Feasting Pigs

in antwerp, belgium (jan’24)

headed to antwerp for a weekend earlier this year as a break from london. hertog jan now prizes itself on its japanese fusion cooking, with some nordic influences and predominantly dutch produce. not normally a fan of this type of cooking especially in europe because of how much this term ‘japanese fusion’ has been abused, but i think hertog jan is one of the better renditions.

highlights were the starter and of course his take in the take on brussels waffle. caviar explosion consisting of 4 types of ‘caviar’ - caviar, salmon roe, mullet roe and finger-lime was surprisingly nice, ‘toro no toro’ where they use sustainable cured beef tartare to replace the tuna was also nice. wild turbot grilled in binchotan was nice, especially the engawa, the lobster ragout i didn’t understand cuz it was a bunch of stuff mixed together with a rich like buttermilk sauce. brioche with seaweed butter was lovely and so was the grilled and smoked duck. cheese course was another highlight today, especially loved the cheese ‘pudding.’ dessert was a sweetcorn and popcorn with black truffles and ended on a high note with a canele and whole brussels waffle. a solid meal, nice experience, a good fine dining option in the area.

menu ‘omakase’: (€360)
✨caviar explosion
✨‘toro no toro’
kombu aged royal belgian caviar
hamachi ‘crudo’
wild turbot, vin jaune
ragout from breton lobster
bread service
duck, grilled & smoked with beurre rouge
✨‘say cheese’
‘save room for dessert’
✨‘sweet memories’
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would revisit: try once
reservations: yes
price range pp: €300-€600
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📍HERTOG JAN AT THE BOTANIC
location: botanic sanctuary, lange gasthuisstraat 41, 2000 antwerpen
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in niseko, hokkaido (december’23)

ended the year and our dec trip here at moliere’s niseko outpost inside park hyatt hanazano, serving very simple french with local ingredients which was very much enjoyable, and gave me hope of japanese french fusion after all. the menu considering its inside one of the newest and most prestigious hotels of the area was surprisingly economical, great service and a nice view outward onto the slopes.

we got their shorter menu which offered lamb, instead of the beef and lobster dishes. we began with a small onion tart and a really lovely loaf of warm sourdough and butter. instead of raw oysters, i was offered a foie gras pate with jam which was okay. really enjoyed the fresh winter vegetables with gnocchi in a light cheesy sauce. the main of lamb was also super good especially the sauce, stewed in a pot sealed tight with fresh dough which was also served alongside the lamb. local cheese plate and honey before a freshly baked apple tart was served, and ended with a really lovely mandarin jelly. a really lovely meal, highly recommend coming here when in niseko, and would love to check out the sapporo main shop if i’m next around.

menu terroir: (¥18,000)
onion tart
✨sourdough with butter
burdock soup
seafood plate: oysters (/foie gras)
✨winter vegetables with potato gnocchi
scallop meunière
palate cleanser: apple sorbet
✨stewed lamb with seasonal vegetables
✨hokkaido cheese selection
apple tart with vanilla ice cream
✨mini sweets: mandarin jelly
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would revisit: yes
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍MOLIÈRE MONTAGNE
location: park hyatt niseko hanazano, 328-47 iwaobetsu, kutchan, niseko
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in niseko, hokkaido (december’23)

loved this meal, everything about it from the ambience, food to the lovely family run staff. this soba kaiseki in annapuri, niseko was so homey and the food though simple, was well crafted and executed. really loved the unlimited soba cha with our meal as well. highlight was of course the homemade soba made in front of us, where we got to choose between the cold version with tare or warm with a duck soup broth. i’m not sure if its because how fresh it was made, it still is one of the most remarkable sobas i’ve had thus far in japan, strong wheaty flavour, al dente, very enjoyable overall. really wished they would have made more for second servings. other dishes i loved were the daikon in dashi topped with uni, pork shabu shabu, and the veg tempura was also lovely. a great meal i highly recommend trying to book for your next trip to niseko, very afforable also. i heard they’re expanding so i really hope the homey-ness would be lost in the progress.

dinner course: (¥19,360)
鯖トマト ホタテ 牡丹海老 saba tomato, scallop, botan shrimp
蟹 トマトソープ crab in cold tomato soup
大トロ ネギトロ otoro, negitoro
大根の出汁 ウニ daikon in dashi with uni
焼きカツオ grilled bonito
豚のしゃぶしゃぶ pork shabu shabu
野菜の天ぷら tempura vegetables
暖かい鴨蕎麦 / 冷たい蕎麦 warm duck soba or cold soba
柚子アイス yuzu ice cream
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would revisit: yes
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍楽一
location: 431 niseko, abuta district
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in niseko, hokkaido (december’23)

right inside the shiki hotel at hirafu city center is kitchen, kamimura’s more casual outpost serving creative and seasonal japanese cooking. price was also very justified, cooking was really solid and really good service. but because the space is really small, the dining time limit was quite firm, as they serve 2/3 rounds per night.

