| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ¥1000 - ¥2000 |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 - 23:00 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-272-2941 sumibiizakaya-en.com |
| Notes | Japanese tavern, all you can drink plan available |
| Location / Getting There | Located on the floor of the Ikeuchi building. 5 minute walk from Odori subway station <〒060-0061 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Minami 1 Jonishi, 2 Chome−9-1 ＩＫＥＵＣＨＩＺＯＮＥ ８F |
There are two restaurants located on the top floor of Ikeuchi Zone. Both of these are owned by the Shinwa Holdings group. Sumibi Izakaya En is one of the two izakayas to be found here, the other being the Gotoken Hakodate restaurant. Sumibi Izakaya En translates to the ‘charcoal fire tavern’ in English. It is here you can find decent beer, plus good food. Sumibi Izakaya specializes in skewered meatballs and other grilled meats. The meatballs are handmade and kneaded with eight kind of spices. They also have an assortment of other dishes including seafood and salads.
The zangi here (fried chicken), is aged by letting it sit for 48 hours in a special sauce that combines 11 kinds of spices. the salt used is ‘Setouchi Ako salt’. Setouchi being known for its large salt fields. At Sumibi Izakaya En, as with all izakayas, you simply order lots of small dishes and share them around whilst enjoying the local beer. This izakaya has party plans that range from ¥4500 per person to ¥2500. The most expensive including delicious snow crab! You can find beer here plus a variety of bottled sake. They have an all you can drink option if you are looking to have a big night.
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ¥1000 - ¥1500 |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 - 21:30 |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-209-3437 |
| Notes | Udon restaurant, seating 30, English menu, no smoking |
| Location / Getting There | Located in the Apia walkway between Sapporo station and the Sapporo subway station. It's a 1 minute walk from both. 〒060-0005 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Kita 5 Jonishi, 3・4丁目 |
Handmade Udon Kineya can be found in the underground Apia Food Walk section. It is just a quick walk from either Sapporo station or Sapporo subway station. This udon restaurant (hence the name) is unique as the udon noodles here are handmade right in the store window. You can watch how the udon noodles are made by the master chef there! This makes for a great photo opportunity for those traveling from other countries. The staff here are really nice, and they have English ability. With the English menu, it is easy to order your meal.
The food here is really good and if you are traveling from overseas, this restaurant is a really good experience of Japanese culture. On entering, customers will get a hot cup of green tea. It’s nice to sip on while perusing the menu. The menu has a lot of udon noodle dishes that come with different Japanese foods. The tempura udon is especially nice! All dishes come with pickles and a nice miso soup. There are about a dozen great udon noodle soups to choose from that come with a variety of ingredients. This is a great restaurant to try!
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ¥1000- ¥2000 |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 - 23:00 (LO 22:15) |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-209-5123 |
| Notes | Pork restaurant, seating 90, non smoking, credit card accepted |
| Location / Getting There | Located in Sapporo, above Sapporo station on the 6th floor of Stellar Place shopping centre 2 Chome Kita 5 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0005 |
Yushoku Tonsai Ichi Ni San is a pork restaurant that is located on the dining and restaurant floor in Stellar Place. The brand behind the restaurant is “Kagoshima Black Pork”. Kagoshima being a large city on the southern island of Kyushu. This restaurant has an extensive menu. The menu primarily consists of pork dishes, though noodle dishes can also be found to enjoy. Their specialty is a fusion of Black Pork Shabu Shabu with a soba soup. Delicious! There are also other various dishes from Kagoshima that can be found on the menu.
They also offer other menus with Kagoshima Black Pork, such as pork cutlet, skewered cutlet, and ginger-flavored fried pork, as well as Kagoshima’s local dishes and sashimi. The restaurant is nicely set out and has a distinct Japanese feel, and being in the Stellar Place, JR Tower building, you can get some nice views looking down onto the plaza outside of Sapporo station. This is a great (and affordable) restaurant to enjoy a nice lunch or a dinner. And after having a good meal, you can do some shopping or watch a movie at the cinema on the floor above!
