Hanakoji Sawada - Sapporo
Office conference room or private dining room?
Rating: 14/20
Where: Sapporo, Japan
When: Dinner for 3 on 10 February 2025
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 25500-31500 JPY
Accolades: Formerly 3 Michelin Stars (2017)
Why: Kaiseki with local ingredients from Hokkaido
“Hanakoji Sawada” is a kaiseki restaurant in Sapporo, notable for using lots of local ingredients from the island of Hokkaido. Its other claim to fame is that it used to have three Michelin stars in the last local edition of the guide, published in 2017. So we were naturally curious to try the restaurant when we were in town for the city's annual snow festival. It took us a while to find it - on the third floor of a building labeled “Plaza 7-4”. There were five counter seats, but most guests will probably sit (like us) in one of several private dining rooms. Ours had a pretty modern design, making it look like an office conference room.
Our dinner started soon after we ordered our drinks - no pairing was offered, but many sakes were available by the carafe and maybe twenty wines by the bottle and two by the glass.
For our first bite, we received a breaded and fried hokkigai clam and beans (not pictured). The clam was somewhat chewy, the beans mealy and the batter pretty thick, relatively speaking 14.
Uni (sea urchin) was served over a slightly warm Japanese eggplant. While the uni was quite nice, the eggplant only had a light flavor 15.
A generous helping of crab meat was served with a “crab juice” dipping sauce. The crab was of good quality, but served surprisingly cold. A very simple dish with an acidic sauce 15.
Tempura made from Hokkaido corn also had lots of batter, similar to the clam. The corn was slightly sweet 14.
Chawanmushi contained black shrimp and mushrooms. The egg custard had a light seafood flavor, and the shrimp were enjoyable 15.
A filet of amadai had a super crispy skin. Unfortunately, there was a lot of that skin - almost too much. The fish was tending towards overcooked for my taste 13.
Codfish was served with a jelly and some vegetables. Both fish and vegetables didn't have much flavor 13.
A “hotpot” contained shark fin, sesame tofu, mushrooms and green beans. The texture of the shark fin was reminiscent of vermicelli, and I'd gladly have eaten the pasta instead of the controversial animal product... The green beans were pretty good, with a good crunch and fresh flavor. The broth was nice enough, but the 100% clear variety often seen in kaiseki cuisine 14.
The final savory course consisted of two pieces of chutoro nigiri that were topped with a dollop of wasabi. This was a decent fish, rich but also a bit watery. The rice underneath was unfortunately very plain, there wasn't any vinegar in evidence 14.
To finish our dinner, we were served a hojicha tea ice cream sandwich. The hojicha flavor was pretty light, so this was just a cold, creamy and sweet treat 15.
Overall: A dinner of Japanese kaiseki that was fine, but didn't amount to anything special. There were no standout dishes or special ingredients. I can only assume that the restaurant changed a lot since its three-star rating in 2017. In its present form, even a single Michelin star would be generous 14.