[Sapporo Food Guide] Find the Best Restaurants by Local Specialty

“Magic Spice” is famous as the restaurant that coined the term “soup curry.”
With its flashy exterior, the shop stands out—and offers not only dining, but also Indonesian goods and clothing for sale.
The curry soup is inspired by an Indonesian dish called soto ayam, creating a complex, delicate flavor by combining Approx. 30 spices with added sweetness, heat, and tang.

A famous soup curry spot so popular it draws lines every day—and even hands out numbered tickets to manage the wait: “Soup Curry GARAKU.”
This soup curry specialty restaurant is extremely well known among locals.
The standout feature is the soup itself.
Its popularity began with the rich umami created by the owner’s inventive blend of Japanese-style dashi—learned while working at a udon shop—and spices.

“Soup Curry TREASURE” is a sister shop of Sapporo’s popular soup curry restaurant GARAKU.
The mostly white interior is designed with the U.S. West Coast in mind, and it’s known as a stylish place to enjoy Sapporo’s soul food, soup curry.
The most popular item is said to be the sizzling hamburg steak: a hand-shaped patty made with Sapporo beef and Shiretoko Sachiku Akabuta pork, grilled on an iron plate and added to the soup curry.

This is a beloved classic with nationwide recognition, even in Sapporo.
With its flagship in Nakanoshima, it also has locations in Susukino, Satozuka, and even Yokohama, and has inspired many offshoots known as “Jun-Sumire style” shops.
The current Nakanoshima main store reopened after a newly built renovation in 2017.
Its stylish exposed-concrete exterior and bright, natural interior—unusual for a ramen shop—leave a strong impression.

“Menya Saimi” opened in 2000 after its owner trained for Approx. seven years, inspired by the flavors of Sapporo’s famed “Sumire.”
Based on Sumire’s taste, you can enjoy Sapporo ramen that the owner has evolved with his own sensibility.
The soup uses mainly pork leg bones, plus aromatic vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, kelp, and more. Carefully simmered from 5:00am every morning, the soup develops into a clear, refined chintan broth with no cloudiness.

When asked to name Sapporo miso ramen, many people mention “Yoshiyama Shoten Main Store.” The owner, who traveled Japan tasting famous ramen shops, says his goal is ramen you enjoy with all five senses.
The No. 1 item is roasted sesame miso ramen. The rich aroma and deep flavor of roasted sesame add an intense richness to Yoshiyama Shoten’s tonkotsu-based soup. Adding lard gives it even more depth, creating a hearty bowl that feels true to Sapporo ramen.

Located in a corner of the seafood market “Kita no Gurume,” “Kita no Gurume-tei” is an eat-in space with 320 seats.
The No. 1 most popular dish is a seafood rice bowl topped with 15 types of seafood. Carefully selected seasonal ingredients are boldly piled into a bowl.
They also offer plenty of bowl options, like salmon roe bowls and “four great crabs” bowls, for those who want to eat only what they love.

Born at Sapporo Nijo Market—often called Sapporo’s kitchen—“Donburi Chaya.”
Making the most of the market setting, it serves rice bowls that satisfy in ingredients, freshness, and price.
Another draw is the extensive selection: you can choose from over 50 seafood rice bowls.
Among the most popular are the many “signature bowls,” with 10 varieties.

A sushi restaurant attached to the long-established seafood shop “Kondo Noboru Shoten,” founded in 1922, at the east end of Nijo Market.
In Nijo Market—now firmly a Sapporo sightseeing staple—this is the shop locals recommend first when you want affordable, delicious sushi and seafood rice bowls.
Among its wide-ranging menu of sushi, seafood bowls, set meals, sashimi, and à la carte dishes, the owner’s top recommendation is the “Keiran Bowl,” loaded with Hokkaido seafood.

A crab specialty restaurant located right near Nijo Market.
Popular for fresh and reasonably priced crab dishes, backed by being a directly operated store of a long-established seafood processing company founded 55 years ago in Nemuro that specializes in crab.
The crab is shipped directly from Nemuro’s port—one of Japan’s leading landing ports—so the freshness is outstanding.

“Kani to Dosan Ryori Sekkatei” lets you indulge in Hokkaido seafood in Sapporo’s signature entertainment district, Susukino.
Step inside, and you’ll find an elegant Japanese-style space that makes you forget the bustle outside.
You can leisurely enjoy fresh crab from Hokkaido’s bountiful seas, seasonal small dishes, and creative cuisine by top-tier chefs in atmospheric private Japanese rooms.

When it comes to Hokkaido, crab is the real thing. This long-established crab restaurant is in Susukino, Sapporo’s best-known entertainment district.
It has been loved for years thanks to the owner’s heartfelt wish: “We want our guests to eat crab fresh-boiled and piping hot.”
With a focus on real, never-frozen live hairy crab, it’s a great place to enjoy Hokkaido’s signature crab such as hairy crab and king crab, and in season, even hanasaki crab.