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ¥1000 - ¥1500 |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 - 23:00 (last order 10:15) |
| Closed | - |
| Contact | 011-209-5107 http://www.kabenoana.com/ |
| Notes | Pasta restaurant, seating 58, non smoking, union pay available |
| Location / Getting There | Located above Sapporo station, on the 6th floor of Stellar Place Sapporo Stellar Place 6F, 2-5 Kitagojo Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo |
This interestingly named store is a chain of restaurants that can be found throughout all of Japan. There is only one ‘Hole in the Wall’ in Hokkaido and that can be found directly above Sapporo station in the Stellar Place shopping center on the 6th floor. These restaurants originally started as far back as 1952 and were one of the few that started to specialize in spaghetti. Back at that time, Italian food was still very new to Japan so there is a lot of history behind these stores. To make it more familiar with Japanese people they used Japanese ingredients making their own “Japanese-style spaghetti.”
This Japanese, Italian fusion cuisine has some interesting dishes on its menu. Hole in the Wall has five types of raw pasta, including spaghetti, tagliolini and tagliatelle. The menu has over thirty different pastas to choose from, many with toppings with a Japanese flavor such as squid, fish eggs, sea urchin and dried sea weed to name a few. There are lunch sets that come with a salad and drink. The antipasti menu has prosciutto, french fries in garlic butter, or garlic toast. Hole in the Wall also have some nice steak dishes on their main dishes.
| Pricing Guide (Avg. cost per person) | ¥1000 |
| Opening Hours | 11:00 - 15:00 Lunch 17:00 - 19:30 Dinner |
| Closed | Wednesdays |
| Contact | 011-511-8339 http://www.ohkami-soup.net/ |
| Notes | Ramen restaurant, seating 14, car parking for one |
| Location / Getting There | This restaurant is located in Sapporo. It is a 5 minute walk from Nakajima Park subway station (Nakajima Koen) Japan, 〒064-0811 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Minami 11 Jonishi, 1 Chome−5-1 Takairebunheim 1F |
huge maps – google map here
Wolf Soup ramen is also known as Ookami Soup. Ookami (which means wolf in English) is an award winning ramen restaurant in Sapporo that specializes in miso ramen and ONLY miso ramen. And no, the ingredients do not contain any wolf! The name reflects on nature and life, which is a running theme through many ramen restaurants. This small restaurant has received awards for its outstanding miso ramen, so if you enjoy ramen, this place is well worth a taste check! As stated, they have only miso ramen on the menu but this restaurant is frequented by many people.
Wolf Soup Ramen opened its doors in 2002 and since then, has enjoyed success. The ingredients that go into their bowls are from mainly Hokkaido. Specifically, many of their vegetables such as potatoes, ginger, garlic and onions are all from provinces within Hokkaido. The noodles themselves, being one of the ingredients, are blended from strong wheat in Hokkaido. Blended brown and white miso used in their dishes are stored in wooden barrels of Shinshuyama Manmiso giving the miso a sharp taste. This single store can be found across from Nakajima Park. It’s best to walk or catch the subway here as there is only parking for one car.
| Admission | Free |
| Dates | Mid August around the 13th - 15th 3 days |
| Contact | - |
| Starting times | All day |
| Location / Getting There | Various locations throughout every city. |
Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of ancestors. It has been celebrated in Japan for over 500 years and is known as a time for family. It is a time of family reunion, where the graves of ancestors are visited and cleaned. It also includes a celebration involving a Bon dance (Bon Odori). This festive dance was originally a folk dance to welcome the spirits of the dead. The dance takes place around a high wooden scaffold called a ‘yagura’. Musicians, playing a Japanese drum (taiko), and singers sit at the top of this yagura to perform for the line of dancers below.
These small festivals are held throughout each city in various places and districts. If you are in Sapporo, the main Bon Festival is held in Odori Park. Plus, there is another in front of the Park Hotel. At these Bon dances, there are stalls selling food and drink and this goes all day. In the evening the lanterns come to life and the music starts. Anybody is welcome to join the line dance that circles the yagura. This is a great way to get involved with centuries of Japanese culture and make for a great spot to get some video or photos.
