Local Guide
5 recommended izakayas in Susukino, Sapporo

Sapporo's Susukino district, Hokkaido's largest downtown area, is crammed with restaurants and a wide variety of izakaya (Japanese style pubs). Among them, restaurants that serve local specialties and local cuisine using fresh seafood, vegetables, and meat from Hokkaido, along with local sake and craft beer, are very popular. Here are five recommended izakaya where you can enjoy delicious and relatively reasonably priced drinks and meals.

Enjoy sake and local cuisine easily at the directly managed store of Sapporo's only sake brewery, Chitosekuru.

Hokkaido sashimi set
Hokkaido sashimi set" from 8,800 yen, including seasonal ingredients such as hokki-gai, button lobster, sockeye salmon, and scallops.

Chitose Tsuru is a restaurant directly operated by Chitose Tsuru, which has a sake brewery in the city of Sapporo. It offers about 20 in-house brands of sake, including general sake, junmai, ginjo, honjozo, and daiginjo, as well as limited-edition cask sake available only at the brewery and directly-operated stores. The meals are mainly local dishes made from Hokkaido's seasonal seafood and mountain produce. The menu includes a variety of Hokkaido delicacies that go well with sake, such as "mefun," a delicacy made from the back padding of salmon, "roibe," half-frozen sockeye salmon sashimi, and "potato butter with salted fish. While the prices are relatively reasonable, the quality of the food is on par with authentic kappo restaurants.

Enjoy Sapporo's sake with a sake comparison set.

In addition to counter seating, the restaurant has private rooms that can accommodate 2 to 10 people, making it easy to use the restaurant alone or in a group.
In addition to counter seating, the restaurant has private rooms that can accommodate 2 to 10 people, making it easy to use the restaurant alone or in a group.

This restaurant is easily Directioned, just a 2-minute walk from Susukino Subway Station. The interior of the restaurant has a purely Japanese appearance, allowing you to sit back and enjoy your drinks and food.
For those who have a hard time deciding what to choose from the many varieties of sake, we recommend the "Chitosekuru 'Daiginjo Drinking Comparison'" which includes two types of daiginjo and one type of junmai daiginjo, or the "Sapporo Local Sake Drinking Comparison Set" which includes three types of sake (ginjo, junmai, and honjozo). Both of these sets allow you to compare the tastes of Chitosekuru's representative brands.

Local Guide Comment
Next to the Chitosekuru brewery is the Chitosekuru Sake Museum, where you can visit exhibits about sake brewing culture and the history of Chitosekuru. It is a 15-minute walk to the store, so we recommend visiting directly managed Chitosekuru after the tour.
Direct Management Chitose Tsuru
  • Address 1F New Susukino Building, Minami 5-jo Nishi 3-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido MAP
  • Direction 2 minutes walk from Susukino Subway Station
  • Business hours 17:00-23:00 (L.O.22:30), Friday and Saturday-23:30 (L.O.23:00)
  • Closed December 31 - January 4
  • TEL 011-531-4788
  • Parking None

The famous "Kani-daruma" and "Dashimaki Tamago-yaki" are popular!

Crab Daruma
Crab Daruma" 880 yen and "Dashimaki Tamago-yaki" 600 yen, both of which do not require shelling, and 1/2 size 380 yen are also available.

This seafood izakaya is located about 3 minutes from Susukino Subway Station. Most customers order "Kani-Daruma," a specialty dish in which the shells of snow crabs caught off the coast of Otaru are peeled one by one in the restaurant, and the meat is stuffed into the crab shell and served at an unbeatable price. The "dashimaki tamago-yaki," a baked egg white wrapped in yolk and baked to perfection, is another popular dish that goes well with sake. The beautifully divided white and yellow cross section of the egg makes for a great photo opportunity. In addition to sashimi and grilled dishes, you can enjoy a variety of other dishes to accompany your sake at reasonable prices.

Single-person menu and a wide selection of rare Japanese sake

Counter seating as well as small tables are available.
Counter seating as well as small tables are available.

