Whether you’re after a drink, après nibbles or a belly full of food, one little joint you must try is Jam Restaurant Bar.
Located in one of Hirafu’s busiest little bar and pub streets, across the way from Wild Bill’s, the drinks menu is extensive, offering more than 200 cocktails and a chalkboard menu choice of over 30 shots.
The next most important thing you need to know is that Jam Restaurant Bar’s alter ego is as one of Hirafu’s most memorable dining experiences. Festooned with colourful lights, handmade furniture and quirky fixtures, Jam’s izakaya menu caters for all tastes and levels of hunger with a hearty mix of traditional Japanese yakitori, rice and noodle dishes, as well as stylised pizzas and burgers.
It’s an eclectic mix of cuisines and cooking styles, taking influence from a range of Western and Eastern cultures. Take a group of friends and you will soon discover that no matter how diverse your tastes, somehow it always just works.
As with all good izakaya, it’s generally expected a table chooses a range of dishes to share between everyone. We recommend kicking off the evening with some traditional entrees such as shirasu oroshi (freshly grated Japanese radish topped with whitebait), tuna poki (raw tuna mixed with soy sauce), yakitori (grilled meat skewers) and yuudofu – fresh, soft tofu boiled lightly and dipped in a Japanese ponzu sauce.
Cue a change of course with a hit of cheese and flavour-laden pizza, and a teriyaki chicken burger to really give that second beer a kick. The burgers are served with thick potato wedges made from local potatoes.
If a third of your belly still needs filling, get back into the menu and choose another few dishes – it can all be shared between everyone in your party so indulge your curosity. A few of the options include yakisoba (fried noodles in a Worcestershire-style sauce), marinated chicken wings, Jam’s special rice balls, or Korean bibimbap – rice topped with mixed vegetables, pork and Korean kimchee, served in a hot-stone bowl.
Jam Restaurant Bar is one of those never-fail places to eat in Niseko – somewhere you can go with any mix of family or friends and know everyone will enjoy their meal and the price will be reasonable. After dinner, choose your own adventure: kick on at Jam or another bar nearby, or call it a day ready for first lifts in the morning.