Taste ☆3.3 Price ☆3.8 Service ☆3.0 Cleanliness ☆3.0 The finishing touch with dashi‼ Plum ramen‼ Ramen is definitely the way to end a meal‼ The ochazuke also looked delicious‼ Otaru Yatai Village is interesting‼ Feels like Fukuoka Nakasu in Otaru‼ Dashi is the way to go after drinking‼ It's around 500 yen‼

I ordered what I thought was Akashiyaki, but it turned out to be takoyaki with rice and tea poured over it. It was surprisingly delicious! The dish had plenty of aosa seaweed, giving it a nice aroma. I finished it in no time as it was very satisfying and only cost 400 yen. Thank you very much!

This is the perfect place to end a solo drinking session in Otaru. After hitting up a couple of bars in the "Brick Warehouses" area, I decided to head over to "Romance Street" for my third stop. Both areas have a great selection of lively bars, and I want to try them all. I stumbled upon a great spot to finish off the night - "Wafu Dashi Itoen." I heard about a soup-obsessed owner in Susukino recently, and this place reminded me of that. I took a seat at a table meant for four, ordered a highball and some dashi gyoza. The highball arrived quickly, followed by the gyoza in a hot dish with broth and sprinkled with green onions. The gyoza had a smooth texture, and the flavorful broth was a bit on the rich side. It was well-balanced and tasted like it was made from scratch. I noticed they had other dishes on the menu that looked tempting, so I'm looking forward to trying them next time. I'd love to come back here for lunch on a holiday and enjoy some more dishes, maybe finish off with ochazuke. Thank you for the meal!

This is Otaru. Romantei Yokocho, third shop. I actually came here because I wanted to eat the dashi tea pickles here. Dashi gyoza, dashi takoyaki, salmon dashi tea pickles. This place is delicious! The dashi gyoza is great, and the dashi takoyaki is like a miso soup substitute... it's all about the dashi! Haha. The highlight was the salmon dashi tea pickles. We shared it with everyone, but everyone only took one bite. I'll take care of the rest! I'll have it all! The salmon was big and delicious. The dashi feast was perfect for the finale. This place is definitely worth revisiting! I ate too much, so I walked from Otaru Chikko Station to Hoshioki and then to Inazumi Park on my way back. Thank you for the meal!

I went to a day-drinking gathering in Otaru in October 2018. I have to work tomorrow so I'm leaving early, but I don't want to go... Before heading home, let's have some ochazuke. I'll take someone who is also leaving with me haha. I've been eyeing this place in the Yataimura Roman Yokocho in the Shotengai Street. It's only open at night so I never had the chance to go until now. It's like HUG Eat in Tanukikoji. You can sit at a central table and bring food from your favorite shops. - Soup dumplings for 500 yen: Lightly soup-filled dumplings that hold their shape well - Soup takoyaki for 400 yen: More flavorful than the dumplings, with lots of seaweed. The soup is delicious, but the takoyaki might be frozen food. - Salmon ochazuke for 600 yen: Grilled salmon on a bed of rice with plenty of broth. The broth is delicious. I want to take it home in my own bottle haha. I bet their udon and ramen are also delicious. Thank you for the meal.

We came to Otaru Romantei with 4 people to eat Ochazuke. It's a dashi sommelier shop, apparently. We ordered and waited in the aisle, snacking on treats from other shops for about 20 minutes. Finally, our dishes arrived. The dashi takoyaki was delicious with plenty of seaweed. The dashi gyoza had a mysterious herb-like aroma and a smooth texture. The salmon ochazuke was beautifully presented with a delicate dashi flavor and well-seasoned salmon. It would be perfect for breakfast the next day. We ate too much, so we decided to walk back a little like Papa. Thank you for the meal!

After eating yakisoba at Tetsuya-san's place, I still had room in my stomach so I decided to visit this place. This is a shop specializing in dashi dishes run by a dashi sommelier. They also had udon and ramen, but since I had just eaten yakisoba, I decided to skip the noodles and ordered Nori Ochazuke (500 yen) and Dashi Gyoza (500 yen). After waiting for a while as there were other customers, the Dashi Gyoza arrived first. First, I tasted the dashi... Wow! It was incredibly delicious! I can't quite describe it well with my words, but the combination of various flavors created an exquisite taste! The gyoza floating in the dashi also melted in my mouth as soon as I took a bite. Oh, this is irresistible! I couldn't help but smile uncontrollably. I savored every last drop of the dashi. It was a blissful taste! And next was the ochazuke. I poured the dashi over the rice in the bowl and it was just the right amount. I could also enjoy the flavor of the dashi in this dish. It was delicious as well! This is truly a masterpiece. I would love to carry this dashi with me every day and sip on it during my breaks at work (laughs). I alternated between the pickles and the ochazuke, and finished everything. They also provided yuzu pepper for flavor variation, but I ended up not using it and just enjoyed the dish as it was. I would love to try other items here as well! Thank you for the delicious meal!

