I Waited 17 Days for This Bowl of Ramen (Worth It?) 🍜🔥

I Waited 17 Days for This Bowl of Ramen (Worth It?) 🍜🔥

Welcome to cold, windy, blustery Hakadati, Japan. You can see how we got here. There’s the Norwegian sun behind and just got off the ship. We’ve been cooped up for 17 days. So, I’m determined to get around and just stretch my legs on solid ground. Let’s go and have a little explore around Hakadati, Japan. [Music] Okay, so the first thing I’m noticing in Japan right away immediately, look at these little tiny vehicles. And look at this. Look at this octopus. Wow. Oh, I know they serve good seafood here. But that is crazy, eh? Look at the size of that guy. He’s going to be on somebody’s plate tonight. Vending machines, of course, are going to be everywhere. I wish this weather would brighten up. Yeah. Neat. All the cars are little. That’s cool. Compared to North America, the way they display the food is great. You don’t need a menu. Look, they just have uh I guess plastic versions of all the different dishes with the prices. That’s easy when you don’t speak Japanese. So, looks like there’s loads of little places to eat serving uh seafood and they all look quite popular. Well, I guess there’s 2,000 people from the cruise ship descended on this little town. So places are going to be Oh, look at that in there. Look how you sit. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, I really don’t want to go inside a restaurant that’s really full. Although that probably is a sign that it’s one of the better ones. But who knows? They could be cheap like me. It could be one of the cheaper ones. Okay, so I’ve chosen this one. Icorati. I karate. It looks good. It’s uh I can’t get a table yet. It’s See, it’s popular. But they gave me an English menu to look at. [Music] Although I like to choose I like looking at these better. That’s easier. Okay. Got myself a nice little table for one cuz Ronda’s not here. It’s nice inside here. It’s warm though, but you can see around. I’ll just turn the camera. Do a quick spin around the restaurant. absolutely no idea what to order, but I’m going to look at some of the pictures, I think. And they’ve just served me a nice little cup of tea. So, we’ll try that. Okay. So, I ordered uh they seem to in these seafood bowls. It seems to be the thing that everybody’s eating. So, I found one uh that has got well, I’ll show you what it’s got in it. Um when it comes I am fancying a beer, but this tea is quite nice, actually. Yeah. Tea. It’s a green tea, but it’s uh really really smooth. It’s not a bitter tea. Some of the green teas you have uh are bitter, but this one is uh really smooth. Well, the food has arrived. Let’s show you what I’ve got. [Music] So, we got a bowl of obviously miso soup. I think we got some wasabi and soy sauce. That’s probably a chili oil. That’s going to be ginger, isn’t it? And then in here, I’ve got sea scallops, sea urchin, cod, uh salmon row, salmon, and there’s rice underneath. So, it’s a seafood rice bowl. All raw, of course. So, let’s give it a stir. We’re going to start with a miso soup. I don’t know whether to use a spoon. I got a spoon with it. Or do you drink it out of the bowl? Is it rude rude to drink it out of the bowl? I have no idea. Oh, it’s too hot. Anyway, it’s steaming steaming hot. So, I’m going to leave that. Let’s have a look at this seafood bowl. with my little chopsticks. I’m not very good with chopsticks, but I’m sure I can pick up these pieces. Okay, first one we’re going to try is scallop. Sea scallop. [Music] That tastes so fresh. Really, really nice. Wow. Go for a little bit of sea urchin. I’ve had sea urchin before. I remember it tastes kind of creamy. Very rich. So that’s the sea urchin. M. It’s just like eating seafood flavored cream. It is so creamy. All right. I think this one I’m pretty sure is uh squid, sliced squid. It’s a specialtity in this town. They’re known for their squid dishes, so I know that’s squid. Never expected that flavor. And I never expected that texture. I thought it’d be slimy. I thought it’d be very seafood tasting. It’s a very mild flavor. It’s very chewy and it’s not slimy. There’s no napkins on the table. So, when I drip seafood down my chin, I don’t want to use my hand cuz it’s kind of rude, isn’t it? Wiping your mouth with your hand. But what else do you do? There’s no napkins anywhere. Wow. Okay, let’s go for the the salmon row. Look at the salmon eggs. Those have got the most flavor out of anything on this plate. Wow. And the last thing to try is the the salmon. Actual salmon. Put a little bit of soy on there. From what I’ve read about eating in Japan, you don’t use a lot of soy sauce because it kills the flavor of, you know, whatever you’re dipping in it. You just use a little bit. Yeah, that’s the best thing on the plate. M. The salmon is absolutely gorgeous. Okay, we’re going to give the miso soup a try. Give it a mix. I think I’m just going to go for the bowl, right? I’m just going to pick it up and go for it. Yeah, I’ll just go for it. Oh, that is flavorful. Yeah. Back home in Canada, you have some miso soups in a Japanese restaurant and it tastes kind of like dish water. This is loaded in flavor. Okay. Oh, I used my hand to wet my mouth. See, there’s no napkins. I’m not bad with the chopsticks, right? Not bad. Just dip it in there. Bit of soy sauce there. Okay. [Music] Okay. Okay. So, I need I want some more green tea. So, I’m going to try speaking Japanese. See if they actually understand me. I’ve been practicing this one. Motoa, could I say? Wow, it worked. She understood. Anyway, it worked. I ordered tea in Japanese in Japan and she brought it. Between me and the table next to me, there’s a screen so that basically you can’t see what they’re eating. They can’t see what you’re eating. And it gives me a bit of privacy. That’s kind of nice. So, what are my tasks for today? Eat some fresh seafood. Number one is done. I got to get a bowl of ramen somewhere. And I’ve got to go to 7-Eleven and 7-Eleven and probably get some snacks. That’s what I was expecting to pay. And in Japan, there’s no tipping. So, I’m going to pay exactly 2,800. uh no tip because it is not not expected and it’s actually uh culturally not accepted to tip. So awesome. Let’s carry on exploring. Yeah, looks like the all the fish stores are packing up now. This is the fish market area. [Applause] All the stores are packing up the fresh fish onto ice and take it away. It’s only 2:00, but the market, all these places open at 4:00 in the morning. That’s another nice looking restaurant. Little boxy cars. Look at those little boxy Japanese cars. Hey, I don’t know if they have pubs in Japan or bars or I know for sure they have beer. But I don’t know where you’d buy a beer. Any other country I’ve been in, you look for a bar or a pub here. I’m not sure. I’m looking for a bowl of ramen. And from the pictures, I can’t see any. This place has got all the all the models of his food outside. Look at the crabs here. Hey, these crabs and the oysters and clams. Wow. And