Are you at the New Chitose Airport now? Or, do you have any plans of going to Sapporo by air?
Moreover, are you a big fan of sushi?
If so, there is one place you must go to! That’s a hidden gem in the airport!
There are plenty of food options in the airport
As I wrote in another article, Hokkaido is the place for delicious foods such as fresh seafood, Ramen (Lamen) and so on.
The New Chitose airport is located in the suburbs of Sapporo, which is the capital of Hokkaido. Surely it would be better for you to get out of the airport and explore the city to seek for delicious food. However, you might be there on a busy business trip or just for transit from another city in Hokkaido (I was there in April for transit from Wakkanai to Tokyo).
Don’t worry. This airport has a great range of delicious food options.
There are many types of restaurants on the 3rd floor
The 3rd floor is called the “Gourmet World”, where you can find various kinds of restaurants or diners.
Hokkaido Ramen (Lamen) is one of the most popular types of Ramen, so there are 10 diners for that. Generally, the Ramen diners in major airports in Japan are the branches of famous ones, so you will rarely run into a bad one in this airport. There are also diners for sushi, Kaisen-don (rice bowl topped with sashimi), Hokkaido cuisine as well as Western and Chinese.
However, I was not that interested in such “branches” after exploring Sapporo, Otaru, Hakodate and Wakkanai this year, so I headed to a hidden place on the 2nd floor. It boasts a fabulous reputation among foodies.
So go down to the 2nd floor if you are interested as well.
It’s not on the floor map!
The issue is, you cannot find it on the floor map. It’s really hidden. I almost got lost but I managed to get there – thanks to the info on the internet.
Now I will guide you in English!
I learnt from a Japanese review site that “Gojunanaban-zushi”, which literally means “sushi no.57” and is a standing sushi bar, is located at the corner of Dosanko Market.
There is a sign for Dosanko Market, so follow it.
Then you can find the Dosanko Market, but you may keep going straight till the end of the corridor.
Here it is!
The capacity is 14 people and sometimes you need to queue.
This is a standing bar, but the counter is divided into 14 parts with tablets.
When I arrived there, I luckily got a spot immediately, but usually, you might have to queue for 30 minutes at most. On that account, I don’t recommend this place when you have little time to your next flight.
You can easily order on the tablet in English Chinese and Korean as well !
Sometimes you may find it difficult to communicate with Japanese waiters/waitresses due to language barriers. In fact, it can be hardly said that Japan is an English-speaking-friendly country.
But don’t worry about that here. You have a tablet to order in English.
Looking through the menu…
For beverages, there are 6 selections of Sake, Shochu, White wine, and beer. You can order Coke as well, but personally it’s upsetting to see someone eating good sushi with Coke…
At first, no one was next to me, I was able to check the menu in Japanese and English at the same time.
The first page for sushi, there’s a part for tuna, and a part for salmon.
herring, mackerel,amberjack, rosy seabass, rockfish,flat fish, and etc
prawns, crab, and octopus if you like!
squid (calamari), scallop, sea eel, and abalone…
The menu depends on the season and the day because they offer you the fresh ones everyday…
You don’t have to worry about “how much so far?”
At first, I ordered one of the expensive ones; a roll topped with sea urchin and salmon roe. That was 500 JPY (app. 5 USD or 4 Euros).
Then I ordered a scallop, 400 JPY, then the total amount of 900 JPY was shown on the upper-right corner of the screen.
The chef includes a kind of soy sauce that best suits the sushi
This is the indication for that.
Since the sushi is served one by one here, they include different types of soy sauce to each kind of sushi right before serving you.
I think it’s good considering that many people who are not very good at using chopsticks break the shape of sushi when dipping it to the soy sauce. And in my opinion, you should not put too much soy sauce to such good quality of sushi!!
I had 9 pieces in total!
I started with this; a roll topped with sea urchin (uni) and salmon roe. Even though the portion of sea urchin is quite small, I felt the smooth texture in my mouth. The combination of those two is really divine.
The second one is slightly grilled scallop. The thick one has a nice taste because of the heat. I really loved it.
Tuna lean. This ruby like color is really fascinating. It has no fishy smell at all.
This is the selection of the day. This is the roe of Eleginus gracilis . Actually, it’s not familiar to me at all even though I love salmon roe, or other type of caviar. It tasted a bit creamy so I liked it.
This is a good quality salmon sushi, which is the most popular one outside Japan. But if you have this here, you might hate to eat salmon sushi in your country..
This is what I liked the best here – herring. I ordered this again since it was astonishingly good. Honestly I did not like herring so much before, but I guess it’s the best herring I have ever had in my life.
Surf clam.
Flat fish. For Japanese, the taste can be described as “sophisticated”.
And finally, I finished my order with the herring again. I was totally satisfied.
My total bill was 2,950JPY (nearly 27-28USD or 25€).
Surely it was a bit more expensive there than Kaiten-sushi places I usually go to. However, I think it was quite reasonable considering the quality, and the type of fish here are hardly seen in casual places.
The quality and the types are similar to those of posh sushi bars, but it’s a standing bar at the same time. So, you can have very good sushi for such a reasonable price.
I paid at the cashier which was located in the back of this site. Visa/Master cards are accepted.
Is is for real sushi lovers.
I do not want to be arrogant, but many people who identify themselves as a fan of sushi do not understand what authentic sushi are like.
Every time I saw the sushi packages at supermarkets in England and France, it felt weird. Sorry I don’t eat those things. “Y*! Sushi” is not a thing for Japanese people (Some people try to make fun of it).
So I want to recommend this place if you are really familiar with authentic sushi in Japan that are managed by JAPANESE (not just East Asian) chefs.
Real sushi places outside Japan are always expensive, so if your favorite place is not expensive, well, it’s suspicious.
In Paris, many places offer soy sauce with sugar. It’s disgusting to us, really…!
Sorry, I really don’t want to sound arrogant. Of course there are many “localized to Japanese” Italian, French, or Chinese restaurants in Japan. I know many Indian restaurants in Tokyo are managed by people from countries in South Asia but not India. So, it’s the same.
But when it comes to Japanese foods, we tend to be a bit nationalistic.
Anyway, if you are really a fan of authentic sushi, this place is worth your visit and the money you’ll spend!
