Back when i was planning my itinerary for my first Japan trip to Hokkaido, i relied heavily on TripAdvisor and Google Maps for places of interest, including potential spots for meals.
In Furano itself, the restaurants / cafes chosen for lunch, dinner and breakfast were ranked top three on TripAdvisor and number 2 was Kumagera.
Housed within a building that looked like it was overrun by money plant, you would definitely be taken aback by the bunches of overhanging fruits; it's a grapevine! Maybe it wasn't season yet as the grapes appeared too small.
Waiting for our turn as the restaurant was full that night! As expected from Japan's exemplary customer service, there was a notice informing diners that they might take slightly longer to serve us.
Couldn't quite pinpoint the decorative style even though as many of you would be aware that i don't care. Food taste would take the highest priority and in an evaluation matrix, be accorded the heaviest weightage.
While waiting, i suddenly caught sight of something red on a table; what the..... Kumagera is in the Michelin guide?!?! I didn't know how many stars it attained in 2017 but a search online revealed one start back in 2012.
After a wait of about 15 minutes, we were brought to the second floor where there were two additional sections for diners!
Don't understand Japanese? Ask for a Chinese & English menu! Variety was wide and we had a hard time deciding what to eat. I was focused on only one thing; beef.
Prefer something special? You can try the roasted bear meat with ginger soy sauce meat! I remember watching an episode of a popular Taiwanese food variety show where the hosts recommended a restaurant in Hokkaido for bear cuisine (stew bear paw etc)!
Precautionary message, in four languages, for those who couldn't wait - "Some dishes would come early and some would come late because different cooking ways. Thank you for your understanding."
Alex got the message and proceeded to take a snooze.
100% Furano Grape Juice - this came more than 20 minutes later and arrived at the right time as i didn't drink much water that day. It was filled with the richness of grapes and super nice to have! Only problem; too little!
Cheese Tofu - ordered simply because it was unique and one of our travel mates was apparently into cheese. I only took a small bite as it's technically not ordered by me.
Served cold, the texture was hard, unlike the silken soft tofu we are better accustomed to. It tasted literally of cheese and i don't know about the others; i would have very much preferred a block of cheese.
Chicken Cutlet - a good picture of Japanese style chicken cutlet although the goodness is merely visual as it wasn't as amazing as i thought it would be.
The chicken had a nice crunch (thanks to the breadcrumbs) and tasted not bad although the marination could have been more memorable. Rasa Sayang's chicken cutlet would be ranked higher and it's halved the price. Not to mention as well that it's conveniently located in Ang Mo Kio in Singapore!
Furano Wagyu Beef Shabu Shabu - indicated for one person in Chinese, i was surprised to find such a big pot of soup placed in front of me!
Meat portion wasn't as generous though and i would very much like it if the vegetables (tofu, mushroom, udon, glass noodles and lettuce) were to be replaced by a few more slices of Furano wagyu beef.
In case you need a closer look; seven thin slices. Truthfully, i could add another portion of beef although it would set me back by a staggering 3,500 yen (approximately S$43). Never mind, i can make do with lesser meat so late at night.
Soup was bland and seemed to be seasoned with just kelp and maybe a dash of salt. The vegetables didn't improve the flavour and i was so tempted to throw in a few spoonfuls of soya sauce.
The slices of Furano wagyu beef didn't disappoint though despite the lack of flavorful soup; they were utterly tender and soft and given the limited pieces, i had to slowly chew through each piece to lengthen the blissfulness.
Melon with Sake - a fellow travel mate couldn't resist and he kindly shared it with all of us! I don't really drink alcohol and i am under the impression that sake is very potent. However, i am all for taking just a small sip!
Woah, didn't regret at all - the melon had soaked up the sake hungrily and there's a sweetness that made the sake very palatable! Even the pieces of melon tasted extremely sweet; did the sake catalyse the original sweetness of the melon?
Pricing at 1,200 yen which wasn't too expensive given that a non-alcoholic Korean bingsoo in Singapore could already have set us back at around the same pricing!
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Location
3-22 Hinodemachi,
Furano, Hokkaido
Phone Number (for GPS)
+81 167-39-2345
Operating Hours
11.30 am to 11.00 pm
Website
Pricing
100% Furano Grape Juice - 500 yen
Cheese Tofu - 500 yen
Chicken Cutlet - 1,000 yen
Furano Wagyu Beef Shabu Shabu - 3,900 yen
Melon with Sake - 1,200 yen
(Inclusive of Tax)
