A note on the words: butadon is a rice bowl topped with grilled pork glazed in a sweet-savory sauce, a local specialty of Obihiro in Hokkaido; here I ordered the regular-size pork-belly bowl with a small serving of rice and a side of miso soup as my shime, the closing dish eaten at the end of a night of drinking. Nidoyaki means “twice-grilled,” the shop’s method of grilling each order, said to render off excess fat and bring out a roasted aroma, and shiraga-negi is finely shredded white parts of green onions piled on top to cut the richness.
Ganso Buta-don Ya TONTON Nogata on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Calling all fans of butadon — a rice bowl topped with grilled pork in a sweet-savory sauce — thank you for waiting! It is time for Hangover Meshi (meshi means meal)!
Honestly, I really should just go straight home… Why do people always end up making detours?!
While looking for a taxi around Nogata Station (I just cannot escape this area, ha), I spotted Ganso Buta-don Ya TONTON Nogata, which opened in Maruyama, Nakano Ward, in August 2026! They say it is a specialty chain serving butadon, the local specialty of Obihiro in Hokkaido, with at least 70 locations across Japan. Their selling point is apparently nidoyaki (“twice-grilled”), where each slice of pork in sweet-savory sauce is grilled to order — a way of grilling said to render off excess fat and bring out a savory char. Apparently they are open until 9 p.m. at night!
When you spot the words for pork bowl at night, you just cannot help dropping in… right?
It is already getting late, so I think I am finally done with alcohol for the night… I just want some miso soup, ha.
The first thing that reaches your nose is the sweet-savory aroma of scorched sauce. You can tell right away it was made for white rice, ha.
The pork belly has a satisfying chew, yet feels moist and tender as your teeth sink in. With the sweet-savory sauce, the sweetness hits first, and then the rich flavor of the pork fat slowly spreads across your mouth. The more you chew, the more the sauce and fat mingle together, and the charred parts have an especially pronounced roasted aroma! I wondered why it does not feel too heavy despite being pork belly, and since they apparently grill each order to render off the fat, that might be what does the trick. The crisp, sharp bite of shiraga-negi (finely shredded white parts of green onions) cuts cleanly through the sweetness of the fat. Getting the small serving of rice made it just the right amount. It really hits the spot as shime — the bowl you eat to finish off a drunken night!
Ahhh, the miso soup is so good!
Who knew escaping the town of Nogata would be this hard? Lesson learned, ha. All in all it was a lot of fun visiting so many spots, though I never expected to get caught by a butadon at the very end! It is an easy place to enjoy Obihiro’s local dish right in Nogata. Between the sweet-savory sauce and the roasted aroma from the twice-grilling, it is a bowl that keeps you shoveling in the rice. If you are having it as a post-drinking finisher, I recommend going with the small rice! Above the regular size, the portions actually go up through large and extra-large to a “mega” level, so if you have the appetite for it, taking on the challenge might be fun!
Here is hoping I run into more good food today!
Ganso Buta-don Ya TONTON Nogata (Butadon / Nogata Station, Toritsu-Kasei Station, Numabukuro Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