look at these crab legs. $7,000. It’s 70 like $65 Canadian for these three crab legs. Okay. Cross the road in Japan. No jaywalking. It’s illegal. Now, Google Maps tells me there’s a 7-Eleven down here, but I don’t see one. Task number two of today, tour a 7-Eleven and see what’s on offer. They’re highly popular in Japan and a lot energy drinks, magazines, snacks. All fresh snacks. All fresh and made. Now, these are really popular in Japan. These little snacks here. Uh we’ve got tuna mayonnaise, spicy pollock row, we’ve got pickled plum, and kelpin soy sauce. I think I’m going to try a kelpin soy sauce just to say I’ve had one. So, let’s get that. We’ll take that with us to the checkout. The price of wine is pretty cheap. You got a bottle here. Chardonnay is uh from Chile 9. Oh, $8 really. Cabernet Savon is $7. Wow, that surprised me. Wine is really cheap. Big bottle of gin here. Like $12.50. That’s super cheap. That’s Japanese gin and salads. There’s all kinds of stuff here. Wow. Tofu bars up there. Okay. I’m going to get some salty buttered flavored potato chips. Oh, what about consum flavor? Spicy chili. That’s it. Let’s see how much beer is. We got saparo. There is Oh, it’s not bad. It’s like $2 for a can of saparro. That’s pretty cool. In the freezer, we got creme brules, ice creams, chocolate bars, fruity ice cream type balls. And I tap my phone and used Apple Pay to pay. And it worked. 7-Eleven’s done. Now we’ll head back down this way and I’ll try and find a ramen. Well, I found a ramen place. This place definitely looks like ramen. Absolutely. Looks really good, too, on the pictures, but it’s only 12 till 3:00, so I’ve missed it. I must say, this town, um, I thought Japan would be immaculate. Modern buildings, really clean. It’s quite grungy down here. I don’t know. I mean, it’s clean. There’s no litter on the sidewalks or the road, don’t get me wrong, but it just seems uh a little bit rundown, if you know what I mean. Tons of dishes on the boards. It is a seafood place, not ramen. So, looks good, though. I got to get a ramen fix. What’s this? That looks ramanish, doesn’t it? Well, it’s closed. So, I don’t think I’m going to find a ramen place by just walking around. Uh, so I went to Google Maps and I just put in ramen. And there’s a couple of places, but the one that looks like it might be open is actually in the train station. I think with it being a train station, it’s more likely to be open than the ones in the town here, which seem to be closed for lunch. So, let’s head this way. Well, here’s the entrance to the train station. So, let’s see if we can find ramen in here. Let’s head down here. It’s pretty busy, as you would expect a train station in Japan to be. Yeah. Well, that was a shame. The ramen restaurant I was looking for is behind the barriers that you need a train ticket to go through to get on the train. It’s after the barriers. So, I couldn’t get to it. I could see it there, but I can’t get there. So, uh Google Maps says there’s another one outside the station that should be open. Okay. Might be in this block here. Oh, Ramen. Is that o is that closed or ramen on jiki? It’s open. I think I’m going to get in there and try one. This is where I’m going. This is my ramen fix in here. Let’s go. So, we have to uh order at this vending machine, I guess. Get a ticket and then we go inside and find a seat. So, this is I think I’m that salt noodle one at the top there. number one. That’s uh popular in this area. So, let’s try that. Salt salt noodle number one. That worked. Popped out a little vending machine ticket for number one. Can we change? I got some uh money with holes in it. A coin with a hole in the middle. That’s cool. Okay, let’s go and sit down now, I guess. Let’s just go down here. Think we’ll sit here. Okay, these chairs are like kids chairs at primary school. They’re so tiny. Look at the size of these things. Like I’m a short guy. My knees are coming up. Anyway, we’re sat. We’re going to get our ramen. The salt ramen with pork, which is traditional for this area of the North Island. The southern end of the North Island of Japan. Salt ramen is what you’re supposed to have. So that’s what I’ve ordered. $920 yen. So that is about $8.50 Canadian. So that’s about $6 US and about 5 quid. So let’s see what the ramen’s like. Looking forward to trying this salt ramen there. Oh, look what I found behind napkins. Tissues. That’s good cuz I’m going to be slurping all over the place with this ramen. Oh no, look at the size of the bowls of ramen. They’re huge. Look what else they have here as well. I didn’t notice. They got guiosas. It’s another thing that me and Rhonda want to try. Guiosas, ramen, seafood. I’m doing it all on the first day. Oh my goodness, guys. Look at it. It’s here. Look at the Can you see the steam? Oh man. How about that? That is absolutely steaming hot. Wow. So, we got a spoon and obviously chopsticks. Let’s smell it. Wa! Porky. It’s like porkiness. There’s so much pork flavor in there. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to cool down before I can have a taste. It’s steaming like crazy. Can’t wait to try it. I’m just going to try a little bit of the broth, actually. Yeah, just broth. See what it’s like. Bro’s not salty at all. It’s 100% porky. Just beautiful pork flavor. A delicious pork flavor. And with ramen, you’re meant to uh slurp up the noodles. That enhances the flavor. And it’s not considered rude to be slurping in a ramen restaurant. [Music] Like that. Those noodles are soft but firm. You know what I mean? Like they’re not overcooked. They’re perfect texture. That is one of the nicest things I’ve tasted in a long time. One of our goals on uh this trip of our trip around Japan is to taste as much uh ramen and local food as we can. There’s lots of different variations of ramen in Japan. We’re going to try as many as we can. And as this is the first one, what a great start. Yeah, I think I’m getting quite good already with the chopsticks and the noodles, right? And the slurping. I was born to be a Japanese noodle slurper. This bowl of ramen is so good. It’s hard to think that I’ll be able to find a a ramen as nice or better than this. Task number three. Seafood done. 7-Eleven done. And traditional ramen done. That’s been a good first day in Hakadaki, Japan. So, the ramen’s done. All I can say now is that’s it for this video. If you enjoyed it, give us a thumbs up. If you’re not subscribed, even though I was slurping and annoying you, hit the subscribe button. I promise I won’t be slurping once we get back to Canada. So, hit the subscribe button if you’re not subscribed. We love it when you subscribe to us. And the journey around Japan is just starting. This is literally day one. We’ve got so many places in Japan we’re going to take you to with us. So come along on this journey, keep watching the channel, and we’re going to have a fantastic adventure as we tour around Japan. So until next time, it’s goodbye from Mr. Ramen Expert, and I’ll see you in the next video. [Music]

