4 Best Restaurants in Hokkaido, Japan

This ordinary-looking 10-stools-at-the-plastic-counter joint in Susukino has had lines of faithful slurpers outside since the year 2000 (a lifetime for a ramen shop) and is still chopping, boiling, and serving its succinct seven-item ramen menu. Order from the vending machine at the door then wait on the bench or stand around the corner; once seated wait for the cook to hand down a steaming bowl topped generously with vegetables from the raised and hidden kitchen.

If you want to keep your clothes clean, don't avoid slurping, just accept the paper bib they offer.

Located in one of the warehouses beside the Otaru Canal, Otaru Beer a great place to try the local Weiss, Pilsner, and Dunkel. The food is also international with a menu that includes such wildly differing foods as pizza, paella, german sausage, and roast pork. The shiny copper brew kettles, brick walls, and wooden beams help create a great atmosphere. Otaru Beer has been a favorite amongst locals and visitors for nearly three decades. 

In a city with no shortage of soup-curry restaurants, the long lines outside this place just south of Odori Park tell you how much the locals rate Garaku. There are eight basic soup curries on the menu to which you can add more toppings and tweak spice levels. The way to eat them is the same: the soup curry comes in a bowl with rice on the side that many people mix in as they go.

A casual downtown coffee shop with an English menu, this hangout is popular with students and expats. Only one busy cook works in the kitchen, so don't expect a speedy lunch, but come in when you're peckish and you'll eventually leave feeling full. Or just hang out and have a cup of coffee or tea.