Shiroi Beef Yakinuku lunch at Amano Family Farm and evening at Chitose Airport

31 May 2026

Our road trip is finally coming to an end. From Noberibetsu, we planned to drive to Chitose where we would return our rental car.

On the way to Chitose, we made a stop at Shiraoi for lunch. Shiraoi is a coastal town in southwestern Hokkaido, famous for its rich Ainu indigenous heritage and premium Wagyu beef.

Amano Family Farm

We drove to Amano Family Farm to have their beef yakiniku. Out of the several restaurants in town that serve wagyu beef and we chose this restaurant based on the excellent reviews on the internet.

Amano Family Farm is not really a farm as the only animal we spotted was a white goat that is tethered on a long rope outside.

The restaurant was easy to locate and there was ample parking outside. 

We ordered their special yakiniku set that came with 4 popular cuts of meat – lean meat diced, fillet, extra special kalbi and extra fatty roast and added another serving of extra special kalbi. 

Their menu also includes Korean kimchi which we ordered. 

 

The meat is grilled over hot coals.

The best way to enjoy excellent marbled beef is to grill them over a charcoal fire and eat them while the meat is piping hot. The smoke from the fats dripping from the marbled beef onto the coals adds to the flavour.

There is no smoke extractor system above the grill, so it was quite a smoky affair.

Although the beef was not the best beef we had in Japan, Shiraoi beef was incredibly delicious and very satisfying. It was a good way to end a road trip around Hokkaido.

Where we stayed in Chitose

Once again, we chose to stay at Queens Hotel Chitose. This value-for-money 3–star hotel is 5-minute walk from JR Chitose Station and about a 9-minute drive (5.1 km) from New Chitose Airport. Most importantly, this hotel offers free shuttle bus service to the airport in the morning.

Since our flight the next day is quite early, we planned to return our rental car one day before departure and then spend the rest of the day shopping and eating at New Chitose Airport. 

During check-in, I saw a sign that the free shuttle bus service at Queen's Hotel Chitose to New Chitose Airport permanently ended on April 30, 2026, due to ongoing staffing shortage. Thankfully, the staff informed me that they would still provide services to guests who had booked their stay before that announcement.

We were able to made use of the free shuttle service the next morning.

Evening at New Chitose Airport

The New Chitose Airport is not just an ordinary airport. It is an attraction in itself and hence I planned extra time in my itinerary to enjoy this airport.

The passenger terminal complex consists of two buildings, one for domestic flights and one for international flights bringing together around 180 establishments offering food, shopping and entertainment. Most of the nice shops are in the domestic terminal. There is even a natural onsen and sauna located right inside the terminal building.

For us, we planned to spend time to shop for the exclusive local snacks, popular Hokkaido sweets, and enjoy unique airport-limited treats.

Some popular stores, like the Kinotoya, had perpetual long queues for their milk soft serve ice-cream and cheese tarts.

This Kinotoya ice cream is worth queuing up for.

We bought some local sweets to bring home. 

All the snacks and stuff we bought on this trip.

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Enjoying Hokkaido’s famous soup curry at Garaku Chitose Branch

22 August 2023

Our plan for our arrival day in Hokkaido is simple. Collect our rental car from Toyota-Rent a Car at the airport, check into our hotel, savour one of Hokkaido’s local cuisines during dinner and rest early. I did not fancy a long drive after picking up our rental car at the airport and chose to stay in Chitose instead of Sapporo as it is only a 5 minutes drive from Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport.

We arrived in the evening after a 10-hour flight from Singapore that included an hour stopover in Taipei. Our hotel at Chitose is the Queen’s Chitose Hotel, a business hotel with free parking and good clean rooms.

Hokkaido has long been known throughout Japan for its food and soup curry is one of the great Hokkaido dishes that visitors should try. The dish is totally different from regular, thick Japanese-style curry with rice. The curry is watery, making it more of a soup dish than a curry. Hence the name.

There are many soup curry restaurants in Hokkaido serving this dish, each with their own secret recipe for the curry broth.

Garaku serves one of the best soup curries in Sapporo. I read somewhere that the primary reason behind the popularity of GARAKU is its original soup.

“The soup bouillon is made from flavours extracted by slowly boiling pork, chicken, and vegetables combined with a Japanese-style ‘dashi’ soup of dried skipjack tuna and mackerel further flavored with 21 different spices”.

Prior to our trip, I found that there is a branch of the popular restaurant located in Chitose. That was where we went for our dinner.

Unlike the main branch located in Sapporo, there are ample free parking spaces and no queue at the Garaku restaurant in Chitose.

Upon entry, I could smell the familiar smell of fragrant curry spices.

Waiting to be seated at the Garaku Chitose Branch even though there is no queue.

The decor of the restaurant is quite homely and warm. A chandelier with antelope horns hangs from the ceiling at the lobby area with wood panels and a small cactus garden.

Once seated, we were quickly served cups of iced water (typical of all Japanese restaurants in Hokkaido) and given an English menu.

We wanted to try the popular and limited quantities “Roasted Tender and Moist Pork Squares” and were not surprised to find that they were sold out.  All three of us ordered the “Yoichi wine fed pork shabu shabu with 7 kinds of mushrooms” instead.

     

Next, we were to choose the spiciness levels. As shown in the menu, 01 (not spicy) to 05 (very spicy) does not have additional charges. Those who breathe and eat fire can opt to pay extra yen for spiciness level from 06 to as high as 40!

