The Japanese Food Adventure Chapter 3 - Day 3. Next stop Hakodate

Overnight Typhoon Talim had passed over Tokyo, she was quite loud but didn't appear to have caused any damage. We were keen to get on the move again as we had a five hour journey to Hakodate in the Northernmost of Japan's Islands, Hokkaido. We checked out of the hotel and stopped off at Doutor for some breakfast. This popular coffee chain were offering a sandwich and coffee breakfast set for just ¥380 (£2.50), the deep filled egg and ham sandwich was a decent enough breakfast for the journey ahead.

We made our way towards Tokyo station, on the train I noticed a service announcement on a screen. The Shinkansen service for Hokkaido had been temporarily suspended due to the Typhoon. This was quite a blow as we were only going to be in Hokkaido for a few nights. We enquired at the information desk on Tokyo station and was told services should resume later in the day which sounded quite hopeful.

We stored our cases in luggage lockers and decided to make the most of the glorious sunshine. My wife suggested walking to Tokyo Dome to ride the Thunder Dolphin rollercoaster, an excellent plan I thought! We strolled through the park which surrounds the Imperial Palace in the blazing heat.

We didn't visit the Imperial Palace but walked through the East Gardens. The contrast between traditional and modern buildings in the distance was quite striking.

On the other side of the park we stopped to buy some macarons.

Hmm... A bit dry though.

At Tokyo Dome I was delighted to see the Thunder Dolphin Rollercoaster running. When we visited last year it was closed which was a bit disappointing although we had been on it on our first visit to Tokyo.

For ¥1030 (£7) you get to ride this 80 metre high Hypercoaster which reaches speeds of 81 mph, it's the 8th tallest in the world and will take you through a hole in the LaQua building.

Well that certainly blew the cobwebs away! My mind was firmly on getting to Hakodate though so we caught a train back to Tokyo station to see if the Shinkansen line had re-opened.

On the way to the station I enjoyed my first iced coffee from a vending machine. We joined the long queued at the ticket desk once there to see if there was any news. Suddenly Hokkaido bound trains appeared again on the screen, it looked like we were going to make it there today which was a huge relief.

Unfortunately all the reserved seats had been taken so our only option was a standing ticket. We cracked open a can of Asahi and was just grateful to be getting there at all today.

Shortly after leaving Tokyo we decided that standing for five hours was insane so we sat down on the floor. This was my view for pretty much the entire journey but we had brought some food with us at least.

This meat and cheese sauce roll tasted much better than it looked.

My wife enjoyed a mixed sushi and inarizushi combo, she had to pick out some crabstick though which I ate. The inarizushi is so delicious, it's a fried tofu skin that has been cooked in a sweet soy sauce, drained then stuffed with sushi rice.

I chose a fried chicken and rice bento box, perhaps not the most Japanese thing on offer but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same.

The fried chicken was coated in breadcrumbs and next to it was a small amount of pasta salad and a tiny smoked cheese sausage. I squeezed the sachet of lemon sauce over the fried chicken, delicious!

The rice had a slight tomato flavour and was topped with some egg and precisely five peas!

We eventually made it to Hakodate.

We arrived far later than planned and checked into Hotel Sharoum Inn 2 for the night, a double room per night here cost us ¥6680 (£45)

We headed out onto the streets of Hakodate to see what we could find, everywhere was eerily quite though. This was because it was a national holiday, Respect for the Aged Day.



 

I guess on an average day Lucky Pierrot would have been open, we liked the look of it though so decided we would return again in the morning for breakfast.

A vending machine next door was selling Lucky Pierrot drinks so I decided to buy one.

I was really hoping it would be a nice cold beer but it turned out to be a grape soda.

We walked around the Waterfront area which although closed looked well worth visiting again in the morning. There were a few restaurants open on the street opposite our hotel but we were exhausted so headed to 7 Eleven instead.

Trying to choose what to buy in 7 Eleven always takes time as there's so much choice and everything looks so delicious.

I was starting to notice that Hakodate was famous for its squid.

We ended up buying a selection of things to eat back at the hotel. If you want anything heated up then 7 Eleven are always happy to pop it in the microwave for you.

This steamed bun cost just ¥110 yen (73p) and had a curried chicken centre, pretty nice!

This plum wine and soda drink was delicious, the perfect night cap.

Pork Katsu served with egg and onions, it was coated in a sweet sticky sauce but once heated up the sauce soaked into the crispy coating which tasted so good.

My wife chose a far healthier salad, some edaname beans and some hot chilli snacks. We hadn't really seen much of Hakodate so far but with the Typhoon now passed and businesses open again tomorrow we went to bed looking forward to properly exploring it in the morning.

Click here for Day 4
Further North to Sapporo