During a trip with friends, on the last night we went to a small stall village serving Ainu cuisine in Hokkaido. We enjoyed unique dishes such as venison Jingisukan, spicy pork stew, and hoya salted fish. The food was delicious and we also tried the peculiar Hie sake, which had a slightly sweet taste. We savored homemade fruit liquor and had a great time exchanging information with other customers. Thank you for the wonderful meal.

Sapporo Classic, venison salami, Ainu dish with potatoes, and pork stew. The venison salami has a salty taste, similar to the pork salami. The pork stew is tender and delicious. The Ainu dish seems to have many preserved foods, reflecting the regional cuisine.

#Izakaya #Obihiro 【First Visit to an Ainu Izakaya】 I decided to go drinking in the northern food stall area in Obihiro! I found a Ainu izakaya and decided to check it out. The compact shop was run by a beautiful female owner and staff. They offer drinks and dishes related to the Ainu culture, and the close proximity to other customers makes it easy to strike up a conversation and make friends!

I entered the restaurant around 8 o'clock on Saturday night. I had been interested in this place for a while, but it was always crowded because the interior is small. However, this time it was empty! I was lucky to get in. The restaurant only had a counter, and it could accommodate about 7 people. I ordered a beer and the "Poneohau" for 580 yen, an Ainu dish. It was like a gentle sanpei soup and delicious. It had tender pork with bones in it. It was wild! It made me feel like I wanted to have some Osoma. I also ordered Chiboroimo, a representative Ainu dish of mashed potatoes mixed with salmon roe. It was delicious, even though it seemed like something you would find in a regular izakaya. The salmon bloodline was also ordered, making me want to drink some sake. The spicy braised pork was also delicious. The most intense experience was the Sikerepe fruit sour. Sikerepe is a tree in the citrus family used in Chinese medicine. It had a bitter taste that was addictive, and I ended up drinking two cups without realizing it. When you bite into the fruit, it has a strong taste! Just thinking about it brings back memories of the intense bitterness and spiciness in my mouth. Thank you for the delicious meal!

Northern Food Stand @ A restaurant in Obihiro that serves Ainu cuisine. When I peeked inside and saw that no one was there, I took the opportunity to go in. I started with a Sapporo Classic beer. A plate of warabi fern came as a complimentary appetizer. Looking at the menu, Pon-eo-hau seemed like an Ainu dish, but since it was a soup, I wasn't sure if it counted as a side dish. This time, I went with chiporoimo. The chiporoimo was beautifully presented on a clean plate. The refreshing mashed potatoes with just the right amount of saltiness from the ikura (salmon roe) was delicious. I might not have thought it was Ainu cuisine if I hadn't been told. I followed up the beer with a Ki-hada sake inspired by Ainu culture. I had it on the rocks, and it definitely packed a punch. Despite containing bark from the Ki-hada tree, it wasn't too bitter. The hostess was a soothing presence, and I enjoyed chatting with her about various topics. Depending on the timing, I would love to visit again and try the Shikerebe sake.

This is "Ponchise" in Obihiro City. It is a Ainu cuisine restaurant located in a food stall at 7 Kita, Nishi 1-jo Minami 10-chome, Obihiro City, Hokkaido. "Ponchise" means "small house" in Ainu language. They serve a traditional Ainu pork bone soup called "Poneohau" which contains pork bones with meat attached, along with daikon, carrots, burdock, and Chinese cabbage. It has a rich flavor similar to the salmon in Sanpei soup, with the meat and vegetable flavors melting into the soup. Another recommended dish is the spicy braised pork belly made with Mall Onsen pork from Tokachi River. The Mall Onsen pork, raised on water from the Mall Onsen in Tokachi River, is cooked with spices to create a flavorful dish. The strong seasoning goes well with alcohol. The charm of this place lies not only in the delicious food but also in the conversations you can have with the staff and other customers. When in Obihiro, don't forget to visit the "North Food Stalls" and stop by Ponchise.

I visited the second party. When I come to Obihiro, I have to come to the food stall village, so I took a walk for now. I like the food stall village. In the food stall village in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, I met an Obihiro alumni. We also talked about Obihiro at the food stall village in Naha. When I was transferred to Obihiro and lived there, I have been taken care of every year since it was still small. This time, I was lucky enough to find a seat. The menu at Ponte Se-san and other national dishes was carefully prepared. Everything I ate was delicious! My regret is that I didn't go on an empty stomach. I will visit again.

Visited a restaurant in Taidai Village, Obihiro for the first time where you can enjoy traditional Ainu cuisine and Asian ethnic cuisine. Started with a toast with draft beer and Dewar's highball, and the appetizer was edamame fried in sesame oil - it was delicious with just the right amount of salt. For the main dishes, we had the spicy braised pork with star anise, which had a unique flavor and was gone in no time. Next, we tried the potato fries with sweet chili and sour cream, which had a well-balanced combination of sourness, sweetness, and spiciness. Despite being fried, it was refreshing and addictive. The owner shared the history of the Ainu and Asian-themed restaurant, which made us appreciate the beauty of Ainu culture. We made a mental note to visit a specialized Ainu cuisine restaurant in Tokyo's Okubo area. We then toasted with Kamuito No To, a sake made using Ainu methods, which had a soft and easy-to-drink taste. Better late than never, we found another wonderful restaurant. It was delicious. We will visit again. Thank you for the meal.