thoroughly enjoyed everything tonight, from the salad, to the fresh seafood like grilled scallop with the aged potato, crab and the lovely brown rice risotto. the focaccia was also really lovely we had to get another round as the meal was quite light. ended with a lovely banana ice cream and a mashed pumpkin as well as a warming hojicha. a nice post snowboarding dinner, great place to get together with friends. would love to try out kamimura next door next time.

dinner course menu (¥8,800)
rausu kinki fish: seaweed, cucumber, yuzu
hokkaido king crab: eggplant, ginger
hokkaido strawberry & prosciutto salad
grilled scallop: aged potato, maitake mushroom cream
salmon roe and brown rice risotto
char grilled beef tenderloin, farofa
roron pumpkin, banana ice-cream
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would revisit: yes
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥20,000
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📍KITCHEN NISEKO
location: 1/f shiki niseko, 190-4 aza yamada, niseko
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in niseko, japan (december’23)

my favourite meals in hokkaido actually began in niseko which was so unexpected, prices were also very decent, undisturbed from all the economical influences. one of which was this ghengis khan (lamb bbq) outpost in the middle of nowhere. recommend hiring a taxi in advance there and back or driving. the reservation came with a mandatory portion of lamb, with a generous amount of fresh local vegetables, also got a portion of venison roast and beef rib to grill. venison was nice, beef was okay, the best was still the lamb. sausage and hokkaido sweet corn soup can be skipped, but recommend the fried potato chips with ketchup and kewpie mayo. yogurt with strawberry jam could also be skipped. a really nice cozy spot, hits the spot after a long day on the slopes.

✨特製ラムジェンギスカン 2人前 fresh lamb ghengis khan (¥6000)
牛リブロース beef rib roast (¥2600)
✨蝦夷鹿肉 ‘ezo’ venison (¥2300)
北海道コーンスープ corn soup (¥550)
ソーセージ盛合せ assorted sausage (¥1600)
✨フライドポテトfried potato (¥770)
自家製生ヨーグルト homemade yogurt (¥660)
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would revisit: yes
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍 LOFT倶楽部
location: 397-5 soga, niseko
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in sapporo, japan (december’23)

one of the most unsatisfying meals for me this entire trip, started off strong with some solid tsumami, but the nigiri was over the place. shari was barely flavoured and loosely packed to a point it was falling apart, neta was also not handled best, some were awfully cold and some were borderline fishy. a very tourist centric and oriented shop, with very cute descriptions and drawings of the names of fish in english. i’m unsure if there is a difference between the 2 rotating taishos who serve here, but i must have been unlucky with the one who was serving today. unfortunately not a place that lived up to its name and personally don’t really recommend.

dinner omakase (¥33,600)
蟹の茶碗蒸し crab chawanmushi
金目鯛ポン酢 kinmedai
あん肝 ankimo
焼きタコ grilled octopus skewer
ヒラメ hirame
ホタテ scallop
白子のスープ shirako soup
✨カツオ katsuo
太刀魚 tachiuo

さわら sawara
中トロ chutoro
北寄貝 hokkigai
ボタン海老 botan ebi
鯖棒寿司 saba sushi
穴子 anago
ウニ uni
鮑と肝ソースご飯 abalone with rice
卵焼き tamago
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would revisit: no
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥30,000-¥60,000
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📍鮨菜 和喜智
location: 25-1-22 minami 2 jonishi, chuo ward, sapporo
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in sapporo, japan (december’23)

a rather decent sushi option in sapporo, especially with the price the cospa was really great. but this was a rather slow paced meal, one person working both front with nigiris and back kitchen, the timings of arrival also stagger. but pretty impressive considering, favourites were the karasumi mochi and ankimo, sawara, maguro and anago here was also solid. friendly chef and very foreigner friendly, a nice recommendation in the area and very easy to book.

dinner omakase (¥19,800)
カツオ 淡雪塩 katsuo
たら白子のスープ tara shirako soup
コバコ蟹 kobako kani
焼き鱈 grilled cod
あん肝奈良漬 ankimo
カラスミもち karasumi mochi

スミイカ sumi-ika
縞鯵 shima-aji
さわら sawara
白海老 shiro ebi
赤身漬け akami zuke
大トロ otoro
小肌 kohada
ウニ uni
鰻きゅうり巻き unagi cucumber
干瓢巻き kanpyo maki
卵焼きtamago
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would revisit: try once
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍鮨しののめ
location: 2/f 22-2-5 minami 1 jonishi, sapporo
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in sapporo, japan (december’23)

known for their soup curries in this part of japan for casual foods, but was craving something a but richer so went for this roux curry shop quite far out of town. very home-cooking style, with the ability to customise almost everything, from the ingredients, spice level (1-5), toppings as well as the rice portion. opted for the mixed vegetable curry as i always do with least spicy, love the sweetness of the curry which complemented the fresh assorted veggies. also added a mandatory addition of cheese for both curries, the fried ebi dango which was tasty too. we also got their chicken curry with medium spice, bit more mellow in terms of sweetness and more balanced with the spice, the chicken was however a bit broken and rough as i believe its stewed chicken as opposed to freshly cooked. quite a nice spot to stop by, but would also like to try other shops and especially soup curry outposts when i’m next around sapporo.

