Kiroro Restaurants
Now that Club Med has acquired the two main hotel buildings at Kiroro, the dining options are likely to change markedly. This content is yet to be updated.
The variety of cuisine available in the evenings at the Kiroro restaurants is impressive, and much of the produce is sourced locally. The Otaru seafood in particular is acclaimed for its high quality. The only potential downside of the Kiroro dining might be if you don’t have a lot of yen.
Most of the Kiroro restaurants are located at the Club Med Kiroro Peak or on the nearby promenade of Kiroro “town”.
Italian cuisine is served at Alla Moda, a classy restaurant on the first floor of The Kiroro. The restaurant offers balcony dining overlooking the delightful hotel lobby, and in an attempt to make it feel like you’re dining outdoors in Italy, the balcony even has street lamps. Alla Moda has managed to keep the décor elegant without doing the more typical Japanese tackiness. The restaurant has a substantial range of high quality dishes, and whilst they are largely Italian, the meals still have a significant Japanese influence.
In Kiroro Town, there are a few Japanese restaurants featuring grilled meat, sushi and other Hokkaido seafood.
Fuga is a restaurant serving authentic Japanese cuisine with various kaiseki (a traditional multi-course dinner) and lots of local sake.
Asian Kitchen serves up some amazing Chinese and Thai fare and is particularly popular with the many Chinese visitors.
The Japanese seem to just love buffets, so what would a Japanese ski resort be without a couple of buffet restaurants? Pop World Buffet at The Kiroro is reasonably casual and well suited to families. The buffet is overflowing with goodies and much of the food is very similar to that found at the more upmarket Rivièrouge Restaurant.
Otaru is located at the Club Med Kiroro Peak. This restaurant has delightful ambience, especially for a buffet restaurant, and it’s incredibly tranquil to have dinner whilst looking at the illuminated ski slopes and sipping on wine or sake.
Daytime Dining
In addition to the cafes on-mountain, the Mountain Center has several daytime dining options. There’s the large cafeteria, a little Japanese restaurant upstairs, the lovely Double Black coffee shop, or the buffet restaurant next door at the Sheraton Hotel.
Down at The Kiroro and Kiroro Town is the Alpine Brasserie serving European style food, or the Popke Bar near the kids’ snow park that serves up very plain food and hot chocolates at exorbitant prices.
Kiroro Bars & Nightlife
As is the case at the majority of Japanese ski resorts, the nightlife at Kiroro is very sedate.
The Mountain Center has a little après bar, where you can go for a quiet drink. The décor is retro chic and there are two large screens showing ski and snowboard footage. However the main eye candy is the ski slopes where you can watch the stragglers come in from the hill or the crazy kids out night skiing.
Next door in the Sheraton Hotel is the Lobby Lounge where you can sit by the fireplace for a quiet drink.
The Kiroro has the bar lounge Alpine Brasserie, a nice spot for a sophisticated cocktail or two, a Nikka Whiskey and appetizers.
Nearby is the little Popke bar, but it’s mostly frequent by families with small children who need to come inside to warm up after tobogganing so don’t expect “nightlife”.
Or there’s the very cool ice bar – dress very warmly!
For more budget oriented beverages, you’ll need to buy drinks from the vending machines but don’t sit in either of the hotel lobbies to partake in your BYO drinks or the staff might chase you down.
In order to completely indulge in the Asian culture, you can book out the karaoke room at The Kiroro. What would a real Japanese holiday be without partaking in a spot of karaoke?!