Takinami Donburi Restaurant — Donburi of Otaru North — Restaurant in Otaru

I’d say the service here, even though the crowd can make it chaotic, was amazing and the staff was very helpful. The ordering process goes like this - you get a ticket at the kiosk at the front, you stand in the long line in the alley waiting for your number to be called to ORDER, not to be seated. The staff who takes the order walks around to find you. After they take your order, you’ll wait based on your quoted wait time. It could be 30 mins, it could one hour, it could be 2 hours depending on the crowd. There’s also another space across from the main store that belongs to them, so the seating is bigger than what you might think. We came back a little later than what a staff quoted us but they still tried their best to seat us together (7 of us). They also tried their best to explain to us in English since we don’t speak Japanese.

As for the food, I got an uni bowl, and honestly it’s no different from other places where they serve Hokkaido uni. The best uni I’ve had in Hokkaido was actually in a kaisendon spot in the basement of a building in Sapporo. However, I highly recommend the Otaru specials that they have. Whatever it is. When I was there, they had hakkaku sashimi and it’s the best raw fish I’ve ever tasted. It beats otoro, kanpachi, Chutoro and all that for me. And now I’m sad because it’s a not so well known fish outside of Hokkaido which means most likely I can’t get it anywhere else. I’m so glad I listened to the lady to get the sashimi. And it’s not even pricey, like 1500¥!

The space is tight so make sure you’re ok with that. It’s a bit challenging to bring kids there but it’s doable. I advise against the stroller. Keep it in the coin lockers at or near the train station.

Hope to come back one day to order all the Otaru...

There was already a queue when I arrived around 915am. You’ll need to get the waiting number from the machine first and then a staff will come and take your order. But they still will only make your food once you are seated.

Seatings rather limited all were tables of four. So even if you are travelling in one pax / 2 you will end up using the table of 4 for yourself. Maybe that’s one of the reason the waiting time was so long. Perhaps the owner can consider smaller seatings / counter seats for solo or 2 pax traveler.

Food wise - price point was high but fresh nonetheless. You can order the set meal donburi or customised your own toppings. I opted for the smaller portion bowl but even so it’s still big.

Salmon was buttery. Fish roe was juicy and didn’t have that fishy smell. Uni was fresh and flavourful. Crab was fluffy. I also added on their local hakkaku sashimi - tasted a little firm and flavour profile more like flounder but it’s a good try.

Scallop was big and juicy. Oyster was fresh but slightly more expensive compared to other stores.

Overall a good store to try but waiting time can be very long. I waited for about 35 mins but some who came much later...

Somewhat disappointed.

We came at 730am on a Sunday and there were already a long queue (note: google maps says they open at 8am but that seems not the case). We waited for 30 mins to get in (make sure you register by writing down your name and party size when you join the queue, that part of instruction didn’t seem clear)

We got the mix uni and salmon roe rice and the 4 sashimi choices rice, and a small scallop sashimi appetizer. The mix uni (Mafuin and purple) and roe rice was somewhat of a disappointment. The freshness was there but quantity was really quite small for the price we paid (7700 yen). By the way, we were also confused why we were the same amount as a full mafuin uni plus roe rice. That was a bit tricky as the pricing was based on “market price” and h clear. The 4 flavor sashimi rice is a more economical choice and slightly better worth for money, though quantity was also a bit on the smaller side for around 3000 yen.

We left a bit disappointed and feel a bit bad for those others who came at 8ish (thinking google maps is accurate) and may be waiting for over 1-2 hours for this sort of experience.

They...