チキンルーカレー3番辛さ + チーズ (¥1200+¥250)
chicken curry level 3 with cheese
野菜ルーカレー1番辛さ + チーズ, エビ団子 (¥1200+¥550)
veg curry level 1 with cheese, ebi dango
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would revisit: try once
reservations: no
price range pp: under ¥3000
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📍一文字カリー店
location: 17 minami 2-4 hondori, shiroishi ward, sapporo
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in sapporo, japan (december’23)

quite a treck away from sapporo city center, this italian establishment has gained quite some popularity lately. famous for his homemade ham, there was indeed a huge selection of them sandwiched between our courses tonight. i found most of them interesting to eat, but not very deep in flavour as i prefer my ham to be and most of them were quite dry. my favourite were the proscuitto with mozzerella, gnoccho fritto with mortadella. there wasn’t much synergy between his cooked proscuitto cotto ham with rice and the awabi also, was expecting a wow that didn’t really deliver.

his other dishes on the contrary was a bit of a ‘surf and turf’, mixing random ingredients together and very rich, bold flavours as well. geoduck strawberry salsa verde and his homemade mustard seed, as well as the artichoke baked oyster with ample shiso flowers were not very pleasant to eat. the very sour fermented mushroom broth with spinach and chilli oil was also quite unpleasant, grilled sausage was rather dry.

enjoyed his simple creations though, his christmas special tajarin made in front of us, with a light butter cheese sauce and piemonte white truffles was so good. and also enjoyed the end of a special milk ice cream which was rich and creamy. great try, but too far and not the style of japanese/italian food i like.

dinner omakase: (¥20,900)
✨プロシュートモッツァレラ mozzerella and proscuitto
黒豚サラミ salami
フェンネルシードサラミ fennel seed salami
カホコッロ 豚の首 pork neck ham
✨ニョッコフリット モルタデッラ gnoccho fritto
スペック 燻製生ハム 鮑 speck ham with abalone
プロシュートコット proscuitto cotto ham
プロシュートコット握り proscuitto cotto ham nigiri

みる貝 いちご サルサベルデ geoduck, strawberry, salsa verde
アーティチョークの焼き牡蠣 artichoke, oyster
発酵キノコのスープ ラー油 mushroom broth, spinach, chilli
✨白トリュフのタジャリン white truffle tajarin
ソーセージ 自家製マスタードシード sausage, mustard seed
✨函館のミルクアイス milk ice cream
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would revisit: try once
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍PARCO FIERA
location: 4-8-10 inaho 1 jo, teine ward, sapporo
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in sapporo, japan (december’23)

a really cool place tucked in a small neighbourhood of sapporo, where it was obvious that chef was trained in france prior to returning to japan, as his flavours were mostly heavy, very rich and quite salty. his bold approach was quite different and unexpected but it did get a bit much for me half way into the meal. really liked his rich mushroom based chawanmushi with crab and very traditional onion soup made with hokkaido tamanegi cooked down. his bouillabaisse with kinki was also memorable, grilled lamb genghis khan with a hint of cumin and curry flavour reminded me of kebab more so than the typical lamb bbq you get in the area. topped with a small dollop of chilli paste which was very spicy. chef is a bit quiet and not too engaging but after warming up a bit and brief talk about natural wine he slowly opened up. a nice but slightly pricey spot in terms of sapporo, worth a try if you like rich heavy flavours.
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omakase course: (¥36,300)
✨きのこ 蟹 茶碗蒸し chawanmushi
鰤 aged buri sashimi
小肌のテリーヌ kohada terrine
つぶ貝 キャビア tsubugai with caviar
✨オニオングラチンソープ onion soup
ホタテ scallop with shaved dried scallop
白甘鯛 shiro amadai
ジェンギスカン grilled lamb
キンキ ブイヤベース kinki with bouillabaisse
焼きリバー 黒トリーフ grilled liver, black truffle
ウニ筋子の巻き uni sujiko maki
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would revisit: try once
reservations: yes
price range pp: ¥30,000-¥60,000
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📍霜止出苗
location: 1/f 4-5-12, minami 9 jonishi, sapporo

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