Raku - The Perfect Izakaya

The Japanese have many great ideas, and wonderful traditions. Chief amongst them (at least from a gourmand perspective) is the Izakaya - 居酒屋. There’s no perfect translation into English, but a good approximation is “Bar with awesome side dishes and snacks”.

Raku is one such Izakaya, and sits in the ski fields of Hokkaido, in Niseko / Hirafu. I normally don’t worry with giving florid descriptions of the locations, and I only mention it at length this time because I couldn’t work out a way to smuggle this entire bar home in my luggage. So at least you know it’s still there. On an evening of fresh snow, you’ll admit it looks picturesque.

Raku

To the food. And what food! Hokkaido is blessed with many natural food stuffs, and Raku puts them all on the menu with a casual and approachable way. The local delicacies include Hokkaido potatoes done any number of ways, to local corn roasted on a barbeque in front of you. Fish abounds as you’d expect, both in cooked and raw form. Especially good are the saffron cod, a preserved cod that’s gone through the drying process with saffron added for a great rich flavour. Whole barbequed Hokke is mouthwatering, and goes well with the wide range of local and more famous sake brands.

Sashimi is one of Raku’s fortes. The Tuna (maguro if pronounced in Japanese) is both generous and succulent … the serving is bigger than entire “set meals” I’ve had at other Japanese restaurants. The Salmon is buttery and goes equally well with the sake, and there’s a great range of octopus, squid, scallops and more. Have I already mentioned these go well with the sake?

The staff are a great team, with the older chef clearly running the entire room from his vantage behind the barbeque.

The staff are more than happy to play charades, or let the tourists use the pictures on the menu to order. They’ll smile and nod at any attempt to use tourist Japanese. They even get a little thrill if you learn a Japanese custom or two. Try the odd “kampai” when toasting your sake (and whatever you do, don’t use the British “chin chin” … its meaning is rather different in Japanese :-) ).

Raku Izakaya
+81 136-22-6638
Hirafu
Niseko
Hokkaido
Japan

Find Raku on Google Maps