The restaurant's reasonable and casual atmosphere makes it easy to come in alone as well as in a group. In addition to half-size dashimaki tamago-yaki, there are also several one-person menus such as a half-size sashimi dish and a half-size hokke-yaki dish.
For drinks, in addition to beer and highballs, there is a wide selection of Japanese sake. In addition to Hokkaido's locally brewed sake "Kunimare" and "Fukuji," there are also many other sakes popular among sake connoisseurs, such as "Nabeshima" and "Tasake. It is recommended not only for those who love sake, but also for those who want to casually enjoy seafood dishes.

Local Guide Comment
When the elevator door opens, there is no store door and you are immediately inside the store. The atmosphere is humane and friendly, and you can casually enjoy the food at a reasonable price without being overbearing.
Izakaya Kusachi
  • Address Minami 3 Nishi 4 Bldg. 7th floor, 21-6 Minami 3 Nishi 4 Chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido MAP
  • Direction 3 min. walk from Susukino Subway Station
  • Business hours 17:00-22:30 (L.O. 22:00)
  • Closed Sundays, national holidays, around Obon, year-end and New Year's holidays
  • TEL 011-232-0204
  • Parking None
  • Memo Crab Daruma may be out of stock depending on availability.
    Smoking is allowed in all seats. To prevent passive smoking, minors are not allowed to enter the restaurant even if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Enjoy oysters from Atsukishi at a reasonable price!

Fresh oysters are 150 yen each. Chili pepper sauce, ponzu (Japanese citrus juice), and lemon juice are available on the table.
Fresh oysters are 150 yen each. Chili pepper sauce, ponzu (Japanese citrus juice), and lemon juice are available on the table.

A casual oyster bar where you can enjoy oysters purchased directly from fishermen in Akkeshi, a famous oyster producing area, at reasonable prices. In addition to "raw," the oyster menu includes grilled, sake-steamed, fried, tartar cheese, sesame oil marinated, and wasabi and green onion ponzu, allowing you to enjoy them in a variety of ways. The raw and grilled items can be ordered by the piece, making it easy to enjoy the first piece or the last piece. According to the owner, it seems that each customer generally eats 5 to 10 pieces, but some oyster lovers can eat nearly 30 pieces by themselves.

Whether you can get in or not depends on your luck, but you should eat even if you have to wait in line!

Although the restaurant is not large, it has a total of 30 seats at tables as well as at the counter.
Although the restaurant is not large, it has a total of 30 seats at tables as well as at the counter.

The popular restaurant sometimes has a line out the door. The restaurant closes when they run out of oysters, and on early days they may sell out by 23:00. Reservations are not required, so it is recommended to visit early in the day.
In addition to oysters, the menu also includes Hokkaido-style dishes such as steamed clams with sake, scallops and scallops grilled in soy sauce, and grilled jagabata with salted fish. Sake is available in the form of beer, sours, highballs, etc., as well as Belgian black beer filtered through oyster shells.

Both the food and the drinks go down a treat.

Local Guide Comment
Not only oysters, but other snacks such as grilled scallops with butter and soy sauce are also cosy. As the name suggests, it is a small restaurant, but it is popular with locals and tourists alike.
5 tsubo Susukino branch
  • Address BASE-01 1F, 3-6-8 Nishi 3-chome, Minami 6-jo, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido MAP
  • Direction 3 min. walk from Susukino Subway Station
  • Business hours 17:00 - 2:00 (L.O. 1:00, close when oysters are sold out)
  • Closed No holidays
  • TEL 011-551-7220
  • Parking None
  • Memo One drink order per person (soft drinks also available)

A blue pub where you can taste craft beers from Sapporo

Cold Hokkaido Ezo sika deer (890 yen) and a variety of beers in small glasses (150 ml) that are easy to compare. Large glasses (250ml) are also available.
Cold Hokkaido Ezo sika deer (890 yen) and a variety of beers in small glasses (150 ml) that are easy to compare. Large glasses (250ml) are also available.

The Blue Pub is the place to go for those who want to enjoy local craft beers. In addition to the three standard beers (Pilsner, Pale Ale, and IPA), the brewery offers seven limited-brewed beers, making for a total of 10 beers on tap at any given time. The limited-brewed beers generally last about a month before they are gone and are replaced by other beers, so you get a chance to try them once in a lifetime. If you want to compare beers, we recommend the "3 Flight Set," which allows you to choose your favorite three beers, or the "120-minute all-you-can-drink" option, which covers all beverages. On the table, there is a guide showing the characteristics of each beer on a scale of bitter, sweet, aromatic, and sharp, so that even beer novices can find the one they like best.

