La Qua Spa

The La Qua Spa is a part of the Tokyo Dome City complex, which includes an amusement park, numerous attractions, and the Tokyo Dome Hotel.  The La Qua Spa’s waters come from 1,700 meters(about 5,600 feet)below from its source-the Koishikawa hot springs.  The waters were nice, the Jacuzzi was great, the rotem buro was just right.  The sauna however, was too hot and I was unable to enjoy it.  The waters are sodium chloride-effective for poor circulation, neuralgia, and shoulder pain, and highly effective for skin care due to moisturizing and thermal properties. 

Since we had gone on a weekend, and being our first time, the complex was extremely crowded, and it was difficult to make our way around the complex.  The entrance to La Qua Spa was odd to say the least and confusing.  There appeared to be only one elevator that you needed to get on to access the spa.  It was not the closest elevator to the entrance from the train station, but further in the back of a shopping complex.  And the access was only from the second floor and only from one elevator out of a bank of three elevators.  Because of only one elevator to the onsen bath, the elevator was always crowded.  Better signage would have helped to lessen our confusion.

My impression of the entrance to the spa was like I was at a crowded train station trying to buy a ticket, or at a cattle crossing.  Once past the registration area and once inside the spa I observed massage tables, a large bath, Jacuzzi, sauna, healing room, and the rotem buro, or outside bath.  Refreshments were available downstairs, down a long stairway.  I’m sure there was an elevator, but I wasn’t able to find it.  This hot spring review: Make it one of the places to visit in Japan.

Rates:  2,565 Yen, plus an extra charge of 315 Yen for weekends and holidays.  Late night check ins were 1,890 Yen, and an extra 525 Yen for using the Healing Baden (healing rooms).

Access from Shinjuku station.  Take the Marunouchi subway line to Ikebukuro and continue on to Korakuen station, where you exit.  La Qua is directly across the street.  La Qua is open from 11:00AM to 9AM(next day).
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Steak Kuni Akasaka

Steak Kuni Akasaka

Steak Kuni Akasaka is just as its name reads - steak, and plenty of it.  All quality beef, chilled and ready to cut for your order.  300 grams (or 0.66 pounds) of juicy steak sizzling on a hot plate, tossed green salad, consomme soup, steamed corn, starch(steamed rice)on special for 1,995 yen.  Sounds good doesn’t it?  The steak was Australian range beef-good, no gaminess, juicy, but a little chewy.  I also had a piece of a 200 gram(0.44 pound)Kobe wagyu beef steak filet after the special.  The pricy Kobe steak was 6,500 yen per 100 grams, but was really juicy, extremely tender, melt-in-your-mouth tender, and showed the contrast between the two steaks.  When ordered, your steak is cut in front of you from a large slab of beef, then weighed. 

Also available is some Japanese wagyu beef from Yonezawa, quality sirloin for 3,570 Yen per 100 grams, and filet for 4,500 Yen per 100 grams.  Other choices include a Kuro gyu(Japanese beef steak)sirloin for 2,310 Yen per 100 grams, and a filet for 2,830 Yen per 100 grams.  A 200 gram 100% beef hamburger steak is 1,020 Yen.  Not a beef eater, no problem, Lobster Thermidor is available for 1,890 Yen.  A salad and rice or bread set is 360 Yen.

We had two bottles of a Chilean cabernet sauvignon 2011 which was 2,400 Yen per bottle.  The wine was very good.  There was French bordeaux wine for as low as 1,000 Yen per bottle.

The restaurant was very busy, but the staff provided very good service.
The restaurant is located at 2-14-2 Nagata-cho, in the Sanno Building, 1st floor, next to the Tokyu Excel Hotel.  It is almost right across the street after you exit from the Akasaka Mitsuke station.

As per this restaurant review, this blogger would definitely go back again for steak at Steak Kuni Akasaka.

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Sapporo Prince Hotel

The Sapporo Prince Hotel is located about 2 blocks from Odori Park at Juitchome, or 11th Street in downtown Sapporo.  The onsen hotel was opened in 1962, but has undergone renovations and is a nice, classy hotel synonymous with the Prince Hotel chain.  The round shape of the hotel gives good views of Sapporo from the higher floors. 

The room I stayed in was on the 16th floor and was a twin room with 2 beds, a nice Panasonic flat screen TV, and free internet with a LAN connection.  The bathroom featured a deep tub/shower and a Toto washlet(bidet)toilet.  The room had a nice northerly view plane and faced Odori Park. 

