Outside Ottawa

Ramen Baisensha is a small ramen shop tucked inside Ramen Alley, one of Sapporo’s most famous food destinations. Ramen Alley is exactly what it sounds like—a narrow alley lined with compact ramen shops, each specializing in its own interpretation of Sapporo-style ramen. Many of these shops have been operating for decades, contributing to the alley’s reputation as a must-visit spot for ramen lovers.

Tonkotsu Ramen Taiga is a ramen shop in Sapporo that focuses on one thing and does it with confidence: tonkotsu ramen. The restaurant doesn’t try to cover every ramen style under the sun. Instead, it leans heavily into a rich, pork-bone–based broth and builds variations around that foundation. The space itself is casual and functional, very much in line with what you’d expect from a dedicated ramen shop in Japan.

The Sapporo Beer Garden is one of the most iconic food destinations in the city and a place that feels deeply tied to Hokkaido’s identity. Located in a historic red-brick building that was originally constructed in the late 1800s as a beer brewery, the site is closely connected to the origins of Sapporo Beer, Japan’s oldest beer brand. Walking onto the grounds, there’s an immediate sense of history—this isn’t just a restaurant, but a landmark that reflects how beer culture and food culture developed together in Hokkaido.

Soup curry was one of the biggest food discoveries I made after arriving in Sapporo. Before this trip, it wasn’t something I was familiar with at all, and it’s not a dish you casually come across outside of Hokkaido. It was only after looking up restaurants and local food specialties that I realized how important soup curry is to the city’s food identity.

Damairu Sushizen is a well-established sushi restaurant in Sapporo that focuses on quality ingredients and traditional execution rather than theatrics. It feels refined but not intimidating, making it approachable even if you’re not deeply familiar with Japanese sushi culture. The atmosphere is calm and comfortable, the kind of place where the food clearly takes priority over flashy presentation.

This post covers three such bakeries: Donguri Bake, PAUL, and Saint-Germain. Each represents a slightly different style—Donguri with its Hokkaido milk–focused breads, PAUL with its French roots, and Saint-Germain as a dependable Japanese bakery chain. As with the rest of my Japan Food Series, this is a break from my usual Ottawa restaurant reviews and instead focuses on the everyday foods that made travelling through Sapporo so enjoyable.

Boul’Ange was easily one of my favourite bakeries that I came across in Sapporo. After trying a wide range of bakeries during this trip—from casual chains to neighbourhood bakeries—Boul’Ange stood out immediately for its consistency, execution, and overall quality. This is the kind of bakery where you can tell, from the first bite, that they take their dough seriously.

Bostonbake is a casual, neighbourhood-style bakery chain you’ll see around Sapporo and other parts of Hokkaido. It’s not a boutique patisserie or a trendy café-style bakery. Instead, it feels practical, approachable, and very Japanese in how it balances variety with affordability. The shelves are packed with everything from sweet pastries and buns to savoury sandwiches and curry breads, clearly aimed at locals grabbing breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon snack.

Continuing my Japan Food Series, I wanted to highlight a few more specialty shops and stores I visited in Sapporo that stood out for their snacks, sweets, and drinks. Unlike the major convenience store chains like FamilyMart or Lawson, these places felt more local and unique—offering products you might not find anywhere else in Japan.

While Japan’s convenience stores like Lawson, FamilyMart, and Seicomart are already impressive, Sapporo also has plenty of smaller specialty stores and department store food sections worth exploring. These aren’t quite the same as konbini, but they share the same attention to detail, freshness, and variety that Japan’s food culture is known for.