Enjoy amazing pasta in the Sapporo area! 10 popular spots, from classics to creative dishes

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Semina is an Italian restaurant located by Nishi 9-chome Street in the western area of Odori Koen (Odori Park), in the center of Sapporo, Hokkaido.

The owner trained in northeastern Italy and mainly serves regional dishes from northern Italy made with plenty of ingredients from Hokkaido.

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Inside the warm and welcoming dining space, a hand-drawn map of Hokkaido has many of the ingredients used at the restaurant written across it. They say just about everything, from vegetables and eggs to meat, comes from Hokkaido.

The owner is a big pasta fan and is said to be very particular about pasta. The restaurant is well known for letting guests enjoy original flavors made with ingredients from Hokkaido.

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The course that lets you choose your favorites from several options, including Appetizers, pasta, and meat dishes, is popular. There also seems to be a course where you can choose several kinds of pasta in small portions.

Hokkaido pork and duck pair perfectly with wine. The courses offer lots of variety in aroma and flavor, and they also make the drinks go down easy.

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Trattoria Da Okumura is located near the Tanukikoji Shopping Street, next to the north side of Susukino, Sapporo’s biggest entertainment district. It is a hideaway style trattoria in the basement of a building.

It is a compact restaurant with about 13 seats in total, with counter and table seating. Since it is popular, making a reservation is recommended.

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They offer a wide range of daily specials made with seasonal ingredients sourced that day. Ordering à la carte and picking whatever catches your eye is also a great option.

The pasta lineup includes both classics and dishes made with seasonal ingredients. Every pasta dish is said to have an outstanding balance of flavor and texture.

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They also offer an "Omakase course" made up of the day's recommended dishes. It lets you enjoy about six items, including pasta.

The omelet is paired with mushrooms that are full of umami at that time of year, so you can enjoy both the texture and the aroma.

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Stem is an Italian restaurant near the eastern edge of Odori Park in central Sapporo, close to the Sapporo Chuo Bus Center. You can spot it by the many wine bottles visible through the glass windows.

It has counter seating that makes it easy to visit even on your own, and the atmosphere is also perfect for enjoying a meal while chatting with friends.

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A casual Italian restaurant that is also perfect for enjoying à la carte dishes with wine.

The ingredients used in the food are mainly local. They also offer daily by-the-glass wines, along with house-made lemon and cardamom sours.

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There are about five regular pasta options, each with its own distinctive ingredients and seasoning. The noodles are changed to match the sauce, using thin pasta or flat pasta depending on the dish.

A popular choice is the “watarigani (blue crab) tomato sauce.” It comes topped with a large crab and has a strong crab flavor. They also serve pasta made with lemon and yama-wasabi (Japanese horseradish).

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The restaurant name "Funghi" is the Italian word for mushrooms. True to its name, this place serves Italian food made with a variety of mushrooms.

The restaurant is on the second floor of a building in Tanukikoji (Tanuki Alley), a covered shopping street, in Chuo Ward, Sapporo, in the 6-chome section.

The interior is compact, with about 16 seats in total, including table and counter seating. It is a good idea to make a reservation in advance.

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The restaurant has mushroom themed goods on display, and they also serve dishes made with mushrooms gathered by the chef, making it an irresistible lineup for mushroom lovers.

The mushrooms used change with the season, and multiple reviews said they want to come back in a different season.

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They also offer tagliatelle made with Hokkaido porcini, as well as pasta pairing scallops with amigasa-take (morel mushrooms), a rare kind of mushroom.

The pasta is said to be cooked to just the right firmness, bringing out the aroma and texture of the mushrooms. It also seems like a great match with wine.

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Nama Pasta Senmonten Revaro is a restaurant where you can enjoy fresh pasta made with ingredients from Hokkaido. It is located in Nishi 28-chome in Sapporo, in a quiet residential area.

On the 1st floor, they also seem to sell gelato available for Takeout. On the 2nd floor, there are relaxed table seats.

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There are three kinds of pasta here: the thin "spaghetti," the slightly thicker "chitarra" with a square cross section, and the thick, flat "tagliatelle."

Each one has a different texture, and if you like a chewy bite, the "tagliatelle" comes recommended. It also has a good reputation for pairing well with rich sauces.

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There are several kinds of sauces to go with the fresh pasta, including cream-based and tomato-based options. You can choose the type of noodles you like, so you can enjoy all kinds of pasta depending on the combination.

