Benten Sushi — Restaurant in Hakodate

After watching a YouTube video where a couple visited this restaurant, I knew I had to come check it out for myself. It was everything and more and now I can die happy knowing I had the sushi dining experience I've always dreamed of. We came late at night, around 10 PM, knowing there was only an hour left until closing and there was a chance the place could be closed or that we would be told it was too late. Luckily, a very cheerful man welcomed us and sat us at the bar. We were the only customers and were served by the sushi chef himself, his adult son, and his wife. They were so friendly and happy to let me take lots of photos and videos. They don't speak a lot of English but we relied heavily on our friend who is near fluent in Japanese. The sushi was incredible and so reasonable. We asked for the 1800 yen/person omakase and the chef gave us about 8 pieces of sushi and then two freebies as we winded down. We also had beers in the frostiest mugs I have ever had. All in all a truly unique and...

Sometimes popular places get high scores that they don’t deserve. This — fortunately — is not really a popular place, and it definitely deserves the high score.

This place embodies the authentic sushi-ya atmosphere that will never be duplicated anywhere but rural Japan. The place is run by the sushi chef and his wife. In a tatami room next door, their grand kids peacefully play Minecraft on an old CRT television (poor guys).

The sushi is mind blowing, fresh, and surprisingly cheap. The sake is local and delicious. My wife, who detests shellfish, tried — and loved — abalone, crab, uni, Ikura, and more. We didn’t get much fish in our omakase order, but what we did get (maguro and salmon) was delicious.

Like I said — you will never get an experience with this quality and level of service for this price. We have paid 3x this in Tokyo and been disappointed. Highly...

Cannot overemphasis what a fantastic experience we had here. The sushi was delicious and creative, the service was attentive. There are set menus, the biggest of which comprises of 9 pieces and as you go down the menu each set has 2 pieces fewer. What’s included in the set depends on what’s fresh on the day. If you don’t speak Japanese I would suggest going there with an open mind as it’ll be nigh on impossible to find out what’s being served. The sushi master, who has been honing his craft for 55 years, was surprised to hear he had reviews on Google map so Google translate may be slightly baffling. The restaurants sits 6. It wasn’t busy when we went but would suggest calling ahead to make sure there’s space before heading over. Will definitely be trying to fit a few more trips to Benten Sushi...