Sapporo is the perfect place for a gastronomic adventure around Hokkaido’s celebrated food and drinks culture. Enjoying a food tour in Sapporo is the best way to savour the region’s delicious local specialities.
Hokkaido’s seafood has legendary status throughout Japan, with favourites like crab, sea urchin, salmon roe, scallops and squid. And Sapporo is the ideal place to try it – along with BBQ grilled lamb, miso ramen and all washed down with Sapporo beer.
To save you time to enjoy your gourmet adventure, I’ve hand-picked the highest-rated Sapporo food and drink experiences.
Here are Sapporo’s six best food tours, gourmet dinners, and sake-tasting sessions!
Disclosure: This page contains commercial links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend experiences I’ve done myself or genuinely believe are worth your time.
Sapporo Food Tours, Gourmet and Sake Experiences: Quick Links
- Sapporo Food Tours – eat like a local and hop between restaurants and bars
- Sake Tasting Experience – drink your way around Sapporo with sake, beer and whisky
Price per person based on two people attending a tour: $ = up to $90; $$ = between $91 & $124; $$$ = over $125. Some tours offer discounted rates for larger groups.
Sapporo Food Tours
‘ Discover Sapporo at night on this bar-hopping tour around the city’s entertainment district. Tour 1 is an excellent, great-value option, where you’ll have a lot of fun along the way.
Gourmet lovers are in for a real treat on tour 2, as you’ll discover the best of Sapporo’s food scene. Make sure you start with an empty stomach, on this journey around Sapporo and Hokkaido’s cuisine. ‘
1. Sapporo Bar Hopping Food Tour
Explore Sapporo at night as you hop between izakayas (Japanese-style pubs) with a friendly local guide. Visit an igloo-shaped izakaya and tuck into Hokkaido’s tasty seafood and drinks.
Discover Susukino, Sapporo’s vibrant entertainment district, on this night food tour.
- Enjoy three different local izakayas you’d never find yourself
- Savour Hokkaido’s excellent seafood and find out why it’s famous throughout Japan
- Choose where to go or leave it to your knowledgeable guide
- Indulge in Sapporo’s legendary miso ramen or a dessert at the end of the night
- Includes: 3-4 dishes (a dinner’s worth), 3 drinks, and a guided walking tour
- Location: Susukino (downtown Sapporo)
- Price: $
- Duration and start time: 3 hours, 6pm
2. Eat Like a Local Private Sapporo Food Tour
Savour Sapporo’s classic dishes as you dive deep into the city’s incredible culinary culture. Try local favourites, like the freshest seafood, grilled BBQ lamb, ramen, cheese and ice cream.
Feast on Hokkaido’s tasty cuisine on this comprehensive private and personalised food walking tour in Sapporo.
- Discover Hokkaido’s divine seafood with a tasty kaisendon (seafood on rice bowl)
- Try Sapporo-style miso ramen and slurp on soup curry
- Cook your own Jingisukan (grilled lamb BBQ), a delicious dish named after Genghis Khan
- Allow your host to create an experience or choose what you like
- Includes: 6-8 dishes, 1 drink and a guided food walking tour
- Location: Sapporo
- Price: $$$
- Duration and start time: 3 hours, flexible start time
Sake Tasting
‘Hokkaido’s gourmet tradition doesn’t stop at food; it’s also home to excellent sake, beer and whisky. For starters, Hokkaido’s sake is renowned for its distinct light and dry taste.
Sapporo beer (one of my favourite Japanese beers!) reserves its best brews for sale in Hokkaido only. And Nikka’s Yoichi distillery – started by the ‘Father of Japanese Whisky’ Masataka Taketsuru – is picking up international awards for its high-quality whiskies. ‘
3. Private Sake Tasting & Brewery Experience
Enjoy a sake tasting experience with tasty snacks in Sapporo. Stroll between bars, izakayas (Japanese-style pubs), sake shops, or visit a whisky distillery.
Choose your ideal experience: sake only or with other local drinks.