I came to Obihiro because it's a long weekend! Just a 4-minute walk from my hotel, I found a lively food stall area called "Northern Food Stalls". It's crowded with customers enjoying drinks and snacks. The food stalls here change every 3 years, and the atmosphere is friendly and fun. I tried some delicious dishes like coriander dumplings and spicy chicken tempura, which were crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The owner is from Fukagawa and the food is highly recommended by customers. I can't wait to try more dishes at the next food stall!

The Chozame Fair's Chitataup is like Namero and goes well with alcohol. I tried both the wood bark shochu and the wood nut shochu, but I found the bark one easier to drink.

This is a shop that focuses on Ainu home cooking. The dishes have a gentle taste, similar to home-cooked meals. There are various options for alcohol pairing, such as Mebun and Salami, which go well with drinks. In addition to regular drinks, they also offer unique pickled liquors like Sikerpe and Kihada, which have a slightly bitter or distinctive taste that can be addictive.

Well, after drinking beer, I headed to a food stall in the north♪♪♪ This place was a reservation-only restaurant, and with its cute atmosphere, a lone middle-aged man might hesitate to enter! Once inside, I gave my reservation name and checked the menu - even though I had just been drinking, being a local, I ordered a draft beer (500 yen) to start. The complimentary ethnic-flavored edamame arrived, and paired with the beer, it was delicious. Looking at the chalkboard menu again, I saw Ainu cuisine, ethnic cuisine, and various snacks to go with alcohol. I decided to start with Poneohau (580 yen) and as I chatted with the owner, more young customers started arriving. The food stall was in a horseshoe shape, making it easy for conversations to flow naturally. There were young people who came to work part-time at the Tomamu Resort from Ibaraki Prefecture and locals, making the conversation enjoyable. Oh, the Poneohau has arrived! Despite being a Hokkaido native, it was my first time trying it. It had a gentle saltiness rather than a pork bone flavor, making it perfect for cold weather. A follower of mine quietly arrived after a work-related New Year's party, and we toasted with a highball (450 yen) and wine. We realized we needed to order some food, so we added Indonesian-style corn tempura (580 yen). It was a tempura dish, but the batter was nicely coated in oil, meant to be eaten with the sweet and savory sauce. Then, a cute woman entered and ordered a drink and flower onion fry. It turned out she was a beautiful reporter from the Tokachi Mainichi Newspaper. She was here for coverage of the root vegetable fair, and since I mentioned I write food reviews, she asked for my opinion on the flower onion fry, leaving me a bit flustered. Lastly, I had a Napoli Sour before heading to my usual spot. This place is geared towards young people with its food and atmosphere, but you can also enjoy authentic Ainu cuisine, so it's worth a visit. Now, off to my usual spot♪♪♪

I visited Ponchise at the Northern Food Stand, where you can enjoy Ainu cuisine. They were having a bear meat fair, with bear meat on top of the salad appetizer. I tried the Ainu dish called Poneohau, expecting a strong gamey flavor, but it was surprisingly mild, similar to salt chanko-nabe. They also offered familiar Asian dishes like Gapao. It seems like those are the main dishes. The staff was very friendly and welcoming.

Now onto the third restaurant. Since I'm not a fan of unknown places and my companion didn't seem to have much to eat, I decided to go to a cozy place on my own. This place is part of the town revitalization project in Obihiro, featuring Ainu cuisine and Asian dishes influenced by the owner's long stay in Indonesia. We started with a draft Sapporo Classic beer for 500 yen each, cheers! The appetizer was boiled peanuts from Chiba prefecture. I couldn't resist trying the Ainu pork bone soup called "Poneoha" for 580 yen. The soup was filled with carrots, cabbage, burdock, and radish, with tender pork meat that just melted in your mouth. Despite being a pork bone soup, it was light yet flavorful, really comforting. I think adding some spice would make it even more delicious. The person sitting next to me kindly let me taste their butterbur miso, which had a pleasantly bitter taste. Since I was getting tired of beer at this point (having already had 5 glasses), I decided to try something different - a Napoli Sour for 500 yen. It's a nostalgic carbonated drink that is currently only sold in Hokkaido. It reminded me of my childhood. As a snack (or not), I also tried the garlic soy sauce pickles for 500 yen, made from garlic harvested in the mountains by an acquaintance. It had a strong punch to it, which I could still taste the next day. The owner had a warm and laid-back demeanor, which added to the pleasant atmosphere. The food suited my taste, and I would love to visit this restaurant again. Thank you for the delicious meal!