A Roadside Station also called Michi no eki is a government-designated rest area found along roads and highways in Japan.
In addition to providing places for travelers to rest, they are intended to promote local tourism and trade. Shops may sell local produce, snacks, souvenirs, and other goods. All roadside stations provide 24-hour access to parking, public toilets and facilities for sharing information.
Tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat, and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese residing in Nagasaki through the fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century.
Donburi (literally "bowl", also abbreviated to "-don" as a suffix) is a Japanese "rice-bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice.
In this article, we are talking about “Tendon”. It is a rice bowl topped with several tempuras.
Sobadokoro Hyosetsuan
The soba restaurant Hyosetsuan is located in the food court of the Asahikawa roadside station, renovated in 2013 to coincide with the opening of the Crystal Bridge. Out of the four initial restaurants, only two have survived from that time, Yoshino and Umekoken, both specialising in Asahikawa ramen.
The buckwheat noodle shop has changed from “Soba-dokoro Chogoro” to "Soba Kaburaki" and to the actual "Soba-dokoro Hyosetsuan".
The soba restaurants are being overwhelmed by the Asahikawa ramen popularity.
But well, not many customers seem to eat at the "Michi no Eki Asahikawa" in the first place.
There are two types of Tendon at Hyosetsuan: vegetable-only Tendon for 800 yen and Tendon with 2 Shrimps for 900 yen. The tendon including two shrimps was at a special price the day our writer went there. At only 800 yen (100 yen discount), so we didn't hesitate to order it!
The large prawns, seaweed and shiso leaves tempuras, were freshly fried and crispy. 800 yen is a reasonable price for such a good quality.
The tempura soba looked good too, the next time we come here, we will definitely try this !
Name: Sobadokoro Hyosetsuan
Address：Asahikawa-shi kagura 4-jō 6-chōme 1 - 12 michi-no-eki Asahikawa
Opening hours: 11:00 - 20:00
Closed: No regular holidays
Parking: Available
Soba Kaburaki
Soba Kaburaki situated in the food court "Soraichi" on the 2nd floor of Asahikawa Airport, was formerly located in the Michi no Eki Asahikawa (Roadside Station Asahikawa).
The store is being run by the "Sunriver Co., Ltd.," a group company of the Asahikawa Station Tachiuri Shokai Company, which took over "Soba-dokoro Chogoro" when Road Station Asahikawa was still being renewed.
The "Kaburaki Tendon," named after the restaurant, costs 890 yen. It's a bit pricey, but I guess it's relatively reasonable for an airport.
For 1,290 yen, you can also have a “Lobster tendon" (big prawn tempura bowl), but exceeding 1,000 yen for lunch is a bit too pricey for our writer.
But even the 890 yen "Kaburaki Tendon" is voluminous!
It's totally different from the menu photo on the counter. This kind of betrayal is very welcome though.
Two large prawns, maitake mushrooms (hen-of-the-woods) and lotus root tempura are served on a large bowl of rice. There was so much rice that our writer couldn't finish all of it.
890 yen is a very good price.
Name: Soba Kaburaki Asahikawa Airport
Address: Higashikagura-cho Higashi 2 Line 16-98 Asahikawa Airport 2F
Tel: 0166-73-3520
Opening hours: 11:00 - 20:00
Closed: Open all year round
Parking: Asahikawa Airport’s
Sobadokoro Hana no Ie
The soba restaurant Hana no Ie is located in the food court on the ground floor of AEON Mall Asahikawa Ekimae, adjacent to the JR Asahikawa Station. Here since the opening of the AEON MALL, the restaurant closed recently, on 25th May.
Due to the pandemic, less and less people came to eat in Aeon. The day our reporter ate at the food court, only few persons were there.
This is probably our reporter’s last visit to this restaurant. He chose Tendon instead of soba for his last meal here.
The signboard menu in the shop didn't have any picture of the rice bowl, so our author didn’t really know what to expect.
The tendon was priced at 600 yen (excluding tax), the same as the oyakodon (egg and chicken on rice) and the geso-don (fried squid legs on rice). He was more worried than having expectations about this Tendon.
This is Hana no Ie’s Tendon. It doesn't come with miso soup or pickles, but for 600 yen (tax not included), it's cheap.
Shiso leaves, aubergine, prawns and pumpkin tempura were served on rice. It tastes quite good ! It's sad that we won't be able to eat this anymore.
Name : Soba Restaurant Hana no Ie
Address: 7-2-5 Miyashitadori, Asahikawa City Aeon Mall Asahikawa Station 1F
Tel: 0166-24-8708
Opening hours: 0166-24-8708
Closed: No regular holidays (same as AEON MALL Asahikawa Ekimae)
Parking: Available
Conclusion
In this article, we introduced you the food court of Michi no Eki Asahikawa, Asahikawa Airport and AEON Mall Asahikawa Station’s tempura.
There are not many restaurants specialised in tempura in Asahikawa, so if you want to eat delicious tempura, you may not know where to go. This is why we recommend you to go to a soba restaurant, where you can enjoy good and freshly fried tempura easily.
Translated from Tora’s article.
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Hello there!
I am in charge of translating in english some of asatan's articles.
I'm from France and I have been living in Hokkaido for 6 years.
Things I like : drawing, pokemon, online games,
Things I don't like : melon, lags, waking up in the morning