Cafe Norte. The kind of place that seems appealing when you are totally, utterly desperate. After seven hours of shopping for a new jacket on Saturday (my husband is a saint), we were dehydrated, starving, and lead-footed. Nat talked me into going to a small cafe in the Sapporo Tourist Information Center, a place filled with multi-lingual travel brochures and all the charm of a hospital waiting room, instead of opting for Starbucks, whose appeal was based on the fact that it was so close I could almost touch it.
Our intial thought was that Cafe Norte offered free water and chairs making it a decent place to determine our next move. As we were sitting down, we decided a little, one dollar bowl of miso soup might be just the thing to revive us. To our surprise, all of the meals served at Cafe Norte are made with locally produced ingredients. We ordered two cups of miso shiro (soup made from fermented bean paste) as a pick-me-up and it was so satisfying we decided to stay at Cafe Norte for dinner. We selected the 750 yen set meal with chicken meatballs and two onigiri (rice balls), one with ume (pickled plum) paste and salmon fillings. The meal was fresh, healthy, cheap and surprisingly tasty considering the ambiance and expectations. Cafe Norte is definitely not a place linger with a date - but after a long day of shopping or when looking for an easy and nutritious meal, it certainly delivers.
[Charming interior and meatball set at Cafe Norte]
No comments:
Post a Comment