Sapporo is a nice gateway to Hokkaido. Especially during the snow festival, the air around the Odori Park is filled with the scent of unami and seafood from the multitude of food stalls serving festival goers.
A must visit is the Sapporo fish market called the "Curb Market," which is across the street from the wholesale fish market - not open to the public - located a mile or so from the downtown area. (The other fish market is called Nijo, which is closer to downtown.) Most hotels offer a free shuttle to one of the largest shops in the Curb Market. Initially unhappy that we were 'chained' to one shop since we took the free shuttle, that turned out to be the best decision we made. It was the largest shop, and that means good turnover and fresh seafood. After arriving at about 6:45 am, we ordered the Donburi (rice with a selection of raw seafood) for breakfast. Everything was ultra-fresh but the uni (sea urchin) stole the show. Creamy, light, slight hint of brine, smaller and lighter in color compared with the uni I've seen before, this was the best uni - hands down.
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| Donburi with mixed seafood |
A special find in the Sapporo Underground Pedestrian mall is
Kinotoya Bake cheese tarts. Selling only one item in a modern bake shop, this is a must-try. Best time to have the tarts is at 10 AM when the shop just opens, the pastry is still slightly warm, the crust is crunchy and the filling (made with 3 cheeses) is light and airy with a hint of lemon.
No visit to Sapporo is complete without a visit to the
Sapporo Beer Museum followed by a mongolian lamb dinner with Sapporo beer at the
Beer Garden right next to it.
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| Enjoying beer with lamb bbq |
Another famous dish in Sapporo is Miso Ramen. We took the advice of one of the young ladies on the hotel staff and went to her favorite miso ramen shop -
Keyaki. It is a tiny place, but it was a good hearty meal. I ordered the char siu ramen, which was a tad oily from the seared pork. My companion's miso ramen (with nothing else) was better!
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| Cooking miso ramen |
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| Char siu (roast pork) ramen |
Another piece of advice for Sapporo is to give yourself plenty of time at the New Chitose Sapporo Airport. In the Domestic terminal before you check in for your flight, you will see all our Hokkaido favorites again - fishcakes from Kamaei, cheese tarts from Kinotoya bake, LeTao sweets and of course, Miso Ramen!
