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Sapporo restaurants - please help!

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We are going to Sapporo in May, where we wiill spend a weekend. We are looking for great places to eat, both inexpesive and fine dining, both lunch and dinner. I realise this is a bit of a vague request, but my wife and I are going with two friends, and we are not familiar enough with their tastes and spending habits to be too specific.

It would be fantastic if anyone could recommend any of the following: great seafood / crab places (there is what looks like an excellent and good value for money recommendation for all-you-can-eat crab on this website), some typically "Hokkaido-style" places (in terms of local cuisine), then perhaps something Japanese and meat-based, yakitori, izakaya and some seriously good Western dining (preferably Italian). Anything else that I have not listed but you think would be worthwhile would also be gratefully received.

Thank you very much!!


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  1. Perhaps more of an after-dinner suggestion, but I've heard good reports about the Belgian beer bar called Paul's Cafe. http://www.paulscafe.jp/

    1. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/406785

      Here's a thread to get you started.

      I was in Sapporo for 3 days in February and overall we ate well. The kaiten sushi place in the JR tower is actually very good, there were lots of good and unusual options both on the conveyor belt and made to order, obviously helps if you speak Japanese in terms of the specials board and making specific requests from the chefs. Lots of other worthwhile looking places in that 6th floor food court.

      "Genghis Khan" mutton nabe is a regional speciality and is worth trying. We just picked a place at random and, whilst the food didn't blow me away, it was a nice homely, local eating experience in a small shop run by a mother/daughter team.

      You'll probably make it to Ramen alley at some point, the place we tried at the northernmost end of the alley was fine, actually not miso ramen but quite a spicy varietal.

      The highlight is the seafood and in particular the uni, crabs, scallops etc. We visited the wholesale fishmarket to the Northeast of the city centre and picked a 1st floor sushi shop nearby where we had superb kaisen don (I chose uni, ikura and hotate) for Y2500 per person.

      We also tried some other random sushi places in town - one of them turned out to be the offshoot of a Ginza sushi shop called Sushi Zen (I think) and this was just so so and way overpriced, the other was a small neighbourhood sushi place which was much better. And then there were a couple of good izakayas, the names escape me for the moment.

      I've got cards for some of these places (plus photos) somewhere, I will aim to post again with more precise information and details.

      And yes judging by the quality of the local chocolate (look out for Royce), I would agree about the calibre of local dairy products.

      4 Replies
      1. re: oonth

        Are you sure it was Genghis Khan mutton nabe? Usually Genghis Khan means grilled lamb/mutton, not hot pot.

        1. re: Silverjay

          Yes you're right, thanks for the correction, it's grilled meat not hot pot, this post was done last thing before bedtime, my mind was already switching off! And the wholesale fish market is actually to the north west of the city centre. Obviously there is lots of [crab/seafood] nabe to be had in Sapporo but we didn't eat any. Here's a link for Asomaniac with a bit more colour about Genghis Khan cuisine:


          If possible I would try and find a place that uses lamb rather than mutton. Where we ate was using mutton and it was excessively tough and chewy.

        2. re: oonth

          Oonth, thanks very much for all the details! If you do get around to checking if you have the details of some of the places somewhere, I'd be eternally grateful! Is there anything much to do in Sapporo besides eating? I went there once for a short time and was underwhelmed, but that was when I was a student, was traveling through and had no idea what to look for.

          1. re: Asomaniac

            No problems, I will post again with the extra details and photos, I'm away from home at the minute and without access to them.

            We were in Sapporo for the ice festival so probably not the best occasion to judge the place. And it was arctic conditions so not much incentive to be outside for long periods. But it's renowned for its more laid back vibe and you do get a sense of that from the way local people speak and go about their lives. There are hills and countryside on its doorstep so those would definitely be worth checking out, you'll get some superb views over the city no doubt.