Hello Hokkaido! Uni Murakami Hakodate Honten うに むらかみ函館本店 – 6 June 2016

Uni Murakami Hakodate Honten うに むらかみ函館本店 – 6 June 2016

Before the Hokkaido trip, we saw lots of wonderful uni-don reviews on the internet about Hokkaido, and we knew it was a must-try to eat uni in Hokkaido. We are sea-urchin aka uni fans in Singapore, but it is often too expensive and the serving size is pathetic. Therefore, we must get our uni fix this round.

Uni Murakami うに むらかみ was a popular name that came up when you google uni in Hokkaido. They have 3 branches actually – 1 is the main branch in Hakodate, and 2 in Sapporo. Apparently, the Sapporo branches gets their stock from Hakodate, therefore we made a reservation (a week before) for the Hakodate branch well in advance to make sure we get our uni fix.

The location isn’t hard to find, as it is located right beside the Hakodate Morning Fish market. The whole place was deserted when we arrived (around 7 pm) apart from some restaurants.

Left of the restaurant – quiet

Equally quiet – right of the restaurant

Voila! The restaurant itself! Some Japanese were standing outside looking at the menu. But I later discovered they did not make a booking and the restaurant was full, so they left in disappointment.

The menu outside the restaurant – basically the same as the one inside. A full bowl of uni topped rice for about 4,000 JPY!

The restaurant is actually quite small, with an open area of only 6-8 seats. The rest are room type seatings – about 5 rooms only.

The private rooms shown above.

We ordered each a bowl of the half portion uni bowl with rice – so it does not look so fully topped…. Only half topped, but still more than what you will get in Singapore – which is usually just an uni gunkan.

It looks delicious and lovely – even though it’s just half-topped. The uni is so sweet and fresh – no fishy smell/taste at all. I can’t do justice with the taste – it’s just so soft it literally melts in the mouth, yet it remains creamy and light. Best uni I’ve tasted my whole life! You just gotta try it to believe it.

We also ordered grilled Hokke (atka makerel) – which we saw on every patron’s table, and grilled ika (squid) – supposedly synonymous with Hakodate.

The ika was definitely fresh and crunchy, and well prepared – warm. The friendly staff taught us to dip the ika in the sauce to eat it.

Hokke was definitely tasty. As with mackerels, it is definitely fishy, but not extremely. The meat is firm and fresh and well-grilled. Hokke is unique around the waters around Hokkaido, so do give it a try when you are in the area.

The oily meat of the Hokke- yumz!

Complete meal looks so yummy!!!

Verdict

Yay – The uni is the freshest you can find. In fact, I found this uni the best I have ever tasted in my life. It melts immediately in the mouth, with no fishy smell whatsoever. Even the Shakotan uni, which was supposedly freshest, had some fishy taste to it – this uni was completely just soft cream with minimal fishiness (refer to https://garysyayornay.blogspot.sg/2017/07/hello-hokkaido-misaki-shakotan.html for Shakotan uni review). I believe I can’t do it justice here, but it was just top notch uni that dissolves and disintegrates naturally in the mouth. It is just like very light cream. My friend didn’t like it though as he thought there was no fishy taste… that’s his opinion….

The branch in Sapporo serves a 7-course uni kaiseki – you might want to visit there to try it out. I think the kaiseki helps to attract more business in Sapporo. The Hakodate main branch does not have kaiseki because they are popular enough.

Address

Uni Murakami Hakodateうにむらかみ　函館店

Otemachi 22-1, Hakodate-shi, Hokkaido

北海道函館市大手町22-1
Tel: +81-138-26-8821

It is walkable from the JR Hakodate Station.