We all love Japanese food. Something about the freshness of the ingredients and the simplicity of the cooking methods.
And every region of Japan has their own speciality so you never run out of new and exciting dishes to try.

The island of Hokkaido is a seafood lover’s paradise.
And what better way to sample the freshest seafood than au natural, on a bed of fluffy fragrant rice.

Here are 3 great places in Hokkaido to get your Kaisendon (aka seafood bowl) fix:

Uni Murakami (Hakodate)

The Hakodate Morning Market is the largest seafood market in Hokkaido.
Here you’ll be able to find all sorts of delicacies like fish, prawn, scallop, crab, squid and sea urchin.
If you’re a fan of fresh seafood you’ll be delighted to see that most of the seafood look like they’ve been teleported directly from the ocean into the tanks at the market. This might seem like an exaggeration but it is not – the seafood are so fresh that they are literally dancing.

At the centre of the market is an indoor section that offers a large assortment of dried seafoods and other souvenirs to take home. In particular abundance are the pollock roe and dried scallops.
There is also a restaurant on the second floor where the chefs can help to whip up a dish with the seafood you’ve just purchased from the market in whatever style you fancy – sashimi, grilled, steamed or fried.

Coming to the star of the show, there is an unassuming little restaurant at one end of the market called Uni Murakami.
As the name suggests, they’re famous for their uni (sea urchin).
Apart from uni, they also offer other types of Kaisendon with crab or fish roe.
But the uni is truly out of this world. It is exceedingly fresh and each creamy mustard-yellow mouthful tastes sublime right to the very last bite.
The uni is sweet with a subtle nutiness and has the most exquisite texture.

This is a must try if you’re ever in Hakodate.

Takinami Shokudo (Otaru)

The most famous sightseeing spot in Otaru is of course the Otaru Canal.
Although it is really touristy (the only locals you’ll see are those hawking souvenirs and touting boat rides down the canal) it’s still worth taking a quick stroll past just to soak in the lively atmosphere.
Besides, the main shopping area, Sakaimachihondori Street, is just a stone’s throw away. And no trip to Otaru is complete without giving in to the vast array of tasty souvenirs on offer, ambling around the music box museum and enjoying a relaxing afternoon tea at the birthplace of the famous Le Tao cheesecake.

Let’s not forget though that this article is about Kaisendons.
The morning market of Otaru is situated right next to the train station and is aptly named the Sankaku market.
This roughly translates to triangular market as it occupies a small area in the shape of a triangle.
This is the smallest market we visited in Hokkaido and there couldn’t have been more than 20 stalls.

We picked Takinami Shokudo to stop at for a quick bite – seeing that it was a crowd favourite.
We tried the uni bowl as well as the king crab bowl. The portions were very generous with the toppings nearly overflowing from the bowl.
The uni don also came with 2 different types of uni which was nice as we got to directly compare them and decide which we liked better.
There’s the more commonly seen Murasaki uni, which is dull mustard yellow in colour with a mildly sweet and nutty flavour.
Then there’s the rarer and more exotic tasting Bafun uni which is orange in colour.

Overall, a pleasant dining experience.

Daiichi Kaisenmaru (Sapporo)

We came to this place after seeing it highly recommended by a certain YouTuber.
It is a quaint little establishment with approximately 15 seats and gives off a very homely feel.
As there weren’t enough seats, we were asked to share a table for 4 with another single diner (who you could tell was a regular by the colloquial way he was conversing with the owners).
The lady boss felt so bad about us having to share a table that she insisted on giving us a complimentary pack of chocolate coated strawberries.

We had the mixed bowl with uni, crab and salmon roe.
They were definitely not your run-of-the-mill Japanese restaurant quality.
Every bite of the exceedingly fresh and sweet seafood takes you to a sunny breezy island in the middle of an azure blue ocean.

You should definitely try your luck getting a table here; probably best to come early for better chances.