Japan/Hokkaido: Hokkaido Kaisendon
This is the best food post I’ve done in my entire travels! Donburi is a traditional Japanese dish which literally means “rice bowl”. In Hokkaido, it’s almost universally turns into kaisendon aka fish bowl – rice topped with 1-5 varieties of fresh sashimi. The bowl can have a single topping such as ikuradon (salmon caviar), hokkaidon (salmon sashimi), unidon (sea urchin), or crab (kanidon). Or you can have a combo of the above – “two-color” or “three-color”. And after that, the sky is the limit as practically any sashimi – fresh and sometimes literally still moving – can be put on top of your rice bowl. Not cheap but absolutely worth every yen! In Hakodate, it all came to an absolute apotheosis of kaisendon as variety was just staggering and a special street of restaurants was serving just that. I had 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners in one day. If you totally ignore all the other attractions Hokkaido has to offer, kaisendon alone is worth coming for!