“Jingisukan Daruma Main Store” opened in 1954.
“成吉思汗” is an ateji spelling for “jingisukan,” and Daruma’s jingisukan has become known as a Susukino specialty.
Here, they source fresh mutton daily and have craftsmen cut it right before opening.
Mutton has a distinctive umami, and what brings it out is the special sauce the proprietress has been hand-prepping since the shop first opened.

The Sapporo Beer Garden is instantly recognizable by the red star painted on its brick chimney.
The red star, a symbol of Sapporo’s development, is now beloved as the Sapporo Beer Garden’s emblem. In Sapporo, also known as the birthplace of Japan beer, this is a place where you can enjoy beer along with the setting itself.
Recommended for anyone who wants the classic Sapporo beer hall experience: fresh draft beer and jingisukan.

A particular shop that started with a farm in order to open a jingisukan restaurant, handling everything in-house from lamb production to processing, aging, and sales.
They raise only Suffolk sheep, known as the “king of meat.”
In Japan, where 99.5% of lamb is imported, it’s a premium breed that’s hard to come by.
Another feature is that they serve a wide variety of cuts, making use of the whole sheep with nothing wasted.

A conveyor-belt sushi chain whose first store is in Nemuro, at the eastern edge of Hokkaido—this popular location is inside JR Tower Stellar Place, directly connected to JR Sapporo Station.
With the freshness advantage of being based in Nemuro, a fishing town rich in seafood, plus a classic variety of toppings and the great value conveyor-belt sushi is known for, every location is popular and draws crowds.
This shop in particular, directly connected to JR Sapporo Station, is especially convenient—so there’s almost always a long line out front.

Hokkaido is a “treasure house of gourmet food,” bringing together seafood from northern waters and farm products grown across vast lands—and Sapporo is its hottest battleground for food lovers.
One ultra-famous spot that’s said to be known by every gourmand in Sapporo is the two-Michelin-star “Sushi-sai Wakichi.”
The refined storefront sets the tone, and inside feels crisp and clean.
It’s a classic high-end sushi style: you sit across the hinoki-wood counter from the chef, who serves each piece in rhythm with your pace.

“Hanamaru” serves carefully selected seasonal Nemuro fish as conveyor-belt sushi.
It’s a popular shop that keeps the fun of watching and choosing—part of conveyor-belt sushi’s charm—while also focusing on freshness.
This “Machi no Sushi-ya” is a separate Hanamaru brand, and instead of conveyor-belt style, sushi is made right in front of you.

A retro-modern design that blends an old building with new elements by world-renowned architect Tadao Ando, with an exterior and interior that will make your heart flutter.
On the first floor, you’ll find a wide variety of Japanese and Western sweets for sale, including “Hokkaido Kaitaku Okaki,” a baumkuchen that’s popular in the media, and many kinds of cream puffs. Soft-serve ice cream is also available, and you can buy it and eat on the bench.
For the second-floor café, it’s recommended to go up via the stairs. Climb the gorgeous stone staircase and you’ll find a lovely space, accented by sunlight streaming through the windows.

Founded in 1961, “Yukijirushi Parlor Sapporo Main Store” is a long-established Sapporo sweets shop with over 50 years of history.
Inside, you can enjoy ice cream made for the Emperor and Empress of the Showa era, over 30 kinds of parfaits, and meal options. At the shop by the entrance, you can also buy souvenirs and soft-serve ice cream.

A night parfait specialty shop that has been adding more locations in recent years.
The original shop behind it all is Sapporo’s “Night Parfait Specialty Shop Parfaiteria PaL.”
They aim to create parfaits like the desserts in a high-end French course meal, using sorbets with plenty of fresh fruit and refreshing gelato. By keeping the sweetness lower than traditional parfaits, each one is designed to taste especially delicious when you’ve had a few drinks.

At “Sapporo Nijo Market,” around 20 fresh fish shops line the streets, and as you’d expect from a treasure house of seafood, freshly sourced seafood is displayed out front each day.
There are also many restaurants inside the market. A key feature is the large number of places where you can enjoy seafood—sushi, seafood rice bowls, grilled items, and more.
If you just want a small bite, the eat-in corners attached to some fish shops are recommended.

“Curb Market” is directly connected to the Sapporo City Central Wholesale Market.
Inside the facility-divided into 10 blocks-around 60 shops are packed in, overflowing with delicious Sapporo ingredients.
There are also many diners, and the menus sold under the name “Curb Market Meals” range from seafood-heavy dishes to pork curry and ramen. It’s nice to be able to choose based on your mood.

One of Hokkaido’s oldest shopping streets, “Tanukikoji Shopping Street” has over 140 years of history.
Located in central Sapporo, it stretches Approx. 900 meters east to west with around 200 shops lining the way.
Because it’s covered by an arcade, it’s great that you can enjoy shopping, strolling, and dining even on bad-weather days.