Sapporo, much like many big Japanese cities, has no shortage of top-rated restaurants that offer delicious and mouthwatering local cuisines. Below are 10 of the must-try Sapporo restaurants for your next trip:
1. Ramen Shingen Minami-6joten
Ramen Shingen Minami 6joten is a traditional Japanese restaurant that serves rich and flavourful ramen, including the local favourite, Sapporo miso ramen. Because of how highly-rated its noodle dishes are, it is one of the most popular ramen places in Sapporo and is frequently packed. It is very common to see a line of a dozen or more people outside, waiting to be seated at its L-shaped counter, which can only accommodate 12 or 13 people at a time. A ramen bowl costs less than 1,000 yen.
It is open daily from 1130 to 2500.
- Address: 8-8-2, Minami 6 Jonishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
- Contact number: +81 11 530 5002
2. Hyosetsu no Mon
Founded in 1964, Hyotetsu no Mon is the oldest traditional crab restaurant in Sapporo. It serves a wide variety of crab dishes made with hair crab, snow, crab, red king crab, and blue crab. It offers Japanese-style private dining rooms that can hold two to ten people, and large private spaces for up to 70 people.
Its menu includes full course meals comprised of grilled crabs, shrimps, sashimi, salmon, and other seafoods; and a wide selection of drinks, including sake, beer, soft drinks, whiskey and wine.
Business hours is from 1100 to 2300.
- Address: Minami 5-jo Nishi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
- Contact number: +81 11 521 3046
- Website: http://www.hyousetsu.co.jp/
3. Soup Curry & Dining Suage+
Sapporo can be really cold and chilly outside the summer months, so enjoying some hot curry soup to warm you up is highly recommended. The Soup Curry & Dining Suage+ is one of the city’s most famous soup curry restaurants because of its great quality soup curry, often served with pork and rice, in varying levels of spiciness. A bowl costs around 1,000 to 1,200 yen.
The restaurant is open from 1130 to 2230 daily.
- Address: 7 Chome 1-1 Maruyama Nishimachi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
- Contact number: +81 11 624 6766
- Website: http://www.suage.info/#
4. Gotsubo
To feast on some fresh and appetizing shellfish, Gotsubo is the place that you are looking for. The restaurant is small, can only seat five at a time, so lines of people waiting to place their orders or eating while standing outside are quite common, especially during peak hours.
Among its specialties are scallops, clams, and oysters, which cost around 105 yen per piece and are served either fresh, grilled, or boiled, and come with lemon and other special sauces to enhance the flavours.
It is open every day from 1800 until 2400.
- Address: 4 Minami 6-jo Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
- Contact number: +81 11 551 7220
- Website: Gotsubo
5. Ebisoba Ichigen Sohonten
Another ramen restaurant to visit while in Sapporo is the Ebisoba Ichigen Sohonten, which is popular for its delicious ramen in thick soup base that comes in salt, soy, or miso flavour, and served with soft boiled eggs, shrimps, onions, pork, dumplings, and other toppings. It also offers side menus, like rice and rice balls, and beverages, like beer, orange juice, soft drinks, and oolong tea.
The restaurant has a 16-seater counter, and a bowl costs 780 yen.
It is open Mondays through Sundays, from 1100 to 2500.
- Address: 9-1024-10 Minami 7 Jonishi Chuo-ku, Sapporo
- Contact Number: +81 11 513 0098
- Website: http://www.ebisoba.com/
6. Toriton Kaitensushi Sapporo Toyohira
For some of the best sushi in Sapporo, drop by Toriton Kaitensushi Sapporo Toyohira, a mid-sized but very busy conveyor-belt sushi restaurant with a wide variety of sushi to offer, such as uni gunkan-maki (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), shellfish, fresh salmon, and saury fish. It also serves different kinds of ramen and soup.
Sushi costs around 120 yen to 530 yen per plate.
To avoid the crowds, it is best to go there around 2 to 5 in the afternoon.
- Address: 4-6 Toyohira, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo
- Contact number: +81 11 817 7788
- Website: http://toriton-kita1.jp/english
The restaurant has several other branches across Sapporo — in Maruyama, Kiyota, Hiragishi, Atsubetsu, Sakaemachi, Fushiko, and Kita 8 Kosei.
7. Tokachi Butadon Ippin Sapporo
The moment you enter Tokachi Butadon Ippin Sapporo, your nose is welcomed by the strong but delicious aroma of grilled pork cooked over charcoal. Typically served in a rice bowl topped with different herbs and spices, and miso soup on the side, a donburi or rice bowl set costs around 800 yen to 1,000 yen. Salads, tofu, mocha, pickled vegetables, desserts, and drinks, such as draft beer, tea, and juices, are also available.
It is open for business every day, from 1100 to 2300, and offers an English menu.
- Address: 6th floor Stellar Place Center, 2-5 Kita Gojonishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
- Contact Number: +81 11 741 8555
- Website: http://www.butadon-ippin.com/
8. Hanamaru Sushi
Thanks to Sapporo being close to the sea, it has an abundance of sushi restaurants, such as Hanamaru Sushi, which serve only fresh and high quality sushi.
Different kinds of sushi are served on small plates and delivered around the dining area on a conveyor belt. Because the restaurant is often packed, with waiting times up to an hour, it is advised to book a reservation in advance.
Sushi plates cost from around 140 yen to 500 yen.
The restaurant’s opening hours begin at 1100 until 2300, Mondays through Sundays, and it has multiple locations in Sapporo:
- Susukino Location Address: Sapporo M-SQUAEW 2F, 2-4, Nishi 2, Minami 4, Chuoh-ku, Sapporo
Contact number：+ 81 11 520 0870 - PASEO Location Address: PASEO WEST B1F, 1-7, Nishi 2, Kita 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo
TEL：+81 11 213 5870 - Clock Tower Location Address: Sapporo Tokeidai Building 1F, 2-1, Kita 1, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
Contact Number：+81 11 231 0870 - Website: http://www.sushi-hanamaru.com/la_en/index.html
9. Sapporo Beer Garden Genghis Khan
Did you know that you can try lamb meat dishes in Sapporo? Sapporo Beer Garden specializes in grilled healthy lamb meat, known as Genghis Khan. It is served with vegetables on the side and the Genghis Khan sauce, which is a unique mix of lemon, apple, salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices that give the dish a strong and delightful flavour. It is best enjoyed with a pint of ice cold Sapporo Beer.
- Address: 9-2-10 Kita7jo, Higashi-ku Sapporo
- Contact number: +81 12 015 0550
- Website: https://www.sapporo-bier-garten.jp/global/english.html
10. Kushidori Sapporo Kitaguchi
Kushidori is a yakitori restaurant that has several branches not only in Sapporo, but also in other parts of Japan. It is a favourite among locals and foreigners because of its reasonably priced menu that offers a wide selection of grilled meat (chicken, pork, and beef) and innards, including tebasaki (grilled chicken wing), buta aspara maki (grilled asparagus wrapped in pork), tori kawa (chicken skin grilled to crisps), grilled ox tongue and diaphragm, grilled pork liver and intestines, and cheese tsukene (grilled chicken stuffed with melted cheese.
Yakitori costs 150 yen per stick.
The restaurant has 128 seats, and is open for lunch from 1100 to 1400, and dinner from 1630 to 2430.
- Address: 4-8-3 Nishi Kita 7-jo, Kita-ku, Sapporo
- Contact Number: +81 11 758 2989
- Website: https://kushidori.com/
