During my visit back to Sapporo, I discovered a unique restaurant through reviews on Tabelog where I could try Dal Bhat. The restaurant, called "Mintaru," is a fair trade goods and restaurant establishment with a cozy atmosphere. The owner, a Japanese woman, was busy preparing for an event on the day of my visit. Unfortunately, they no longer served Dal Bhat as the Nepalese individual who used to make it was no longer there. Instead, I tried the Mintaru Curry, which is a Nepalese-style curry with chicken and beans. The atmosphere inside the restaurant was filled with fair trade goods, and I also ordered organic coffee. The menu featured Nepalese dishes like Momo and the Mintaru Curry. The meal was delicious, with the curry being mildly spicy and served with fermented brown rice. Overall, it was a pleasant dining experience at Mintaru.

I attended a basic workshop on community cafe operations on the weekend. During the workshop, several cafe owners gave talks, and one of them was the owner of Mintaru, a cafe very close to my place that I had never visited before. The cafe had a slightly shady exterior, which made it a bit intimidating to enter, even for someone like me who enjoys solo cafes. The owner even joked about this during the talk. Despite this, I decided to give it a try after hearing the owner's story. Mintaru focuses on fair trade, with about half of the cafe filled with various products. The lunch menu included a choice of fish or meat set meals, as well as Nepalese cuisine. I opted for the Nepalese lunch at 1100 yen, which came with six side dishes and bean curry. The flavors were unique, with some being sour or spicy, which may not appeal to everyone. While I was eating, someone was receiving a foot reflexology massage nearby, so I decided to try it out of curiosity. However, it turned out to be extremely painful, and I ended up making a scene in the cafe. The therapist lectured me about having impure blood due to my diet and lifestyle. Despite this unexpected turn of events, I ended up staying for about three hours, engaging in interesting conversations with the owner, employees, and other customers. The cafe hosts a variety of events, making it a true community cafe experience. It may not be the cute cafe I usually prefer, but if you enjoy engaging with people, I recommend giving Mintaru a visit for some unique encounters. I'm looking forward to the store tour tomorrow!

I first visited this place in May 2007, and this visit marks my return after 4 years. Last time, there was no parking so I went by bike, but after confirming over the phone that the current store has parking space for 3 cars, I decided to drive there. I remembered this place when thinking about where to have lunch. I found the store information on Tabelog and confirmed on the website that they have relocated and are still in business. I input the address into the bike's navigation system and set off in my wife's car. Of course, I was the one driving (laughs). When I arrived at the store and looked at the exterior, it had a typical "Mintaru" appearance. Inside, there were many fair trade products displayed, and I love this kind of atmosphere. There was a woman customer ahead of me, and she informed me that the store owner was upstairs at a free market. When the woman owner came down, I mentioned that I wanted to have a meal, and she brought me the menu. There were oranges placed in a basket on the table for some reason, which reminded me of the nostalgic scene of oranges being placed on a tray. My wife and I were talking about this when the woman owner offered us one, saying it had just arrived from Wakayama yesterday. Since Wakayama is known for oranges, I accepted one, and it was very sweet and delicious. Looking at the menu, there was a daily fish-based set meal and Nepalese curry, but what caught my eye was the "Nepal set meal". It included 6 Nepalese home-cooked dishes such as Dal Bhat (bean soup) and curry. You could choose between bean or meat curry, and I chose meat while my wife chose beans. While waiting for the food, I browsed through the fair trade products in the store. There were hats, soaps, coffee, tea, and many more items, making it enjoyable just to look around. The food arrived, and the woman owner explained that Dal Bhat is meant to be eaten by pouring it over the rice. Dal Bhat is delicious when eaten with rice, but since there was also Nepalese curry, deciding the rice portion for each dish became a dilemma (laughs). It may seem easy to split it in half, but the food was so delicious that I felt like eating it all at once (laughs). Dal Bhat was not spicy but a very delicious soup, and the curry had a spicy kick to it, making it tasty and flavorful. The Nepalese cuisine here is different from what you would find at typical "Indian-Nepalese restaurants" as it is authentic Nepalese home-cooked food, and I was pleasantly surprised by its unexpected deliciousness. As I was eating, more customers started to arrive, and someone took out a flute. I wondered what it was, and it turned out to be a "Kena". Not only that, but even a "Charango" appeared. The practice session for Kena started. The woman owner mentioned that they regularly hold Kena lessons, and the instructor seemed to be a man playing the Charango. Usually, the lessons take place upstairs, but this time it was held on the ground floor since the second floor was being used for a free market. I actually love folk music, so it was lucky to be able to listen to live music even during a practice session. The woman owner was surprised when she found out that I knew about Charango, and I told her that I often attended concerts of a group called "Do Te Kabochas" composed of members from Furano area. The woman owner also knew about "Do Te Kabochas" and had even visited Morena in Shimokawa Town, which was the place that introduced her to the group. When I mentioned that I came from Chitose, she asked if I knew about Koguma-za. When I confirmed that I knew about it, she told me that Miss Valentine used to do fortune-telling here before opening Koguma-za. It was mentioned that she also visited an antique gallery called "Amariya" in Nagayama Town, which I had visited before. The woman owner of "Amariya" had also visited this place, and I felt an incredible sense of "destiny" as everything seemed to be interconnected.

Today's lunch was a bit of a surprise for my colleague and me. We had this idea in our heads that it was an "ethnic restaurant," but maybe our assumption was wrong. My colleague ordered a fish dish and got a boiled fish set. The rice was a healthy mixed grain rice, and the boiled fish had a nice taste. The side dish of simmered vegetables (like dried daikon radish) and miso soup were all delicious, like home-cooked meals. However, we were hoping for something with more of an ethnic flavor. The boiled fish set was around 700 yen, which was reasonable for a set meal. My curry, on the other hand, had a hint of fish sauce flavor and was delicious. But the portion of rice was too small, more suitable for someone on a diet. It took almost 30 minutes from ordering to serving, which was a bit frustrating, especially since there was only one other group of customers. Overall, it's a good place for lunch, but make sure to check the contents of the set meal before ordering.