楽笑
Day 2 of the day laborer road in Hachioji. For breakfast, I had cake and iced coffee, and when I arrived at the station, I felt a bit hungry and indulged in some conger eel sushi at Uoziki. It was delicious. Now, it's lunchtime. I headed straight to the bookmarked restaurant! The restaurant this time is "North Taste Journey and Local Sake Hokkaido Hachioji Station Front Store." As I headed to the 6th floor in the elevator, the door opened and a large bear greeted me. Just this alone got me in the Hokkaido mood! There were two entrances, and as I stepped in from the front, I found myself in a quite spacious place. The dimly lit chic atmosphere with few other customers allowed me to choose my seat freely, so I sat near the TV. Since water wasn't brought to me, I realized it was self-service. When I went to pour some water, I also found hojicha available.
- Ramen salad and small bowl set 880 yen
I didn't want something ordinary, so I ordered something that seemed interesting with my food blogger spirit. I orally ordered from the lunch menu and the food arrived in about 5 minutes. Ramen salad, small bowl (negitoro bowl), simmered minced daikon (with chrysanthemum), miso soup (free refills). It had a composition beyond just thin-sliced takuan, and when I asked for a refill of rice, it was served in a separate dish as promised. The most surprising thing was the small bowl that turned out to be a regular-sized negitoro bowl. It was quite deep, even when viewed from the side, which made me smile.
- Ramen salad
This Hokkaido specialty, a vegetable-rich cold noodle dish, can also be called a salad. On top of crunchy lettuce, there were chewy noodles dressed in sesame sauce. Alongside corn and cherry tomatoes, with kaiware daikon on top... a visually appealing dish that stirs up the appetite of a foodie. When mixed and eaten, the flavors of various ingredients spread throughout the mouth, making it delicious. It's called a salad, but it's a substantial main dish.
- Small bowl (negitoro bowl)
The center of the bowl was filled with plenty of negitoro, surrounded by shredded egg and topped with chopped green onions. I thought it was a waste to call this a small bowl and enjoyed it with soy sauce and wasabi. The generous amount of negitoro had a sticky texture that paired perfectly with the rice. It was grateful that more rice kept coming up from the bottom of the bowl. I initially thought I might need a refill, but it wasn't necessary.
- Simmered minced daikon (with chrysanthemum)
Although served in a small side dish, this dish was truly delicious. It made me want to gulp down a cold beer without a doubt. If only I didn't have work in the afternoon...
- Miso soup
This was simply delicious.
- Thin-sliced takuan
Simple pickles like this are much appreciated.
I was lured by the ramen salad for the novelty factor this time, and the negitoro bowl simply labeled as "small bowl" turned out to be unexpectedly exquisite and captured my heart. It's these kinds of surprises that make food exploration so interesting. For 880 yen, the price of a ramen bowl nowadays, I was able to leisurely enjoy such a variety of dishes, and it made me happy. It was really delicious. Thank you for the meal.