If you are craving some western food while on the mountain, you might want to try Pizza House Luis. They are conveniently located just below the gondola station at Hakuba 47.  Luis Pizzas have 3 different sauces to choose from; garlic sauce, basil sauce, codroe and mayonaise sauce, and your standard tomato sauce. These thin crusted Italian style pizza pies only come in one single serving size and cost ¥1200 - ¥1500 each. They also offer snacks like hashbrowns, fried chicken, curry buns, and saugages for ¥200 - ¥500. And serve draft beer and Italian wine to help you wash it all down and work up a bit more courage for your afternoon on the mountain.

Gu~ Steak House in Goryu has tender juicy steak to fit every budget. Set menus with slabs of sizzling meat on a hot plate and a bit of corn start at ¥800. Customers can help themselves to rice, soup, green tea, and water.  They have a picture menu making it very easy for anyone to order. The above meal is a 150 gram steak alongside a 230 gram chicken fillet which comes with a side-salad, and all-you-can-eat rice and soup for ¥1000. If you go there for lunch, you can take ¥100 off each set. They also have minced meat paddies, rib steak, and if you want to best, their wagu beef is ¥4000 for 300 grams.

Gu~ is about a 15 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi, you can also find it on our walking map here. It's very close to Genryu-no-yu Onsen so many of our guests like to do both.

Lunch: 11:30 - 14:30 (last order 14:00)
Dinner: 17:00 - 20:30 (or until the meat runs out)
Closed: Wednesdays

There are soba shops all over the Hakuba Valley but my favorite sansai soba is from Yamato Soba. Sansai means mountain vegetable, these wild and nutritious plants are loaded onto a plate of cold soba noodles along with some grated daikon, green onions, shredded nori (seaweed) and wasabi. You have to pour over the soba tsuyu (sauce) yourself. It comes in a ceramic flask, make sure you mix up your plate well then dig in and slurp away. Yes, it's OK to slurp your noodles in Japan. In fact, the locals feel that you will be missing out on some flavor if you don't. 

If you get zaru soba (plain noodles in middle pic below) you will get a small cup of soba tsuyu where you can add your desired amount of wasabi and daikon. Then you load up on noodles with your chopsticks and dip it into the cup, slurp, chomp, and swallow. 

Yamato Soba has cold and hot versions of all of their dishes. You can also order udon (a thick white noodle) instead of soba (brown buckwheat noodles). 

There are always a few specials to choose from like the seasonal tempura and okowa (sticky rice mixed with beans, see pic below). Today they also had kurumi soba which is a walnut dip instead of the usual soy-sauce based dip. Oishikatta (It was yum)! 

Yamato Soba is about a 10 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi. You can also find it on our walking map here.

Hours: 11:00 to 16:00  (and sometimes 17:00 or 18:00)
Closed: sometimes  

Nagano prefecture is known for Shinsyu Soba. Shinshyu is the old name for what is now known as Nagano Prefecture and soba is a buckwheat noodle soup made with a simple soy based broth. You can find Soba restaurants all over Hakuba and the rest of the prefecture. Tonegawa Soba has got to be the best soba restaurant in the Hakuba village. As you can see it is set in beautiful old Minka (Japanese farm house) complete with irori (a sunken hearth used for cooking and eating), kotatsu (heated tables), and hand-made hanten (a quilted robe for guests to wear).

Tonegawa Soba Shop is a 15 or 20 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi. You can also find it on our google map here.

Every Monday and Saturday John will be serving up yummy Tex-Mex to satisfy even the hungriest of Texans. I highly recommend you start with the Smokey Quesadilla, a large flour tortilla sandwich of melted cheese, sauteed onion, and smoked chipotle chillies served with a side of fresh guacamole, salsa fresca, sour cream, and a bit of cabbage. The quesadilla could be shared as a starter or eaten whole as a vegetarian meal (¥850).

Pescetarians, and lovers of seafood, should try the Baja Style Tacos (see picture above), where 2 soft tacos are stuffed with beer-battered fried fish, guacamole, cheese, cabbage, salsa fresca, and sour cream.

For meat lovers he's got "nice tender chicken" served in the chicken enchiladas and El Grande chicken burritos. All of Arriba Arriba's Main Plates (¥1000) are served with a side of Spanish rice, re-fried beans, and chopped cabbage.

Their tostada salad served in a deep-fried tortilla bowl sounded delicious but I wanted to leave a bit of space for a Mexican style hot chocolate. Their spiced hot cocoa is not on the menu but may be available on Monday nights. Just ask!

Complete your Mexican meal with a Corona or tequila shot for only ¥400!

Arriba Arriba is about a 10 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi. You can also find it on our recommendation map here.

Check out Sauce on any night of the week for beers, cocktails, and light snacks. Love their plate of crispy fries alongside a rum and coke. They have events, local DJs, photo exhibits, opening parties. Last year I spotted Jeremy Jones playing fuse-ball with the locals during a release party for the magazine, Hand. I hear no-one can beat the owner, YJ, at his own game though. They also have darts, cozy couches, and a large bar with friendly staff. Sauce is about a 10 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi. You can also find it on our recommendation map here.

Karaoke, lasers, a smoke machine, a discoball, slot machines, a projector,  an acoustic guitar, open-mike nights, a pool table, bikes and other motorized vehicles.... Bike Bar has it all. The owners are more than happy to help you choose a drink and a bite to eat as well. The blue cheese in their home-made burger was a hit the night I visited. The cake-like pudding with ice-cream was definitely an Ozi serving so best to share.The pumpkin soup came in two sizes but the small was plenty. I suggest you go with a crowd and make good use of all their toys, or join me this Thursday to swing away to some funky bass lines, when Swell will be making their first appearance at Bike Bar.

Bike Bar is a 5 or 10 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi. You can also find it on our recommendation map here.

O-shogatsu means New Years in Japan, and although this is one of Japan's biggest annual celebrations, there isn't a whole lot of Champagne popping going on. Last night 10 tabi-tabi-ians said goodbye to the new year by eating some toshikoshi soba at The Tonegawa Soba Shop. Toshikoshi means end of the old year and start of the new year. Soba is a bowl of buckwheat noodles served in a hot soy based soup. The long noodles symbolize a long and hopefully healthy life.

After our steamy bowl of noodles, we walked through the old Iimori village to Chogokuji Temple  for Hatsumode (New Year's temple visit). Inside we listened to the Buddhist priest chant and pray for the new year that lay ahead, we then went to a large tatami room where we shared amazake (a sweet non-refined sake) and ate mochi, rice crakers, and tsukemono (pickled veggies).

Once we had our fill, we went outside again to ring the temple bell. Everyone got to have a go at swinging the large pendulum. According to tradition, the bell must be rung 108 times. Each ring represents one of 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve nirvana. I'm sure, 2012 is going to be a good year!

Akemashite Omedeto! (Happy New year!)

For cheap eats (burgers, burritos, pizza, nachos for 600 yen), veggie options (pizza, burgers, burritos all have a veggie version), free pool table, beer on tap, strong cocktails, super friendly folks, and some of the best live music I have ever seen, Tracks Bar continues to bring the usual suspects and local crowds too. There is no reason not to have a few at Tracks. Tracks Bar is only a 5 minute walk from Lodge tabi-tabi, you can also find it on our recommendation map here.