The daily pasta, made by a chef with experience in washoku (Japanese cuisine) who brings out the flavors of seasonal ingredients, is also well liked.

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Maruyama Karune is a detached house restaurant in the quiet residential area at the foot of Maruyama, which stands 226m above sea level in Chuo-ku, Sapporo, where you can enjoy dishes and wine prepared by a chef who specializes in meat dishes.

The interior has a warm feel with brown and white as the main colors. There are also several reviews saying that the staff are pleasant and the restaurant feels comfortable and welcoming.

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There are about five kinds of pasta, and the chef is said to be particular about making each one Homemade.

The "carbonara" in the photo is well known for its rich seasoning and generous amount of bacon, and people say it is excellent. It is quite filling, and some reviews say it leaves you with a high sense of Manzoku.

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The signature dish is the "Bolognese." The Bolognese sauce, made over two days with four different cuts of Wagyu, is popular for being packed with umami.

Another plus is that you can choose from several types of noodles for the "Bolognese." They also seem to offer variations with mozzarella cheese and tomato.

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Osteria Della Casa is an Italian restaurant in Hiragishi, Toyohira Ward, southeast of central Sapporo, and it has long been a well-loved local spot since it first opened in 1992.

Housed in a detached building with white exterior walls and parking available, the restaurant has a homey atmosphere where both solo diners and families can feel at ease enjoying a meal.

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The concept is “homestyle and homemade.” They mainly use ingredients from Hokkaido and make all of their pizza sauce and pasta sauce in-house.

The pasta lineup is varied, with several choices in each category, including cream sauce, salt-based, and tomato sauce.

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A popular choice is the “tsubu (whelk) and hotate (scallop) garlic.” It is a pasta made with Hokkaido-style tsubu shellfish, hotate shellfish, and garlic.

They also serve pizza and doria, so it sounds fun to order a few dishes and share them with close friends.

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Olympia is a kissaten (Japanese-style coffee shop) founded in the city that hosted the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

The café is said to still keep the same stately feel and antique atmosphere it has had since it first opened. Many people seem to come back for the retro space and the same flavors that have not changed over the years.

It is located about a 4-minute walk west from Sapporo Station, near the Hokkaido Government Office.

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One of the popular items on the food menu is "Napolitan." It is spaghetti with a tomato sauce flavor.

At lunchtime, the meal also comes with a salad.

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On the lunch menu, you can enjoy a one plate meal that combines meat spaghetti, Hamburger Steak, and curry.

The pasta topped with meat sauce is also said to have an old fashioned homemade taste. After the meal, the "jika-sei purin (house-made pudding)" is also recommended.

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"La Mela" is an Italian restaurant on the second floor of a building along Nishi 3-chome Street in Sapporo, about a 3-minute walk from Tanukikoji Station. You can also enjoy regional dishes from Northern Italy.

The atmosphere is simple and calm. There is also a shelf lined with wines, so you can have fun picking one you like from there.

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If you are not sure which wine to choose, it is also a good idea to ask the staff. They will help you pick a label that suits your taste and the food.

The dishes also incorporate ingredients from Hokkaido, and multiple reviews say that everything they tried was delicious.

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There are about 10 kinds of pasta, all made with house-made noodles. The noodles come in many styles, including short shapes and ones filled with ingredients.

A popular choice is the "Gorgonzola cream sauce." It is paired with wide, flat noodles, and the creamy sauce coats the pasta well for a rich taste.

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Akai Yakata Erupia is a coffee shop in a residential area of Shiroishi Ward, in the northeastern part of Sapporo. It stands along Tohoku-dori and, true to its name, the red exterior makes this detached house-style shop easy to spot.

Founded in 1977, it has been loved for many years. Some local customers have reportedly been coming here for more than 30 years, since their college days.

The interior has barely changed since it first opened, and it even still has tables with built-in arcade game machines from around 1980.

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Even the regular size is known for portions about 1.5 times as large as a typical dish. Some people even come from outside Hokkaido in search of the retro feel and hearty meals.

The photo shows the "katsu meat." The katsu (cutlet) under the meat sauce is said to have a nice thickness that makes it easy to eat.

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The pasta comes in sizes from regular up to a Large size of 1kg. A popular choice is the "Napori Supagetti (Napolitan spaghetti)," with its classic kissaten (Japanese-style coffee shop) tomato ketchup flavor.

The pasta topped with Hamburger Steak and a meat sauce full of ground meat is a great pick for meat lovers.