🌊🍜 After 17 days at sea crossing from Canada to Japan — including EIGHT days of brutal storms — we finally set foot on land in Hakodate, Japan!
And what’s the first thing we do? Food. Lots of food.

This is our first time ever trying authentic Japanese food in Japan, and after being rocked around the Pacific Ocean for over two weeks, stepping into a cozy ramen shop feels like paradise. From ramen and local specialties to snacks we can’t even pronounce — everything is new, everything is exciting, and everything is a little bit terrifying. 😅

Join us as we explore Hakodate, taste food we’ve never seen before, and discover what Japanese cuisine really tastes like when you’re not on a cruise ship menu.

🇯🇵 What’s In This Video:

✔️ First time trying real Japanese ramen
✔️ Reaction to food textures and flavors we’ve never experienced
✔️ Wandering Hakodate after 17 days of ocean isolation

🚢 About the Trip:

We boarded a cruise in Canada and crossed the Pacific Ocean all the way to Japan.
We expected calm seas…
The North Pacific had other plans. 😂

But now we’re here — tired, hungry, grateful, and VERY ready to eat everything Japan puts in front of us.

👍 If you enjoy travel, food adventures, and honest first reactions, hit LIKE and SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss the next chapters of our Japan journey!

📍 Location: Hakodate, Hokkaido 🇯🇵
🎥 Filmed: Just off the cruise, still dizzy from the waves
🍜 Mood: Hungry. Very hungry.

Thanks for watching and we always appreciate you giving us a thumbs up and if you haven’t subscribed to our channel yet we invite you to hit the subscribe button so you can check out all of our other content.

If you want to contact us direct you can;
Email : macdogmac@hotmail.com
Check out Rhonda’s Foody Instagram channel : @macdogmac

#JapanFood #Hakodate #Ramen #JapanTravel #FirstTimeInJapan #FoodVlog #PacificCrossing #CruiseLife #TravelVlog #TryingJapaneseFood #JapanTrip