The subway system to the Sapporo Prince Hotel was the Namboku line from Sapporo Station to Odori Station, then on the Tozai Line to Juitchome Station.  From the Juitchome exit, about 2 blocks to the hotel.

It was walking distance to the Tanukikoji Shopping arcade and the Nijo Market.  About 2 blocks to the east was the start of Tanukikoji arcade at Nanachome(7th Street).  Nijo Market was at Itchome(1st Street).

The Sapporo Prince Hotel features an onsen and spa.  Although I cannot say that I used the spa, the onsen waters were very nice and hot - good for the cold Sapporo weather and supposedly good for neuralgia and joint pain.  The spa was open 5AM to 10AM, and 4PM to 12 Midnight.  Separate men’s/women’s baths and separate men’s/women’s Rotem buro(outside pool)where snow flakes fall on your head as you relax in the large onsen bath.  Bath charge was 450 yen per day, which included city onsen charge.

Restaurants included the Hapuna Restaurant(buffet)and my favorite at 3,500 - 4,500 yen for dinner, and a great bargain at 1,500 yen for a breakfast buffet.  Other restaurants include Le Trianon, a French restaurant, Steak House Katsura, a teppanyaki restaurant, and Fuyo-Jyo, a Chinese restaurant, along with 2 lounge/bars Sky Lounge Top of the Prince on the 28th floor with great views of Sapporo, and the Pikake Lounge on the 1st floor.

The Sapporo Prince review was a positive one for this blogger.

Sapporo Ramen Yokocho

Sapporo Ramen Yokocho

Sapporo Ramen Yokocho, is a small alley in the Susukino nightlife and entertainment district in Sapporo, Japan.  It is famous for shops serving world famous Sapporo ramen noodles to help warm you during the cold winter nights.

We passed the many shops in the narrow covered alley, but were attracted to the first shop we had passed by.  After the “irrashaimase” greeting by the two chefs, We sat down at the counter and asked the chef about the their soup base.  The soup base was a combination of boiling chicken and pork bones for a long time. 

I tried the 1,000 yen char siu ramen and found it to be very tasty.  The noodles were curly and firm - not soggy.  The soup was a little dark but the flavor of the soup was light, not greasy.  The char siu was plentiful - five pieces that covered the entire large bowl.  Toppings also included bean sprouts, or moyashi, bamboo shoots, or menma, and green onions.  My wife tried the 700 yen miso ramen.  The same curly, firm noodles and the miso based soup was very good - bean paste miso base that was slightly sweet.  The toppings included one piece of char siu pork, lots of bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and green onions.  For 700 yen - it was a great bargain.  I’ve heard that the buttered corn ramen is very good too!  I’ll try that next time. 

On the restaurant’s walls there were comments left by famous people that visited the shop.  I saw one from Anthony Bourdain and the “No Reservations” crew.  A famous Japanese enka singer named Kitajima Saburo left comments, Miss Korea 1998 left a comment, along with many others, thanking the chefs for a great bowl of ramen.

Sapporo Ramen Yokocho is definitely a do not miss and is a great place to find cheap eats and a place to eat good ramen.
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Sapporo Beer Garden

     Sapporo Beer Garden:

The Sapporo Beer Garden is part of the old Sapporo Brewery that is known for Genghis Khan barbeque lamb grilling.  There are different versions of the meal including all-you-can-eat(tabehoudai), or ala carte like I ordered.  The group on the next table opted for the all-you-can-eat, and the food kept coming.  My selection was the premium beef, marinated pork, and lamb chops.  The meat was very tender.  The meat was grill-on-your own on a sizzling grill in the shape of Hokkaido.   There’s nothing like the sound of sizzling meat to whet the appetite.  The yakiniku meat was delicious.  We ate in the large hall on the ground floor, walls and ceiling of red bricks.  In addition to the meat, cut up vegetables were brought to the table to be cooked on the grill. 

I opted for the drink as you go Sapporo beer, but I understand that an all-you-can-drink option is available.  The Genghis Khan buffet is 3,670 yen, with a little more for the all-you-can-drink option. 

Prince Hakone

Prince Hakone

The Prince Hakone is located at Hakone-en, about 40 minutes from JR Odawara station.  In this blogger’s opinion, the Prince Hakone is a very nice classy hotel.  Come down to ground level from the Odawara station and be picked up by the hotel’s shuttle bus.   English speaking staff will check you in efficiently.

The room balcony overlooked the forest and the room was quite large, with a king sized bed and a sitting area with two sofa chairs.  The television was a Panasonic Viera with about a 32 inch screen.  A Marantz CD contained a CD with forest sounds and nice music.  The bath included a Toto bidet toilet.