- Taste different temperature sake from various regions in Japan and learn about the sake-making process
- Savour Japanese drinking snacks, like yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) and gyoza (dumplings)
- Pick and choose classic Hokkaido drinks like sake, Japanese whisky, high-ball, craft beer, wine and more
- Go with the flow or suggest places you want to visit
- Includes: 4-6 drinks with paired snacks and a walking tour
- Location: Sapporo
- Price: $$
- Duration and start time: 3 hours, flexible start time
Sapporo Fish Market and Sushi Making Tours
Sapporo is an excellent option to get up close to a fish market in Japan. Treat yourself to a luxurious experience on tour 3, where you’ll make sushi and gain insider access to Sapporo’s fish market.
Watching a tuna auction is high on the list for food-lovers visiting Japan. Tour 4 offers that and much more, including a complete tour of the Sapporo fish market. ‘
4. Luxury Sushi Making Class with Sake Pairing and Sapporo Fish Market Tour
Indulge in a sushi-making masterclass with an exclusive Sapporo fish market tour. Learn about the cultural importance of seafood in Japanese culture in Sapporo, home to some of the finest seafood in Japan.
Food lovers will be in their element on this once-in-a-lifetime luxury sushi experience.
- Sushi-making class with a sushi master chef
- Exclusive insider access to the Sapporo Fish Market, where only professional chefs are allowed
- Discover how to choose the best fish for sushi
- Learn the art of preparing and cutting fish for sushi
- Enjoy eating what you’ve created with a sake pairing session
- Includes: Sushi brunch and sake, sushi making with a master, sake pairing, special access tour of Sapporo fish market, and hotel pick-up and transport
- Location: Sapporo
- Price: $$$
- Duration and start time: 4 hours, 8am
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5. Sapporo Fish Market and Auction Tour
Enjoy a tour of Sapporo’s Central Wholesale Market and seafood auctions. Learn about Sapporo’s culinary culture and the market from a local guide.
Immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle of the morning market on this unique experience.
- Watch the tuna, fish, fruit and vegetable auctions
- Discover how the sales work and how the market operates
- Feast on delicious seafood fresh from the market
- Visit the Curb Market, consisting of restaurants and shops, which includes a famous culinary knife shop
- Tour available on market days only: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
- Includes: Guided tour of the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market and seafood auctions
- Location: Sapporo Central Wholesale Market
- Price: $
- Duration and start time: 3.5 hours, 5.15am
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6. Sapporo Beer Garden: Crab and Lamb BBQ Dinner
‘Sapporo Beer Garden is a relaxing place to enjoy two of Hokkaido’s most delicious foods, crab and BBQ lamb. Eat as much as you like with unlimited premium Sapporo beer.
What’s not to like?!
Don’t miss out on this must-do gourmet experience in Hokkaido! ‘
Savour Hokkaido’s lamb and seafood specialities in the stylish and atmospheric Sapporo Beer Garden. Wash your meal down with fresh-brewed Sapporo beer, available only here.
Eat and drink till you drop on this fun and memorable experience in Sapporo.
- Feast on Hokkaido’s famous lamb, King crab, Snow crab, shrimp, squid, scallops, salmon, vegetables and more
- Cook your own Jingisukan (grilled lamb BBQ), a memorable and fun experience
- Enjoy Japanese-style tabehoudai (all you can eat) and nomihoudai (all you can drink) for 100 minutes
- Quench your thirst with exclusive Sapporo beers, sake, whisky and non-alcoholic drinks
- Combine your trip with a visit to Sapporo Beer Museum (free entry – make your own way there)
- Includes: All you can eat crab, sushi and lamb buffet (20 different dishes) and all you can drink for 100 minutes
- Location: Sapporo Beer Garden
- Price: $
- Duration and start time: 1 hour & 40 minutes, start between 5.00pm and 7.50pm
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If you’re travelling to Hokkaido, don’t miss out on a Sapporo food tour. Discover Hokkaido’s rich culinary culture, including some of Japan’s best sake, whisky and beer.
Discovering washoku through travel in Japan. Sharing the best Japanese food and drink experiences. Living in Osaka. Join me on my journey!
