Hokkaido bafun sea urchin (from Rishiri and Rebun islands) heaped over sushi rice. The summer signature of Sapporo's market shops; June through August is the season.
Hokkaido has fished sea urchin for over a century along its Rishiri and Rebun coastlines off the northern tip of the island. Sapporo's uni-don bowl rose as a market-shop format at Nijo Market and the Curb Market through the 1980s and 1990s; today the city's market kaisendon bowls stack uni, ikura and crab in three-colour configurations. Sushi Miyakawa and Sushiya no Saito use Rishiri bafun uni as the centrepiece of their summer omakase nigiri.
4 editor picks for Hokkaido Uni-Don (Sea Urchin Bowl) in Sapporo, ranked by editorial score. All Sapporo signature dishes · Hokkaido Uni-Don (Sea Urchin Bowl) across every city.
Sushi Miyakawa ★ 4.9
maruyama · Chuo-ku, Sapporo 064-0824, Japan
Sapporo's only three-star Michelin sushi room. Chef Masaaki Miyakawa works Hokkaido seafood across two seatings at a seven-seat Maruyama counter.
Sushiya no Saito ★ 4.7
susukino · Chuo-ku, Sapporo 064-0806, Japan
Chef Akira Saito's Ezomae-style sushi counter at the south edge of Susukino, working only Hokkaido catch into Kiwami and Miyabi omakase courses since 2000.
Sushi Hidetaka ★ 4.5
susukino · Chuo-ku, Sapporo 064-0807, Japan
Chef Hidetaka trained at Sapporo's Michelin-starred Sushi Zen before opening this eight-seat cypress counter. Located in Susukino. Priced at ¥¥¥¥.
Nijo Ichiba Ohiso ★ 4.1
nijo-market · Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-0053, Japan
A Nijo Market sushi-and-donburi counter run by a Hakodate fishmonger. The Sapporo-style kaisendon stacks raw crab, uni and ikura over rice; market hours.