Enjoy Hokkaido ingredients such as Ezo sika deer meat with beer!

The bright interior of the restaurant. There are table seats as well as counter seats, making it easy to use by yourself or in a group.
The bright interior of the restaurant. There are table seats as well as counter seats, making it easy to use by yourself or in a group.

The restaurant's creative dishes, made from scratch with Hokkaido ingredients, are also exquisite. Popular dishes include French fries made with three different varieties of Hokkaido potatoes and rich Neapolitan noodles made with plenty of cream. The "Ezo Deer Cold Vegetables," served only when Ezo Deer meat is in stock, is a popular appetizer dish that combines low-temperature-cooked Ezo Deer meat with a homemade spicy sauce. The restaurant attracts many craft beer lovers as well as those who want to take the time to enjoy the marriage of beer and food.
The restaurant's interior, lined with beer taps, is also popular for its stylishness.

Local Guide Comment
Located in close proximity to Nijo Market, which is lined with fresh fish stores, and the Raccoon Alley shopping street, which is frequented by many shoppers, it is an easy place to visit while looking for souvenirs. It is generally a 10-minute walk from the center of Susukino.
Tsuki to Taiyo BREWING Head Office
  • Address 1F Alpha Sosegawa Koen Bldg. 1-3, Minami 3-jo Higashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido MAP
  • Direction 4 min. walk from Hosui-Susukino or Odori Subway Sta.
  • Business hours 17:00-23:00 (L.O. 22:00), Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 16:00-23:00 (L.O. 22:00)
  • Closed Closed on weekends and holidays
  • TEL 050-3085-2989 (reservations only, 24 hours)
  • Parking None
  • Memo For inquiries other than reservations, call 011-218-5311 (14:30-23:00)

Enjoy the freshest ingredients with the producer's thoughts

You can choose your favorite vegetables from a basket and grill them on a shichirin (a charcoal grill).
You can choose your favorite vegetables from a basket and grill them on a shichirin (a charcoal grill).

The concept of this Japanese-style izakaya is to be a "kakehashi" that conveys the thoughts of the producers. The owner and his staff visit farms, fishing grounds, and sake breweries in various regions to meet with producers to purchase and serve carefully selected ingredients.
You can taste ingredients from all over Hokkaido, such as vegetables directly shipped from Naganuma Town and Chitose City near Sapporo, lamb raised on asparagus from Bibai City, and fresh scallops from Sarufutsu Village directly from fishermen. In addition to the regular seared vegetables and grilled lamb thighs, the back menu of assorted sashimi (reservations required) is also extremely popular.

The restaurant seats about 30 customers. In addition to counter seats, there are also table seats and small seats with sunken kotatsu.
The restaurant seats about 30 customers. In addition to counter seats, there are also table seats and small seats with sunken kotatsu.

The owner has been a dedicated chef since 1985, so he has an excellent eye for ingredients. If you consult with him ahead of time when making a reservation, he will do his best to accommodate special menu requests, such as "I want to try the hairy crab" or "I want to try the braised kinki fish. Although prices fluctuate depending on the availability of ingredients, it is understandable that many local customers come to the restaurant for the seafood. The sake lineup includes Japanese sake from inside and outside of Hokkaido, as well as shochu and Japanese whiskey. It may be a good idea to choose one based on the brewer's thoughts and story as well as the food pairing.

Local Guide Comment
Because the restaurant uses fresh ingredients purchased from fishermen and farmers in Hokkaido, reservations are required at least two days prior to your visit for purchasing and cooking. Please contact the restaurant as soon as possible to discuss the menu.
Kakushoku and hidden sake brewery Kakehashi Sohonten
  • Address 31st Keiwa Bldg. 4F, 8-12, Minami 4-jo Nishi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido MAP
  • Direction 2 minutes walk from Susukino Subway Station
  • Business hours 17:00-22:00 (L.O. 21:30) *Friday, Saturday and the day before national holidays - 23:00 (L.O. 22:30)
  • Closed Closed on weekends and holidays
  • TEL 011-552-9984
  • Parking None
  • Memo Reservations required at least 2 days in advance.

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The information in this article is current as of the date of the update. Please check before visiting as they are subject to change.