Milk Mura, Sapporo: Ice Cream and Liqueur Cafe in Japan

In all honesty, I don't really have the biggest sweet tooth. My family doesn't have the best history with sugar and I believe I am following their lead. I do, however, really enjoy alcohol. And every so often I like to stuff my face with ice cream. Ben and Jerry I am coming for you in September! Om nom nom.

Anyway, a few years back some friends mentioned this place where you get to eat ice cream with various liquors and I knew I just had to go there. I tried for months to go, but the odds were never in my favor. Once my friends even went a couple days after I went back to America for Christmas (thanks guys! D:). Eventually the stars aligned and I was able to go to this wonderful place, Milk Mura.

The reason it was so difficult to go here was because, well, it's really freakin' crowded on the weekends. So you basically have to go right when it opens or wait forever. So we usually end up only going here when we are off of work and free during the weekdays as it is nearly empty until evening.

And since it is summer vacation time in Japan, I was able to go to Milk Mura once again last week! This is the third time I have been here and every time I leave stuffed full of ice cream and slightly tipsy. What could be better? Nothing.

Located in the center of Susukino, right across from a giant Nikka Whiskey man and beside a really fancy looking sushi place, it's easy to pass by as it's on the sixth floor of some random building. But once you go in you are greeted with the most adorable front door ever.

I told you it was adorable. It opens from 1 o'clock in the afternoon and last order is at 11! It's a pretty small place, with only a few tables and a wrap around bar. Couples are the main source of business, along with young girls. I don't suggest bringing more than four people at a time because it is just really small, unless you go between 1 and 4 on a weekday, then you're likely to have the place to yourself!

The inside is adorable. The polka-dotted table cloths and the lights make it a perfect date spot, which is why so many couples go here. The walls are completely covered in so many different knick knacks that you can find new things hanging out every time you visit. There are also a number of interesting looking liqueur bottles around the shop lit up to give even more great atmosphere. The soundtrack is also French songs. Look at the little couples nook in the back wall!

Now for the menu. You can have a choice of three different sets, A, B, and C (though C has been unavailable I believe). A set gets you two liqueur choices and a few little baked goodies and some coffee. B set is three liqueurs plus a coffee and a cookie. I always get B set. They're all the same price and I would rather have booze than some baked things I don't care about. If you go with a group you can all share the booze. 

The liqueur list is huge. It's like pages and pages of the stuff. Maybe hundreds. It's in both Japanese and English so you can order with very little Japanese knowledge. They have any fruit liqueur you can dream about (though I suggest staying away from citrus because... milk and citrus? Bleck). A variety of whiskey and bourbon. All the standard liquors, plus some strange ones like coffee and acorn and cinnamon. They even have absinthe (which I enjoy for the novelty of it).

The liqueurs are served in these adorable little wine glasses, you get about half a shot of each. You then have this tiny spoon that you can use to pour the liqueur over your ice cream. Once you eat the ice cream down enough you can balance your spoon on the corner of the cup and pour the liquid like that, rather than holding the spoon in your hand and trying to not spill all over yourself.

Not that I have ever spilled any liquor on myself.

You can also get seconds on the ice cream! Once you finish your first glass they'll come and ask how full you want your second glass. The answer should always be "as full as possible".

Along with the liqueurs you order you are usually given two for free, oolong tea plus a random one. We had grape with actual pieces of grape in it. They also give you coffee powder to sprinkle on your ice cream which tastes good with pretty much ever liquor I have tried there. Especially the cinnamon. And the acorn is surprisingly wonderful. All the nutty ones are my favorite. Whiskey, acorn, coffee, absinthe...

The coffee you get is served in the cutest little mugs, and the cookies are adorable. Usually a dog or a koala or a circle. The mugs are a bit difficult to hold. I mean my handle is a penguin. But you really cares about that?

Milk Mura @ tabelog (Japanese/English)

ミルク村 SAPPORO本店

北海道 札幌市中央区 南四条西 3-7-1 ニュー北星ビル　６Ｆ

New Hokusei Building 6th floor

South 4 West 3, Chuo-Ku, Sapporo

(map in the link above!)

The Beer Garden in Odori Park, Sapporo!

The summer season in Sapporo is always really enjoyable. The fact that such a huge portion of the year is spent indoors thanks to the months of heavy snowfall just make the desire to get out and enjoy being outside when you can.

And the best way, in my opinion, to do that is the beer garden that happens from mid-July to mid-August in Odori park. This year so far I've been three times, and I'll likely go once more before it ends this coming weekend. As an American, I love any chance to just drink outside in public and not be judged for having a good time with friends. It's probably the aspect about Japan I will most the most when I go back to the States! Grabbing a beer from the 7-eleven and sitting in a park eating lunch...

Anyway, the beer garden itself spans four blocks of Odori Park. Each block is home to one of Japan's most common beer brands, Suntory Premium, Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo! Honestly, there is very little difference between the three beer brands, as Japan seems to mainly enjoy producing pale lagers that all taste completely identical (oh goodness how I am looking forward to darker beers in America).

These beers are also perfect for hot summer days. Which you get in Sapporo. Because AC isn't really a thing up here because "we don't need it". Tell that to my apartment which likes to get up to 90 degrees (32 in the C). Any excuse to escape the sauna I live in is very needed.

Suntory is the least popular of the four brands, mainly because the beers are a bit more expensive. I personally like Suntory the best of the four because it has a bit more flavor, but I like being cheap more so in all the years I have been here I've never bothered going to their beer garden. Sorry!

 The most popular beer garden is easily Asahi. The block is covered in trees and just has a really cool feel. It fills up the quickest and is usually the loudest. This one is the one I enjoy going to the most, I think. Though the difficulty of finding a table makes it hard to bring larger groups unless you come at opening time!

Kirin is the third most popular and has the most interesting of the beer delivery systems: the beer tower. While the novelty of a meter tall tower of beer is nearly irresistible, the speed at which the beer warms in the heat of summer makes it a very "meh" experience once you get to the halfway mark. Or, I guess, you could just drink faster!

Sapporo Beer's garden is the one I have been to the most, two of my three visits have been spent here, and it may be my new favorite one to go because it is relatively easy to find a spot, not to mention they have upped their decoration game in the last couple of years and it now resembles a very Bavarian looking beer tent. Or at least what I picture one to look like because I've never been to one (next year??)!

The beers themselves aren't badly priced. You can get 500mL glasses for 550 yen. They also have larger sizes priced in the same value. Each area has their own version of a keg to share (like the toweres in Kirin) but I have found them to be over-priced when compared to the individual glasses (3,700 yen for 3L but 1,100 for a 1L glass). Yes, that's right. You can get a 1L glass of beer.

Even though it is called the "Handsome man" beer at the Sapporo tent I mainly see Japanese women guzzling these puppies down. Though maybe they are designed to attract handsome men? Who knows! If you find yourself in Sapporo in the middle of the Japanese summer, you definitely need to stop by the beer garden, you'll be sat at a table with the locals and they are generally really friendly. Last time I was there I was given a bunch of food by some older people seated next to us!