Come hungry to this excellent Japanese city. Just beware the clowns

OpinionTravel writerNovember 7, 2026 — 5:00amNovember 7, 2026 — 5:00amFOOD TOURS: HAKODATE, HOKKAIDO, JAPANWEDNESDAYIt’s late when I arrive in Hakodate, on the southern tip of Hokkaido, Japan, and I’m hungry. Having skipped lunch for reasons that seem foolish and far away, I find myself standing in the lobby of my hotel, drinking complimentary sake and contemplating my next move. The rain is falling sideways, and as my wife hates eating with wet feet, we choose a yakitori restaurant for no better reason than it being 30 metres away from our hotel.But fate is kind, and the food at Toritatsu is exceptional. The chicken meatballs come perfectly paired with sauce and yolk, the reeba (liver) is an embodiment of umami, and the shiitake adds a welcome splash of vegetable to our carnivorous diets. The standout is the bonjiri. Colloquially known as “chicken butt”, it’s a highly prized cut of meat in yakitori circles from above the tail, a fatty, cartilaginous thing that bursts with flavour. The flavours of Hakodate.IllustrationI’m about to pay for dinner when Google Translate comes out. There is a problem, or so I assume, one that can’t be solved by my passable level of Japanese. I might be getting better but I’m still not good enough to comprehend that a stranger paid for our meal before disappearing into the night like a bill-paying Batman.As we can’t thank our mysterious benefactor for the meal, we buy the staff a round of beers instead, which becomes something of a performance when each of them individually comes out and thanks us with a “kampai”.Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletterGet exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.With these formalities finished, we retreat to our hotel for an early start the following morning. Japan is playing Sweden in the FIFA World Cup 2026, and I didn’t buy this Samurai Blue T-shirt for nothing.THURSDAYI want to get among the locals, but the only place showing the game is a sushi restaurant inside the Hakodate Morning Market. This means it’s 8am sushi and beer for me, which, ironically, is the ideal time to eat at the market, as the catch comes in early and the restaurants close at 1pm. I order the omakase. It’s my way of telling the chef to feed me until my eyes roll back into my skull and I fall off the stool.The chef casually slaps together prawn nigiri so buttery it melts, salmon roe that pops like fishy little candies, and scallops that taste like slurping the sea. Uni is in season, too, and it’s a personal favourite. Technically, it’s the sex organs of sea urchins, and between this and the chicken butt, this is really turning into a kinky kind of food adventure.With all the beer, raw fish and sea urchin gonads swilling around in my stomach, I make the questionable decision to hike to the top of Mount Hakodate. It’s a vain attempt to work off my breakfast sushi that turns into a somewhat queasy climb. The view from the top is (allegedly) spectacular. I wouldn’t know as mists roll in and make it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of me. I assume this is Mother Nature telling me to get back to the important business of this article – the food.Clowns hurt my spirit … Seventeen Lucky Pierrot restaurants are about 16 too many for Paul Marshall.Paul MarshallUpon descending, I swing past Hakodate’s most famous restaurant: a burger joint run by a psychotic clown. There are 17 Lucky Pierrot restaurants in a town with a population of roughly 230,000, which strikes me as about 16 too many. Unfortunately, I’m unable to eat at Lucky Pierrot for spiritual reasons. Namely, because clowns hurt my spirit, so I pivot to a ramen joint that makes use of the town’s exceptional seafood.Yamazaki Yofuten serves ramen with (oddly enough) prawn wontons, and offers chirashi bowls on the side. I’ve already eaten my weight in raw fish, but no amount of mercury can stop me from adding a chirashi bowl to my order. It comes heaped with thick chunks of salmon, spoonfuls of roe, and is a meal in itself, making the wonton ramen another mountain to climb.A real-life Master Roshi.Paul MarshallThe end result is an afternoon food coma, from which I emerge a few hours later and head to a vintage clothing store that doubles as a bar. It sucks me in with its Japanese reggae, and keeps me hooked thanks to the owner, a renaissance man who has styled himself as a kind of live-action version of Dragon Ball’s Master Roshi. I’m still way too full from lunch, so my dinner here is an austere combination of beer and complimentary nuts. Delicious.FRIDAYMy last meal in Hakodate is another breakfast oddity: a soft-serve ice-cream at the JR station. This one is pumpkin flavoured, and, as I am something of a “soft cream” connoisseur, it’s one of the kooky combinations I’ve enjoyed the most.It’s the perfect end to a 36-hour food adventure, and while I can’t promise that strangers will pay for your meals, I can promise that if you come to Hakodate with your mouth as open as your mind, you’re in for a seriously good time.The writer travelled at his own expenseMore:Food ToursOpinionFor subscribersJapanFoodie travelAsiaPaul Marshall is a Sydney-based travel writer who got lost on the Banana Pancake Trail and never found his way back. A champion of backpacking and budget-savvy travel, he specialises in B-side destinations and learning just enough of the local language to order a beer (but no follow-up questions, please). Follow him on instagram.com/paulmarshalltravelsConnect via email.From our partners