Sushi and boat-load sashimi platters. Delicious, bold — the Hokkaido standard.

3 Delicious Seafood Restaurants in Sapporo

Route 231. Running gently north to south along the coastline, this road forms a vital artery connecting the Ishikari and Rumoi regions in west-central Hokkaido. It's the origin of the name “Fumiichi.” The restaurant's name carries a wish: to connect towns and people, and to bring blessings, just as the road does. The places it connects are Sapporo and Mashike — a historic town that once thrived on herring fishing and is known as the setting for the film “Station.” “Fumiichi” is a seafood izakaya bringing together the culinary treasures of Mashike.

First, order the “Three Types of Shrimp in a Masu Box.” Sweet shrimp and spot prawns landed at Mashike, plus the rare, spiky Godzilla shrimp. These plump, ultra-fresh shrimp are piled so high they spill over the edges of the wooden masu box, letting you fully savor their firm, richly sweet flesh.

Since Mashike is known for herring fishing, don't forget the kazunoko (herring roe) either. We recommend the top-grade “fresh harasudashi,” worlds apart in both texture and flavor from the frozen kind you usually find. If you still have room, try the takeout “Mashike Battera,” made with whole herring roe and herring.

Nigiri is also on offer. Sushi chef Mr. Honda says, “Good ingredients deserve good rice.” His original rice blend, cooked fluffy with natural spring water, melts gently in your mouth alongside each topping. At lunchtime, you can even try the “Jumbo Nama-Chirashi,” supervised by Mashike's popular restaurant “Sushi no Matsukura.”

Mashike's specialties aren't limited to seafood. Sake from “Kunikoi Shuzo,” Japan's northernmost sake brewery founded in 1882, is one of them. Fumiichi specially sources Rumoi-region-exclusive and seasonal brews like “Kita no Kirameki” and “Shokan Bijin” directly from the brewery. Nothing pairs better with seafood raised off the coast of Mashike than local sake made with water from the very same land. The restaurant even stocks cider made from local apples — a touch only possible thanks to Fumiichi's deep devotion to Mashike.
Every delicacy here traces back to a bond with Mashike. By the time you finish savoring it all, you'll probably find yourself wanting to take a drive up the coastline.

Located near Tanukikoji, “Uogashi” is a rare stand-and-eat sushi restaurant in Sapporo. The concept: no seats, but great ingredients at reasonable prices. For anyone who thinks, “I don't have time to linger, but I still want to eat something really good!” this place is a godsend. That said, the restaurant is reportedly planning to eventually shift to delivery-only, so now is the time to experience the stand-and-eat style while you still can.

Incidentally, the delivery service started at customers' request. Regulars who work nearby began asking to “eat it at home on my day off” or “serve it at a gathering,” and that became the spark. What a deal — you can have it delivered right to your door at the same price as eating standing up at the counter. You can even ask for extra-large portions of rice at no charge, making it an even better bargain.

The delivery assortment buckets come in seven varieties: “Nemuro,” “Kushiro,” “Akkeshi,” “Shiretoko,” “Shari,” “Mashike,” and “Otaru.” As the names suggest, each uses seafood sourced from that particular region of Hokkaido — the “Akkeshi” bucket, for instance, includes steamed oysters. The bucket pictured is the “Shari” set for five, made with ingredients sourced from eastern Hokkaido; this set, with its fatty toro salmon and salmon roe, is said to be especially popular with families.

For a boxed option, there's the “Sachi” set for one, packed with premium ingredients like abalone, toro, and sea urchin. It's ordered mostly by older customers and is also used at company gatherings. If standing to eat isn't your thing, delivery lets you enjoy the same sushi at a leisurely pace.

“It's a bit unorthodox for a Hokkaido sushi restaurant,” says manager Mr. Abe. But that “unorthodox” approach is entirely for the customers' sake. Take the soy sauce, for example — the restaurant specially sources it from a long-established brewery in Kagoshima founded in the Meiji era. It's one of the sweeter tamari-style soy sauces from Kyushu, and it pairs beautifully with fatty toppings like salmon. Of course, regular soy sauce is available too, so choose whichever suits your taste.

That same special care carries through to how they deliver. Their alum-free “salt-water sea urchin” has none of the bitterness or odor you sometimes get, letting you enjoy its natural sweetness — but it's fragile and easy to crush. That's why Uogashi delivers the salt-water sea urchin in a small separate container from the gunkan-maki rice, keeping everything intact. Thanks to this attention to detail, you can enjoy sushi at home that's every bit as good as eating at the counter.

Takeout available, delivery available — so you can enjoy the same great taste anytime. That's Uogashi for you. Why not try it in the restaurant first, then order your favorite pieces for delivery next time?

Walls packed floor to ceiling with vintage menko cards, masks, daruma dolls, records, and more — this alone makes “Tecchan” an izakaya you won't forget once you've been. It's said the decor originally leaned into the seafood theme with a boat, a big-catch flag, and an anchor, but somewhere along the way it filled up with Showa-era memorabilia instead. The story goes that manager Mr. Abe, feeling too shy to face customers directly across the counter, started pasting up menus and magazine clippings — and it grew from there. Abe is shy enough that a regular once told him, “I've been coming for 20 years and this is the first time I've actually seen your face.” But his desire to delight his customers is second to none. Making the funamori boat platter the signature dish is all about wanting people to eat as much as possible.

During our visit, the octopus leg being plated was still moving so much it nearly fell off the cutting board — proof of just how fresh the ingredients are. A funamori boat platter typically holds around 20 to 25 varieties, with the lineup changing based on sea conditions and the season; the restaurant even actively seeks out unusual fish, saying “customers get bored otherwise.” Portions, of course, are generous too. The boat platter pictured serves two and is seriously substantial. In the past, customers were required to order one boat platter per person, but due to demand, the rule has since been changed to “order as much as you want to eat.” If you still can't finish it all, they'll even stir-fry the leftover ingredients and serve them up again. Enjoying it as a temaki hand-roll sushi set is also recommended.

The otoshi appetizer is king crab and shrimp — quintessentially Hokkaido flavors from the very first bite. The menu goes on with Genghis Khan grilled lamb, salmon roe rice bowl, butter-topped potatoes, and more, including gokko-jiru, a Hokkaido regional soup made with sailfin poacher fish. Around New Year's, they've even served venison that Mr. Abe butchered himself. You could fully experience the taste of Hokkaido at this one restaurant alone — and all at reasonable prices. Whether you're visiting Hokkaido as a tourist or you're a local, a trip to this restaurant is sure to leave you happily full. It's a place overflowing with that kind of service spirit.