Considering Niseko again this year. Does it make sense to spend a couple days in Sapporo either side of the skiing? I can’t find a ton about the Sapporo food scene, but have no problem getting into the tabelog weeds, lol. Anybody been? Any recs?
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Paging @CiaoBob & @LouisianaMouth …
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We enjoyed Sapporo for a few days.
Its a fun city with lots to do (but wasn’t the highlight of Hokkaido for us - that would be Hakodate or Noboribetsu Onsen).
Had an excellent Sushi meal at Sushi Zen
Suage Soup Curry was a great lunch
Get some Butter Corn Ramen - heavy AF
Enjoyed visiting the Sapporo brewery
Would highly recommend taking a train ride to Otaru for a lunch (there’s a well known sushi place there) and visiting the original Nikka distillery (only if you care about Japanese whisky )
feel free to DM if you want any more info!
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I only did some light research because my stay was very short, but I think Sapporo is the home of miso ramen? And there’s some Ramen Alley there where there’s just a big concentration of those types of shops up there.
On the fine dining end, I only went to one kaiseki place named Nukumi, right next to Nakajima Park. Don’t know what the park looks like in dead of winter but it was quite nice walking around it before dinner in May. Nukumi itself has an amazing view of the park while also being an exceptional meal for the price. I believe it was also a relatively easy reservation and had an awesome sake selection for very good prices.
There are also some very famous sushi shops in Sapporo if you wish to try for those reservations.
I think there are plenty of places to eat and drink at but one sake bar I had on my list (but couldn’t make) was Morohaku. Popped up on an IG account I follow and the reviews looked good but I sadly couldn’t make it.
I second Bob’s opinion that Otaru is a cool day trip (or even overnight stay as there are ryokan in the area) but I saw it in May as opposed to winter. Overall, I personally think Sapporo has plenty of eating and drinking to make it a good time. The hotels should also be relatively significantly cheaper (though I was checking during non-winter months) than the major tourst cities (Tokyo, etc.). FYI, some hotels are directly connected to the wide underground passage that stretches through central Sapporo - the Sapporo Grand Hotel where I think I stayed at definitely was at least. Great if you want to get away from the weather haha.
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If you go in February, Snow Festival is very interesting.
さっぽろ雪まつり公式サイト (snowfes.com)
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Thanks, this is super helpful. Still trying to figure out if Sapporo makes sense (or if I should just go elsewhere in Japan!) but if I decide that spending a little more time in Hokkaido makes sense, I’ll certainly message you.
Really, I want to rent a car there and go to some of the local ski mountains AND make it to more interesting spots like Hakodate, but I’m not certain I am brave enough to rent there!
This is really helpful! It wouldn’t be a long trip. I’m still in very early planning stages, but it sounds like it is certainly worth a couple days, if only to go to some decent restaurants.
And given that all roads in and out of Niseko go through Sapporo, it would be really easy! Also, Nukumi looks excellent.
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I’ve driven a fair amount in Japan.
Driving in Japan is a much better place to get comfortable with being on the other side of the road and vehicle than the UK/Ireland
The drivers are much more polite with other drivers than in Europe.
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Driving on the left side of the road in Okinawa was, for me, far easier than an average day on the right side of the road in L.A…
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I’ve been to Hokkaido three times and rent a car each time. But never in the winter. Other than the toll road, I’m not sure how fast the road gets cleaned.
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Woah, did not expect a universal reply of “it ain’t that hard to drive in Japan!”
I’ve driven abroad, often in places with narrow and bad roads (hello Bosnia) but still haven’t driven left side. Might be a decent place to try.
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You should 100% go to Sapporo. It, and Hokkaido in general, has been the highlight of all my Japanese travels recently. The typical tourist destinations of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto are so saturated with foreigners that, for me, it sucked the magic out–especially for anyone that had been in the country 5-10+ years ago.
Sapporo has all of most of the things you’d want to experience in Tokyo/Osaka, but being less popular than them, has maintained it’s soul. Plus, the seafood is as exceptional as you’d expect it to be.
The largest chunk of my time in country for the foreseeable future will be spent exploring Hokkaido/Sapporo without a doubt.
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Hello all, so I’m 99% certain that Sapporo (and Japan ski trip part 2) is happening.
Plans are very tentative, but I’ll explain the general situation: it’s a hokkaido exploration trip designed as a ski trip. The current plan is to rent a car and stay in Otaru (or Yoichi.) From there, we can drive to Kiroro or Sapporo Teine depending on snow.
We will also spend 2-3 days in Sapporo proper.
So tldr would love any and all recs for Otaru and Sapporo.
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@lizardking i would love any recs you have.
This Tabelog site maybe helpful when doing research.
Based on the type of restaurants you are looking for, then you can search Sapporo or Otaru or other location.
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Oh fear not I’ve already gone into a tabelog deep dive. Just seeing if any FTC’ers have their own recs.
Soup Curry King is very good. They have several locations.
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