Eating and Drinking
Seafood is delivered fresh every day to the harbour, and the best places to feast on it are the sushi bars scattered around the morning market near Hakodate Station. Look out for the local speciality , a bowl of ramen topped with a whole crab and other seafood. You'll find a limited range of restaurants on the main shopping street near the station - for good value, head for The Don , part of a chain serving bowls of rice topped with fish or meat. For a splurge, Motomachi's smart restaurants by the seafront can be fun. Goryokaku is the city's main drinking area. More central are the converted warehouses in Motomachi that serve the local ji-biiru (microbrewery beer), Hakodate Beer; try Beelongs on the waterfront near the morning market and Hakodate Beer , just along from the Kokusai Hotel , towards Motomachi. Aji-no-ichiban . Noodle stall in the morning market serving up the local speciality for Y1800, and plenty of cheaper dishes, plus delicious, freshly squeezed melon juice. Open daytime only. Akachochin , 18-21 Wakamatsu-cho. The name means "red lantern" and there are plenty of these hanging inside this lively robatayaki (grilled food) restaurant, a couple of minutes' walk from the JR station. Expect to pay around Y2500 per head. BAY Hakodate , 11-5 Toyakawa-cho. Stylish buffet-style restaurant in one of the converted warehouses by the waterfront in Motomachi. The menu features a wide range of Western dishes, with lunch at Y1500 and dinner at Y2500 per head - both are good value. Daily 10am to 10pm. El Paso , 30-3 Goryokaku-cho. Funky little Mexican cafe close to the fort, serving tacos, burritos, chilli and nachos. The lunch deals are all under Y850. In the evening the place turns into a bar and has a more extensive food menu. Mon-Sat 11.30am-11.30pm. Hishii , 9-4 Horai-cho. Elegant teashop, bar and antique clothes shop in this eighty-year-old wooden building, draped with ivy, near the Horai-cho tram stop. There's a tatami area on the second floor and the shop sells secondhand kimono from Y5000. The cafe is open daily from 10am to 10pm, the bar daily from 8pm to midnight. Lucky Pierrot , just west of the Jyujigai tram stop, towards the waterfront. Cheap fast food, Japanese-style, at this hamburger and curry restaurant. The shop sign says "Santa Claus has come to Hakodate" and there are plenty of the jolly red men decorating the front. Daily except Sat 10am-12.30am, Sat 10am-1am. Nihombashi , 7-9 Motomachi. Good-value Japanese restaurant halfway along the pedestrianized street running across the top of Motomachi. Huge set meals and bowls of noodles are served in a relaxing atmosphere.
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