It’s all about Crab in Mombetsu!

In the beginning of February I had the chance to make a trip to the eastern part of Hokkaido. Looking through the itinerary there was just one point that made me skeptical: there are many spots to eat seafood. As you may know from one of my older posts, I am not good with seafood. But because I don’t have an allergy to it, I wanted to give it a go and at least try out some of the food offered to us.

One of the spots I was impressed with the most of was the Mombetsu Ryoshi Shokudo (紋別漁師). This is a small seafood restaurant is located in the city of Mombetsu. It is owned and operated by a seafood processing plant. Because of this they serve seafood bowls with fresh and local ingredients.

Probably the most popular dish there is the snow crab bowl and we were able to try out the snow crab for ourselves. But not only this – we had to prepare our own bowl! For me, who has never eaten nor even touched a crab, it was a really exciting experience.

When we entered the restaurant we were welcomed by the owner and staff members heartfully. We got to our prepared seats - waiting for us with a snow crab and all utensils to take it apart. But first we had to put on aprons, because we still wanted to look good when we were able to start our meal.

The chef of the restaurant, standing at an extra table, explained and showed to us how to break the crab in the middle and rip off the legs. It looked easy, but when you do it for the first time, it's quite difficult. Luckily the staff member always had an eye on us and helped when it was necessary.

We ripped off the legs, cut them and took off the crab meat from all the legs. Using the shell of the crab as a bowl, we were asked to put everything in it. My crab shell bowl looked a little bit messed up, but the chef made another round and put some professional pieces on top. But in the end, the taste was more important anyway. The person sitting next to me could make it a lot better than I and had a dish that already looked very good for an amateur.

The shell was set on a fire place and grilled. During this time we could design our own seafood rice bowl at the buffet. They offered scallops, crab meat and fish eggs which we could put on our bowl freely. I didn’t take too much, because I was not sure about the taste. Furthermore, we also got a bowl with crab soup.

Dinner was ready! I tried the crab and it was quite delicious. I didn’t expect this actually. It is nothing I would need to eat often, but having a bit of crab sometimes might be nice. I especially liked the taste of the soup. The seafood bowl was OK, however, it was not my favorite – I definitely don’t like fish eggs, that is what I found out that day.

Anyone who wants to try out eating snow crab should definitely make a stopover at the Mombetsu Ryoshi Shokudo should you be around that area. It was a great atmosphere and, even for me, a delicious experience.

Address: 北海道紋別市 40−55   |  Hokkaido, Mombetsu-shi, Shinsei 40-55

Website: Japanese | English