Hakodate is famous for its salt ramen, but due to the abundance of delicious food in Hakodate, I had not been able to visit a ramen restaurant in the city since I had eaten once at Hakodate Airport in the spring of 2021.
In the fall of 2021, I was able to fulfill my wish and visit the famous Hakodate salt ramen restaurant "Mentyubo Ajisai"
There are three Mentyubo Ajisai restaurants in Hakodate, one near Goryokaku, one at JR Hakodate Station, and one in the bay area.
※ There was a Yokohama Hammerhead store until September 2021, but there is currently no store in the Kanto region.
※ It was introduced in a corner of NTV ZIP at the end of 2021, but I went there before that.
Visiting place ： Mentyubo Ajisai Main Store
Address ：29-22 Goryokaku-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido
Access ：About 10 minutes walk from City Tram Goryokaku Koen-mae. Across from Goryokaku Tower.
Free parking is available for 7 cars, but if you are coming to Goryokaku for sightseeing, it may be more convenient to park at the Hakodate City Art Hall parking lot or other nearby parking lots, although there is a fee.
(Exterior view)
Walking from the Goryokaku Koen-mae City Tram stop, you will find the Ajisai Honten at the intersection with Goryokaku Tower and Lucky Piero Goryokaku Koen-mae.
Ajisai Honten is located on the second floor, but Ajisai also operates "Cafe Kitaichi/Han Ajisai Kan" on the first floor. This one mainly serves soft ice cream, snacks, and souvenirs, so ramen is not available here.
The parking lot is on the left side of the building, so it is easier to park if you turn right onto Tokiwa Dori directly from Route 571.
Next to the ramen sign is the entrance to the Ajisai Honten. Head up the stairs to the second floor. Before Corona, there was a line up to the bottom of the stairs, but on this day we were able to enter without waiting.
(Interior)
When you go up the stairs, there is a ticket vending machine, so you place your order here.
I went to Ajisai expecting to order salt ramen, but I was troubled for a moment by the wide variety of ramen, including soy sauce ramen and curry ramen.
(Kitchen side)
We were seated at a counter-like table in the center of the restaurant. This is a shot of the kitchen side from there.
About one-third of the seats were occupied, but there appeared to be only one person in the kitchen.
You can see the Lucky Piero sign across the intersection.
From the first floor of the building, it looks small, but with 58 seats, the restaurant is larger than expected.
（Ramen)
Since it was my first visit, I decided on the most famous "Ajisai Shio Ramen" (味彩塩拉麺).
The soup is light and clear, with straight noodles and a piece of pork on top.
The soup is healthy and tasty, and I could eat it every day and never get tired of it.
It may not be enough for those who like the punchy ramen that is so popular these days, but I liked the lightness of the soup.
The side dishes such as gyoza and zangi also look delicious, so I would like to stop by again the next time I visit Hakodate.
