Izakaya Wa-R

A New Contender for best Izakaya in Niseko, Japan

Given some poor experiences at the restaurants at the Park Hyatt, we decided to go into Hirafu village for more local fare. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get reservations for the very famous Bang Bang Izakaya, so we ended up at another Izakaya, Izakaya Wa-R, which had just opened this season.

An Izakaya is usually a Japanese pub that people typically go to after work for drinks and a snack. The history of the Izakaya dates back to 700s Japan, but the popularity of Izakayas really started exploding in the Edo period in the 1600-1800s, where patrons sat around on sake barrels, ordering alcohol by weight.

Initially, the focus was on the drink, and the snacks (known as sakana) were just simply prepared appetizers, akin to the peanuts or chips served at the local tavern. Over time, similar to the evolution of gastropubs in the UK, the focus shifted away from the drink, and more toward elevating the food, leading to Izakayas having vast menus of skewers, fried dishes, odon left simmering for hours and scooped out upon order, various sushi and sashimi dishes, noodle and rice dishes and everything in between.

Given it was our après ski, we arrived hungry, and we started ordering everything on the menu.

The appetizers started with some smoked quail eggs. I don’t know how they do it in Japan, but they really managed to infuse the smokiness into the tiny eggs.

Smoked scallops, served cold. A bit overcooked and chewy. Not a huge fan of this one.

Cod milt, lightly simmered in daishi and served in shoyu daishi broth. The sperm sac of of the male cod, it’s supposed to be soft and creamy and a little bit fishy.

A small plate of crab paste - mixed crab innards, served on top of seaweed. Normally, I would expect this to be served with a cracker or spread on toasted bread or something. I just ended up dipping some yakitori in it. A thick, rich, slightly bitter paste a bit like a parfait or a pate.

Grilled squid, served with a bit of mayo. A very classic Izakaya dish.

This was a really neat dish. Really popular in Korea and Japan, the roe sack is cut out of a Alaska pollock, washed and soaked in a brine to firm it up and add a bit of saltiness before grilling. It’s often used as a filling for onigiri (rice balls) or charcoal grilled and served with sake.

A quick succession of various grilled skewers - chicken skin, gizzard, liver, heart, thigh and neck, a fairly sad chicken mince meatball, some vegetables, shitake mushroom, bacon wrapped enoki mushroom and wagyu beef. Always a hit!

A burdock root and grapefruit salad - well seasoned, with crispy burdock root adding a bit of texture. Very generous portion size as well.

Wagyu roast beef, served cold with a ponzu soy sauce dressing and topped with sesame seeds. Personally, I thought it could’ve gone well with some horseradish cream, or in local flavour, some wasabi.

The star of the meal, a charcoal grilled king crab leg, cut into four pieces. Fresh crab meat, easily extractable from the giant leg. The giant leg had to be at least a pound of crab meat. Absolutely amazing!

In traditional Japanese fashion, assorted pickled vegetables.

To finish off the meal, a flavourful clay pot rice topped with tons of crab innards and crab meat. The heat of the clay pot in the flame browns the rice touching the bottom, similar to a paella (or a Chinese clay pot rice), so there’s also crispy bit mixed in with the crab and rest of the rice and pickles. Another big hit!

Finally, a dessert made with a flattened rice flour mochi sandwiching local Hokkaido milk ice cream with caramel on top. A great end to a very filling meal.

Overall, Izakaya Wa-R was a big hit. For a newly opened restaurant in its first season, service was fast and efficient, the food was done very well. They have a really good team working here.

In Niseko, I’ve always liked Bang Bang Izakaya. Not because it was the best Izakaya, but just the one that has been around the longest, and it was a bit of a tradition to go back year after year. It’s been increasingly difficult to get reservations there, and in the 2025 season, they actually closed half the restaurant (normally, they’re split between Bang Bang and Bang Bang 2 next door). Perhaps its due to labour shortage issues, but that made it impossible to get reservations this year, so we ended up going to Izakaya Wa-R instead.

Izakaya Wa-R gave Bang Bang a run for its money. Good service, good food, what else can I ask for in a Izakaya.

The only thing missing on its menu was the famous Jaga potato - a local Kutchan specialty of 540 day aged potatoes baked and served with a stick of butter. My single favourite dish when visiting Hokkaido Izakayas.

That said, I have high hopes for next year, and plan to return to Izakaya Wa-R!

Total Damage: 47kJPY/4 people