Restaurant in Sapporo, Japan
Counter tempura, Hokkaido sourcing, rising OAD rank.
Tempura Araki is Sapporo's most critically decorated tempura counter, climbing to #116 on the 2025 OAD Japan rankings in just two years. Counter-only seating and Hokkaido's exceptional local produce make this the right choice for focused, ingredient-led dining. Booking is currently easy — book one to two weeks ahead through a concierge or Japanese reservation platform.
Tempura Araki holds a 4.6 rating across 219 Google reviews and has climbed from Opinionated About Dining's Highly Recommended list in 2023 to a top-116 ranking across all Japan restaurants in 2025. That trajectory tells you something important: this is not a venue coasting on local reputation. It is actively improving, and the wider critical community has noticed. If you have eaten here before and wondered whether to return, the answer is yes — the kitchen is in a better place than it was on your last visit.
Tempura Araki operates out of a ground-floor room in Sapporo's Chuo Ward, south of the city centre. Counter dining is the format here, which means your seat puts you close to the frying station — you watch the oil, the timing, and the batter as each piece comes together. This proximity is part of the offer. The room is designed for focused eating rather than long social evenings, and the atmosphere reflects that. If you came with a group expecting a roomy private setup, manage expectations: tempura counters of this style reward small parties or solo diners over large tables.
Hokkaido is one of Japan's most consequential sourcing addresses. The prefecture supplies a significant share of the country's premium seafood, vegetables, and dairy, and a tempura kitchen in Sapporo has access to ingredients that restaurants further south have to pay a premium to import. At Tempura Araki, that geographic advantage is the foundation of the menu. Tempura is a format where ingredient quality is almost impossible to disguise: batter this light and technique this precise strips away any room to compensate for mediocre produce. The 2025 OAD ranking of #116 across all Japan , not just tempura, not just Hokkaido , signals that the sourcing choices here translate into something the broader critical community finds worth the detour. For context, venues ranked in the OAD Japan top 150 sit alongside Michelin-starred restaurants in major urban centres; reaching that tier from Sapporo, without a Tokyo or Osaka address, carries weight. If you want to understand what Hokkaido produce can do when handled with this level of care, Tempura Araki is the clearest argument in the city.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. Tempura Araki opens Tuesday through Saturday from 6 pm to 10:30 pm and is closed Sunday and Monday. There is no published phone number or website in the current record, so the most reliable approach is to ask your hotel concierge to call ahead, or check a Japanese reservation platform such as Tableall or Omakase. Given the OAD recognition and limited dinner-only hours, booking at least one to two weeks out is sensible, particularly on weekends. Walk-in attempts are a risk not worth taking for a destination of this calibre.
Tempura Araki sits within a strong Sapporo dining scene. For sushi at a comparable level, Arima and Sushi Miyakawa are the names to consider. If kaiseki is your format, Hanakoji Sawada is the benchmark in the city. For something more casual, Menya Saimi handles ramen at a serious level, and Nukumi is the address for Hokkaido crab done properly. Other Sapporo restaurants worth knowing include aki nagao, Hidetaka, and Higebozu. See our full Sapporo restaurants guide for the complete picture, and browse our Sapporo hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide to plan around it.
If you are building a Japan itinerary around serious tempura, Numata and Shunsaiten Tsuchiya are the Osaka comparators worth knowing. Elsewhere in Japan, HAJIME in Osaka, Harutaka in Tokyo, Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, akordu in Nara, Goh in Fukuoka, and 1000 in Yokohama represent the broader tier of serious destination dining across the country.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Tempura Araki | — | |
| Arima | — | |
| Hanakoji Sawada | — | |
| Menya Saimi | — | |
| Nukumi | — | |
| Sushi Miyakawa | — |
A quick look at how Tempura Araki measures up.
Tempura Araki is a counter-format restaurant with a set menu structure, so ordering is not a decision you make at the table. Chef Yoshiyuki Araki determines the progression. What you get on the plate will reflect Hokkaido's sourcing strengths — premium seafood and vegetables the prefecture is known for nationally. No specific dishes are publicly listed, so arrive without expectations about a particular item and let the counter format do its job.
Counter dining is the format at Tempura Araki — there is no separate bar or table section. Every seat is at the counter, which means you watch the preparation directly in front of you. That is part of the point. If you prefer table seating, this is not the right venue.
Yes. Counter-format tempura restaurants are among the most solo-friendly dining formats in Japan, and Tempura Araki fits that pattern. You are seated at the counter, served a set progression by the chef, and the pacing is structured. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so securing a solo seat is not a scheduling obstacle the way it would be at harder-to-book Tokyo counters.
Booking difficulty at Tempura Araki is rated Easy, which puts it in a more accessible tier than the top-ranked counters in Tokyo or Osaka. That said, Araki ranked #116 on OAD's Top Restaurants in Japan in 2025 — up from #187 in 2024 — so demand is growing. Book one to two weeks out to be safe, especially for Friday or Saturday service. The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday.
Counter dining limits practical group size. Large parties do not fit the format here, and there is no documented private dining room in the venue data. Groups of two to four are the sensible ceiling for a counter restaurant of this type. If you need to seat six or more together for a special occasion, Sapporo alternatives with private room options would be a better fit.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
