the crab, leaving behind stringy, tasteless and over cooked meat.

I was wrong. So very wrong. And the crab was tantalizingly plump, meaty and sweet, I very much regret bypassing this every trip I’ve been to Hokkaido. I’m sure not every crab is good but I couldn’t fault this one.

Zero alcohol beer that I order every time I’m in Hokkaido.

Til next time!

Kita no Ryoba (curb market)

ヤン衆料理 北の漁場

2F, Kita 11 Jōnishi, Chūō-ku, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido

Oribe Sushi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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abalone, aburi, aji, anago, authentic japanese cuisine, authentic japanese cuisine in kuala lumpur, barracuda, blow-torched, botan ebi, cod sperm, engawa, flounder, flounder's fin, hinata, hirame, horse mackerel, hotate, ikura, japanese restaurant kuala lumpur, japanese restaurant malaysia, japanese restaurant review, kamazu, mackerel, nodoguro, omakase, oribe, otoro, prawn, restaurant review, rockfish, scallop, sea urchin, seiki aji, shirako, sushi, sushi oribe, top japanese restaurants in kuala lumpur, tuna belly, uni

I was treated to Oribe Sushi about a week ago, and a treat it was! Chef Hideaki Oritsuki was previously head chef at Sushi Hinata. I gave Sushi Hinata a 6.5 back then… while they do have fresh raw ingredients, the quality of the rice as well as a couple of other factors dragged the score down. I was slightly perturbed that the fish was pre-sliced and placed in a box for convenience and quick service. That’s not how it’s done in Japan!

I digress, so I gave Sushi Hinata a 6.5 then. Oribe Sushi would be a 7.5. Chef Ori has addressed the rice issue and uses Japanese rice in his sushi. It makes a world of difference! His ingredients are fresh and flown in from Japan as well and it helps that he was more than happy to talk about Japan and where he sources his ingredients from. Very friendly chap he is! Ambience I excluded from the score, so I must add that while the sushi counter is sufficiently pleasing, the rest of the restaurant didn’t look like that of a high end restaurant.

We both had the omakase, which is priced at RM450 for dinner. So here goes!Sashimi platter as a first course; Otoro (Fatty tuna belly), Clams (Tsubugai), Flounder (Hirame), Botan ebi (Prawns) and Bafun Uni (Sea Urchin).It was delicious, and as fresh as you’d expect sashimi to be. We ended up sucking at the prawn head to get all the lovely,cholesterol-rich prawn brains out! Not a look you’d want to go for on a date but it’s worth it I think! The only thing that was slightly disappointing on this plate is the Hirame, which could have been better and “livelier” so to speak.Shirako (Cod Sperm) served with ponzu and ginger. My first encounter with the infamous Shirako wasn’t very pleasant so I half dreaded this dish when it came. I’m quite happy to say that it was absolutely delicious! Creamy in texture and fresh, well complemented by the tang of the ponzu sauce, it made for a perfectly well balanced palate and leaves no lingering unpleasant aftertaste. Lovely!Herring roe marinated with dashi, pressed and then topped with bonito flakes. It’s a fun dish, I could very clearly hear whenever my partner bit into it! Let’s just say it’s pretty crunchy 😉

Abalone that has been steamed for 7-8 hours. Tender to the bite and loses none of its natural flavour. A dish well done.Cawanmushi – standard as far as steamed egg custards go unfortunately. Nothing special here.Grilled Nodoguro (rockfish) was well cooked, had the perfect amount of sear to it and meltingly soft flesh. Would have been stellar if the skin had been a little more crisp!Seiki Aji (Horse Mackerel). The chef emphasized that this is one of the best kinds of horse mackerel in Japan as it was caught in Kyushu where the currents are strong. It is always served with ginger and spring onion. Now this was outstanding! I usually don’t pay the horse mackerel much attention but this had beautifully fatty and rounded flavours. Usually this fish tends to taste and smell a little strong but there was none of that here and I think this would be a prime example of how it should taste like! Full marks here.Engawa (Flounder’s Fin) – I always give brownie points whenever I get Engawa in any respectable sushi joint. It’s uncommon, or at least in Malaysia and Singapore it is. It’s got a chewy texture and is mild and sweet in taste. I wish I could have had more! There’s a “BUT” in here though… it was better in Japan ;(This I very blithely requested XD. Aburi Otoro! (Blow-torched tuna belly). OH SO GOOD!!!! With a couple of drops of sudachi juice and salt. Melts in the mouth with the fatty bits all softened to gorgeous tenderness and fabulous with that slight char. Wish it were a thicker slice though >.< Aburi Hotate (Blow-torched scallop) with yuzu zest. I asked very nicely for it to be topped with uni 😀 After all, that’s what all the food blogs out there are for right? To advise you to exercise some control over the chef’s discretion. He was really sweet and acquiesced to the request though. Another delicious morsel is thus born! Hotate is creamy by itself already, so topped with the uni it makes for gold!Kamazu (Baby baraccuda); some fish requires a little charring to break down the fat and toughness before its full potential comes out. This one had its skin on. Raw skin never tastes good, so blow-torching it is a nice way to render the skin delicious and yet be able to enjoy the flesh without it being cooked to death. Oh this… stuff that dreams are made of! It’s a little different in that he added some shiro ebi (white prawns) into the mix. Usually it’s just Uni, Ikura and Negitoro (Tuna belly and scallions). Nevertheless! Always a perfect combination. Can never go wrong with this if you’ve got the fresh ingredients!