All three of us chose level 05.

Rice is served in a separate bowl and we could also choose the amount of rice we wanted. The small (100g of rice) and medium (200g of rice) options have no additional charge while an additional 110 yen is charged for the large option with 350g of rice.

We chose 2 medium and 1 small portions. On hindsight, we should have chosen 3 medium portions as Sam has a good appetite.

We also have the options to add toppings. 

After a short wait, our soup curries with rice were served. Although this was our first time trying this dish, our expectations were high.

Love at first sight!

Our first soup curry in Hokkaido - Yoichi wine fed pork shabu shabu with 7 kinds of mushrooms. 

Hokkaido-grown rice, blended with 5 main healthy cereals and flavourfully finished with tumeric.

In addition to the 7 kinds of mushrooms, the beautiful bowl of yummy goodness included a boiled quail egg, broccoli, potatoes, a slice of crunchy lotus root, slices of carrot, some green sprouts and red paprika.

First sip the broth and taste the spices within. Unlike South East Asian curries, the curry broth has no coconut milk added and is hence watery in comparison. However, the spices within still pack a punch and are full of flavour.

Even although I am used to South East Asian spicy food, I was perspiring throughout my meal. Partly because there is little or no air-con in the restaurant during a hot summer night but mostly because I tends to perspire when I eat spicy food. Spice level 05 is very spicy! I think level 03 or 04 would have been ideal for me. 

I am normally not a fan of mushrooms but I enjoyed the fresh mushrooms and vegetables that came in the bowl. Especially delicious was the deep fried broccoli with its charred smoky flavour.

We finished every drop of the broth in all our bowls.

Before leaving, we actually bought a small bottle of Garaku’s premixed curry spices to bring home. I doubt we could recreate what we ate at home but we could always try.

Overall, our first taste of Hokkaido’s soup curry had been very positive. We would definitely try more soup curries when we visit Sapporo later during this trip.

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From Chitose to Furano with stops at Furano Cheese Factory and Furano Marche

23 August 2023

This was the day when we started on our 8 days road trip to explore the North Eastern part of Hokkaido. Our plan for the day was to drive from Chitose to Asahikawa via Furano and Biei with a few stops and activities along the way at:

• Farm Tomita
• Lunch at Yuiga Doxon in Furano
• Furano Cheese Factory
• Furano Marche
• Drive down the Panorama Road near Biei
• Shirogane Blue Pond
• Shirahige Waterfall

Although Farm Tomita is located between Furano and Biei, my plan was to visit this place first as this popular attraction is known to get really busy and crowded later in the day once tour buses from Sapporo arrive.

We had to start early as it takes slightly more than 2 hours to drive from Chitose to Farm Tomita which opens at 9 AM. It was not difficult to wake up early as the bright morning sunlight was already streaming through the cracks in our hotel room’s curtain at 5 AM. Although Queen’s Hotel Chitose does offer breakfast with the room, I chose to have a simple breakfast of instant noodles (brought from home) and the room’s capsules coffee so we could depart early.  

We left Chitose as planned. The morning traffic was not heavy and we made pretty good progress. The Toyota Corolla Hybrid was quiet and spacious for our group of 3 adults.

Along the way, we made a change to our plan and decided to go to Furano Cheese Factory first instead of Farm Tomita to avoid backtracking back to Furano for lunch. We reckon it may be worthwhile to save 30 minutes of driving time and take a risk on the crowds in Farm Tomita in the afternoon.

Furano Cheese Factory

Furano Cheese Factory manufactures and sells dairy products such as cheese, butter, and Furano milk. We arrived at the Furano Cheese Factory shortly after 9 AM.  There were only a few cars before us in the large car park. 

Aside from a short self-guided tour course showing visitors how cheese are made from behind glass windows and cheese tasting at the shop, there is nothing much here. Visitors can sign up for cheese making workshop but that is not something we fancy doing.

We could watch cheese being made on the first floor of the building.

Browsing the cheese, butter, and milk products.

The second floor is where dairy products are sold and cheese could be sampled before buying. There is also an exhibition section that introduces the history and culture of dairy products.

There were 3 kinds of cheese for us to sample, including a black cheese colored by squid ink.

A life-size cow with rubber udders is available for those who want a picture of themselves milking a fake cow.

Cheese from around the world.

In other buildings next to the cheese factory, there is an ice cream parlor (called the "ice milk factory") and a pizzeria ("pizza factory").

We bought some gelato and cheese-flavoured soft-serve ice cream and spent some time relaxing in a shady spot under some trees, surrounded by greenery.

A antique red tractor.

We lazed around till it was time to go the Furano Marche which opens at 10 AM.

Furano Marche

Furano Marche is only a short drive away. Furano Marche is a small plaza that is home to twenty different shops, eateries and restaurants.

We went to check out some souvenir and local produce shops. There are lavender, Furano melon, wine, cheese and local vegetables products sold and these seems to be quite popular for visitors.

We also went to a Ralse Mart to buy some snacks and drinks. The alcohol products like whiskey and beer are definitely good stuff to buy compared to the prices back home.

The first of our many strong zero beer we consumed on this trip.

Although there are many restaurants and eateries in Furano Marche, we did not eat there. I had a better plan for our lunch in Furano.

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