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Cafe Round-up, Hakodate, Japan
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A summary and short introduction of a few cafes that my wife and I visited during our June 2025 trip to Hakodate in southern Hokkaido, Japan.
All photos shot with iPhone 15 Pro. Edited in Adobe Lightroom Classic.
Hoteiya Sandwich Stand
Hoteiya Sandwich Stand is located on a street corner close to the Jujigai tram stop. The shop specializes in sandwiches, which are offered stand-alone or as a combo with side dishes. They also have espresso drinks, local craft beers and some cafe sweets. I had the roast beef sandwich and the “smooth cheesecake”, and both were great.
Idohado Doughnuts
This quirky cafe in the Motomachi district is so unique that I dedicated an entire blog post to it (with more photos than featured below). But of course it also deserves its spot in this summary of Hakodate cafes. I had an iced caffe latte and a banana cocoa cake made with Hokkaido rice flour; both were delicious.
CAFE Ruskä
This is a small cafe on a street corner between the Jujigai tram stop and the Red Brick Warehouses. The friendly owner seems to have an affinity to Finland, and there are some topical travel and recipe books available for customers to read. It is a popular shop with just a few seats, but we were lucky to catch two spots at the counter for a quick iced caffe latte which was very flavorful.
BALTHUS
Another cafe that seems to get rather crowded on weekends is BALTHUS, a few hundred meters southwest of Fort Goryokaku. Luckily, we arrived on a weekday for a rather late lunch, and there were just a few other customers in the shop. I had the “Bread-and-Salad Plate”, which comes with a side drink and includes a rather balanced set of soup, omelet, bread and various vegetables. Really enjoyed the meal as well as some of the whimsical interior decorations.
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