I forgot to take pictures of two of the sushi that we had… the Saba (Mackerel) with seaweed and the Anago (Eel) that was had yuzu zest and half of it basted in a sweet sauce and the other half served with a touch of salt. Satisfying end to the meal. Green tea ice cream 🙂Couldn’t resist another picture of the cholesterol bomb!

So overall, a 7.5 out of 10. Fresh ingredients and affable chef were plus points, as well as the availability of Engawa and Shirako. Minus points would be that it’s always better in Japan, and they would be more generous with the portions and number of servings in Japan. Also, no surprises with the menu, perhaps there could have been a little more in that area. Ambience would have been a real killer if we weren’t seated at the counter!

Sushi Oribe

Ground Floor. Block C-1, Vipod Residences, No6, Jalan Kia Peng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur., 43000

+60-3-2181-4099

Lunch 12:00-15:00(Last Order: 14:30)    Dinner 18:00-23:00(Last Order: 22:00)

Kita no Ryoba; Curb market, Sapporo, Japan

Tags

abalone, akami, crab, curb market, donburi, fish market, hokkaido crab, hokkaido melon, ikura, japan, japanese, kita no kyouba, maguro, restaurant, restaurant review, salmon, salmon roe, sapporo, sashimi, scallops, sea urchin, uni, yubari melon

Hokkaido is supposedly famous for fresh seafood, so I headed over to Nijo market in Sapporo first to get a feel of the place. It was a really small market, and not as cheap as I expected. There is still quite a selection of the Hokkaido specialties of crab, scallops, sea urchin and ikura as well as a smattering of restaurants serving up some donburis. I didn’t try any of the restaurants there though, and decided to go to the Curb market instead.

At least the shopkeepers there aren’t as pushy as the ones at Nijo market! Came across this restaurant almost immediately and decided to just go ahead and give it a try. 

Here’s some pictures of the menu:

mmm yes, give me ALL the seafood!!!! *drool*

I ended up coming to this restaurant 2 times during my very short stay in Sapporo. So the pictures here are spread across two meals.

Ordered a giant scallop which came on a mini grill. They don’t grill it for you, you have to watch out for it yourself. At the smaller establishments at Nijo or maybe even at the curb market, you can request it grilled with butter or some other sauce (I had a giant scallop at the Nijo cooked in butter and it was so so good!). The scallop here came out just slightly overcooked. Not bad but not great.

And of course I had to have the sea urchin and ikura donburi. It was so good. However, it could have been better. Indeed it seemed fresh, the restaurant being situated right smack in the middle of a fresh fish market, but the sea urchin lacked the soft creamy texture that I love. This variety is more of the solid type of sea urchin. It would have been perfect if the sea urchin had slightly less form and more smooth texture (we all know that the less-than-firm types of sea urchin just equates to more of that delicious buttery flavor!). I believe that the uni sushi that I get at Daiwa Sushi at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo is way better, and that is comparing apple to apple since the prices are similarly in mid-range.

My cousin had the salmon, scallop, tamago and crab donburi. He doesn’t eat much raw fish (blasphemy!!!) but he enjoyed his dish. The scallops and crab were so naturally sweet. Now we’re talking 😉 Really delicious.

Cousin also ordered some grilled crab and salmon.

The crab was obviously quite plump and delicious but I never was that big a fan of crab. I like it best when its already peeled for me haha ;p

The salmon on the other hand had a lot of bones, my cousin had his job cut out for him picking the meat from the bones. I’d suggest to skip this dish.

I decided to be adventurous and ordered this crab dish:

It is juicy sweet crab meat simmered in some sake in crab shell grilled over a small fire. So basically at the end of the process you get crab meat in a broth made of some sake and the oh-so-sinfully-rich crab brains/guts. It was beautiful *eyes tearing*

but that was before the abalone came along…..

This tasted like heaven on a plate. I expected the abalone to be tough, but it was tender and perfectly cooked. Then it was bathed in this sauce… this gorgeous rich sauce that tasted as if it would be perfect on a steak but still goes well with everything else… somewhat like a mixture of butter and sake and something else. So utterly decadent, divine and just simply lip-smacking good. I was tempted to eat the whole thing by myself instead of sharing. This is the highlight of the entire meal. And to actually overshadow the uni, that’s no small feat.

Here’s a donburi from the second visit. It was mouth-watering and again brings tears of joy to my eyes. How can anything be so utterly beautiful *cries*. There’s sweet crab meat, briny ikura and uni and the clean akami all in one bowl. I love Hokkaido!

Yes, and another helping of that simmered crab meat in kani miso….

Absolutely beautiful isn’t it?

And then….

Yes I went overboard with the abalone. This time it came just a tad too cooked but still darn good nonetheless. That sauce!!!

Ended perfectly with a slice of Yubari melon (please don’t confuse this with Hokkaido melon, Yubari is in a different class). Filled with the sweetest melon juices and none of that tasteless crunch you normally have upon eating the ordinary cantaloupe you find everywhere else.

Check out the picture below, a slice of Yubari melon costs 580 yen whereas on the right, a slice of Hokkaido melon costs 380 yen. And yes there is a difference 😉

THe damage from the first day. Second day was way worse as I got a little too greedy with the abalone.

One of the places you have to visit when you’re in Sapporo. I wish I were there right now ;(