Sukiyaki Lunch Can Be Enjoyed at Private Room with Elegant and Tasteful -Asari Head Office in Hakodate-

Asari Head Office (阿さ利本店) is an old-established meat shop founded in 1901 at the foot of Mt. Hakodate (函館山) in Horai-cho, Hakodate city. It got the Bib Gourmand in MICHELIN GUIDE Hokkaido 2012 Special Edition and 2017 Special Edition, and originates from a building facing Asarizaka slope (あさり坂). The building looks a historical building and is very shibui. There is the meat shop on the first floor and is a sukiyaki restraunt on the second floor. They use Head Office, so I guess that they have some branches, but the sukiyaki restraunt is only here. At lunchtime, it is crowded, so you should have phoned ahead and reserved a table. But except around 12:00, you may be able to enter the sukiyaki restraunt without reserving on weekdays. I made a reservation beforehand and visited here around 11:30 on weekdays.

The sukiyaki restraunt has all tables at private rooms and visitors can enjoy the private space. In additon, the private rooms has an atmosphere of Meiji period (明治時代) or Taisho period (大正時代) and matches politicians and presidents. They seem to offer meals to clients in Japan. A waitress showed me into the room. I sat on a Japanese cushion and read a menu.

Lunch menu (11:00 - 13:00) had A Lunch and B Lunch, and each prices were JPY 1400 and JPY 1600. The difference between A Lunch and B Lunch is a specialty croquette. Except the Lunch menu, an ordinary sukiyaki menu can be enjoyed. But I visited here for lunch time, and ordered B Lunch. She said "You can order extra portions of beef (400g) at an extra cost of JPY 400", so I ordered it, too. The sum total was JPY 2000. Contents of B Lunch were Beef Sukiyaki, Rice, Miso Soup, Pickles, Croquette and Thinly Shredded Cabbage, and Sherbet. Cutomers press a buzzer and make a payment after meals.

About 10 minutes later, the waitress served the B Lunch. It smelled good in the air. She said "The sherbet is served if you press the buzzer after meals". All waitress had good smiles and nice atomosphere like a maidservanta woman servant (女中). They have a history, so it is just my personal opinion, but I think they take care of their hospitality.

I whisked an egg with chopsticks at once, and dipped a beef into the whisked egg and ate it. It was very tasty! Of course, the beef was high quality, but sukiyaki sauce was very good, too. Not too sweet and not too salty, and it was right taste. Then I ate the specialty croquette. Fresh-fried mashed potato was good. As for the sukiyaki, I ate onion, green onion, firm tofu and noodles made from devil's tongue starch at a pot. The sukiyaki sauce soaked into the noodles made from devil's tongue starch very well. That was good, too. I want to eat the ordinary sukiyaki menu next time.

B Lunch and Atmosphere of Sukiyaki Restaurant Can Be Watched on Youtube.

Movie of B Lunch

A page of Hakodate is here