A craft beer bar on the second floor in Kumoji, Naha: three IPAs, a hibiscus sour ale, an ¥880 lamb menchi katsu and ¥5,730 for two on a Thursday in March 2026 — and what the menus say in English.
Two five-night stays in 2026, one hotel with no lounge, and every bar, izakaya and restaurant we walked to — what each one is, what we ordered, and what it cost.
A ¥1,200 omu-katsu at Uchoten in Sapporo tastes like okonomiyaki, and my wife called it an invention. Then a wine shop we pass most days was pouring a supplier's tasting: seven glasses, ¥10,700.
A Nepali place near the Sapporo Prince Hotel — momo, seseri, a Wednesday-and-Saturday biryani set at ¥7,980 for two, and the coriander one of us pushed aside. Prices as paid, June 2026.
A Hokkaido brewery runs this bar ten floors up in the Tanukikoji arcade. Twelve taps the night we went, four IPAs in 430 ml glasses, garlic-pickled nagaimo, and ¥5,740 for two in June 2026.
A one-man counter in central Sapporo hands each skewer over as it comes off the grill. We ordered the chicken and pork lists bar sasami, plus a tsukune — eleven skewers, ¥10,600 for two in June 2026.
The main branch stands whole fish upright in sand next to a basket of charcoal. A kilo of steamed oysters is ¥1,210, the rosemary mackerel split our vote, and the wine bar afterwards takes cash only.
A Sapporo Italian with a wood oven, where the pizza comes out thin and crisp rather than Neapolitan. What we ordered, what each plate cost, and the world-championship story we could not stand up.
Three places in one April evening, ¥16,131 for two: nine tasting glasses at a 33-tap beer bar, steamed Hokkaido oysters that beat the price, and a gyoza chain we probably will not go back to.
The ¥2,500 plan pours 55 sake from all over Japan for 120 minutes, but last order lands at 90. We drank ten, cleared the cost at glass five, and would go again — with a plan.
