Restaurant #56: Ichi Nii San, Sapporo

(Visited in February, 2011)

Day 2 in Sapporo, my family and I headed to the Japanese restaurant, Ichi Nii San, at Stellar Place bldg in Sapporo. If you have a chance to visit Sapporo, do not forget to check great restaurants in Stellar Place and Daimaru department store, located right in front of JR Sapporo station. Visitors can enjoy all types of food and fresh ingredients.

A signature menu of Ichi Nii San is Kurobuta Shabu Shabu, but since we went there for lunch, we ordered Kurobuta with Ginger Sauce (黒豚の生姜焼きセット) (980 yen), Steamed Kurobuta and Veggie set (黒豚の野菜蒸しセット) (980 yen), and Buta Suki set (豚すき定食) (1150 yen). Kurobuta they used was from Kagoshima province.

I should mention that the décor was quite organized and I loved it.

First of all, a waiter served us Soba-cha (そば茶) and Niku Miso (肉味噌). Niku Miso was an interesting idea for small appetizer, and if you see the small bowl carefully, it could become Hashioki (箸おき).

Kurobuta with Ginger Sauce

Kurobuta with Ginger Sauce is one of popular lunch menu in general. This Kurobuta was a bit hard and salty for me. Plus, Red miso (赤みそ) was used for soup. Each item was tasty, but with such a salty Shoga-yaki (生姜焼き), they should have served a bit lighter-taste of soup. Quantity was appropriate.

Steamed Kurobuta and Veggie set

It was my mother’s choice, and this was the best item among we ordered this day. This dish was well balanced: rice, soup, pork, veggie and some pieces of fruits. Pork and veggie were steamed, so it was not oily at all. Healthy and colorful!

Kurobuta was perfectly steamed, and the meat was tender. It is your choice to dip into a sauce or not. For vegetables, it was not salted, so dipping sauce was needed.

Buta Suki set


This Teishoku set (定食セット) was a seasonal item. To tell you the truth, sukiyaki is not my favorite food, because Warishita (わりした: sukiyaki sauce) is usually sweet. Yet, since I haven’t eaten sukiyaki for almost five years, I wanted to try. Plus, it looked healthy with lots of vegetables.

After a few bites, my tongue felt a bit saltiness. I thought it was good the sauce was not sweet. But a few bites more, then it became too salty. Ingredients were kurobuta, Tofu, shitake mushroom, Nappa, Shungiku, a slice of carrot, broccoli, Negi, and small portion of Udon noodle. For one person, quantity was a bit too much. I was glad that I had 2 more people to help me finish up.

Overall, we felt that their taste was a bit too heavy for us, especially dishes with sauce. Among those 3 dishes above, I recommend “steamed pork and veggie set.”

Total: 3110 yen (for 3 people)

Ichi Nii San: いちにぃさん

6F, Stellar Place Sapporo
011-209-5123
http://ichiniisan.jp/