Dinner was in the Nadaman Japanese restaurant, and was impressive.  The caring nature of the wait staff and the creative dishes of the chef made for a very pleasant experience.  The Kaiseki Hana menu (set dishes menu) started with three appetizers of broad beans and scallops with soy bean milk and yogurt, asparagus mousse on sea urchin and consommé jelly, and boiled green vegetables seasoned with soy sauce.  The dishes reflected the creative nature of the chef, who blended sweet with tart, firm with soft foods.  Soup consisted of a steamed egg custard(chawan mushi) with green peas and mozzarella cheese. The raw fish course consisted of raw tuna(maguro),smoked Spanish mackerel(sawara)with soy sauce and fresh horseradish sauce.  The hot dish was a steamed mugwort(yomogi)and bamboo shoots bun which had the consistency of steamed rice cakes(mochi) which was delicious.  The grilled dish consisted of a grilled sea bream(tai)with a butterbur sauce, a deep fried soft shell shrimp(ebi)with an egg omelet and radish(daikon) and sauted tofu.  The contrast of soft and firm, sweet and tart, expressed the chef’s detail and creativeness.  The steamed rice was a high quality rice from Yamagata prefecture called “yume gokochi” and was shiny and delicious.  Dessert was a bowl of coconut milk, vanilla ice cream, azuki beans, and tapioca with a dark syrup.  Needless to say, I was very impressed with the dinner.  Our kimono clad waitress patiently explained every course of our meal in English!  She made this restaurant review easy.  An onsen review:  The onsen, called Kohan no yu, was nice, especially the rotemburo(outside bath) which faced Lake Ashinoko, and the body felt good as the cold air met the warmth of the bath waters.  Prince Hotels never fail to impress!

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Travel Japan Otaru

TRAVEL JAPAN OTARU

As you travel Japan, Otaru is not to be missed.   Fifty minutes to the north of JR Sapporo station in Hokkaido, and a 620 yen ticket will take you to Otaru port town.  Just to the left of the station main exit is the Sankaku Market, which cannot be missed because of the bright blue and red and white fishing flags displayed outside the entrance.  The people of Otaru are in this blogger’s opinion, some of the friendliest people in Japan.  As I asked directions to the Sankaku Market, a school girl most kindly went out of her way to walk us to the market.  The vendors were all very friendly, making us feel right at home.  What we found was a nice quantity and quality of seafood, both fresh and dried.  I purchased two king crabs to send to my relatives in Tokyo and Kumamoto.  The king crabs were live and swimming in the cold water, very large and full of crab meat and healthy.  The salmon was very fresh-probably just off the fishing boat that morning.  The seafood was very reasonably priced, as my delivery charge was more than the crab.  The oysters I saw looked very good, and the scallops were still alive in the tanks. 

We had lunch at a restaurant in the Sankaku market, a kaisen don or fresh seafood toppings arranged on a bowl of rice.  The toppings included botan ebi(peony shrimp sashimi), hotate(scallop sashimi), and lots of ikura(raw orange salmon roe).  The owner of the restaurant came in with the live scallops and the shrimp for the Kaisen don.  The toppings were so fresh and good that we forgot about the rice.  I ate the whole shrimps as the head and body were so sweet.  The scallops were full of flavor as they were alive only minutes earlier.  The orange salmon roe just popped in my mouth and released their great taste.  The kaisen don was reasonable too – only 1,300 yen.  It came with a steaming bowl  of seafood flavored miso soup and some shredded dried squid which the owner gave us as a side dish.  A one topping bowl of seafood on rice was as low as 400 yen, and quite a bargain.  The restaurant’s walls and ceiling were covered with pictures of happy people that had eaten at the restaurant. This is a Travel Japan Otaru recommended restaurant.

Several of the other vendors I visited were very friendly too. The ladies at both the fresh fish shop and  the sweets shop noticed that my wife walked with a cane and offered her a seat while I transacted the purchase and let us know the easiest way back to the station and that there was an elevator at the Otaru station.   Travel Japan in Otaru liked the small Sankaku market a lot. 

 

The Otaru canal was very nice as snow covered the enbankments of the canal.  The “orogoru” music box shop at the Otaru Bus Station had lots of interesting items for sale, and they offered “taiken” , a workshop where you could learn how to make a music box. 

On a previous trip to Otaru port, we visited a glass factory as Otaru is known for its glass making. Be sure to visit one when you're there.

As you travel Japan, Otaru is a must see!

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