Otaru's once bustling arcade streets have become desolate with Marui Imai and Grand Hotel gone. The new establishments cater mostly to the elderly. Otaru has become a town with many elderly residents as the young people have moved away. In this aging arcade street, Romankan Yokocho opened as a way to revitalize the area. I originally wanted to visit the famous standing sushi bar across the street, but it was full, so I ended up at Romankan Yokocho. It was a quiet night on a weekday, with each shop having only one or two customers. Even the busiest shop had around four customers. I wanted to have another drink, so I chose a tea-pickled dish shop that offered a Mega Highball drink. Although I thought it was a tea-pickled dish specialty shop, they had a variety of items on the menu. Most items were around 500 yen, including tea-pickled dishes, kake udon (500 yen), and nori ramen (500 yen). I decided to try their dashi broth with seaweed (300 yen). The aroma was delightful, and I tried to guess the ingredients in the broth. I could taste bonito flakes, kombu, and maybe some flying fish or dried squid. When I asked the owner, they confirmed that those ingredients were used, along with scallops, Rishiri kombu, grilled flying fish, mackerel flakes, shiitake mushrooms, and more. The broth was so delicious that I could have it on its own. It went well with tea-pickled dishes, udon, or ramen. The light yet flavorful dashi broth was a delightful experience in Otaru.

I visited "Wafu Dashi Itoen" at the "Otaru Yataimura Roman Yokocho" which opened on April 7th. The place is located on the 1st floor of a building directly across from the "Otaru Yataimura Brick Yokocho", with 7 different shops lined up, including "Wafu Dashi Itoen". I was particularly interested in "Wafu Dashi Itoen" and decided to visit for their chazuke. When I entered the shop, the owner didn't seem to notice me, so I sat at the counter without being acknowledged. Even though the owner was right in front of me, there was no reaction, and I felt like a complete outsider in my own hometown. I was about to leave silently feeling disappointed, but as a food blogger, I needed to try the food in order to write a review, so I decided to stay. I finally got a response when I asked, "Can I place an order?" Phew, the customer service is still at an amateur level. I ordered the Roast Beef Chazuke (800 yen) out of curiosity for the combination of Japanese dashi and roast beef. There was one person ahead of me, and I waited for about 15 minutes. While waiting, I thought about trying the beer "Master's Dream - Brewer's Dream," which is a new beer introduced in Otaru, but I had already been to a sushi restaurant for a family celebration before coming here, so I decided against it. The portion of the chazuke was slightly larger than a regular teacup. You pour the dashi over it yourself, and the flavor of the dashi is quite strong, with various types used, adding depth to the dish. The saltiness is also noticeable, so it doesn't feel lacking even as a meal after drinking. The roast beef, about 3mm thick, was tender and quite delicious. The combination with the Japanese dashi was actually not bad. I added yuzu pepper halfway through for a different taste, but the yuzu flavor was quite strong, so I personally would prefer wasabi or mountain wasabi. I wished they had offered water or tea while I was waiting, but I wanted some tea after eating the chazuke. Well, this place is primarily a bar, so it's understandable. However, for people like me who come specifically for the chazuke or udon, more attentive service might be needed. The customer traffic at the Brick Yokocho across the street seemed to be low. It would be great if they could coexist and prosper together, but it might be tough with only local customers.

Visited the restaurant about an hour before closing time. The group seating at the tables and counter was slightly filled. Compared to other nearby places that were empty or closing early, the opening hours were as expected. The dashi chazuke was decent, but the rice was a bit firm, not sure if that's always the case. It was a bit concerning to see dirty dishes piled up in plain view at the counter. The manager seemed to be engaging in conversation with regular customers, which made me feel a bit out of place. Since it was late, if I were to go again, I would like to try the zangi at an earlier time.