Menya Saimi

It seems that a restaurant called Menya Saimi is said to be the best in the miso ramen industry in Sapporo right now. This restaurant was opened in November 2000 by the owner who trained for 7 years at the famous Sumire restaurant, which has its original store in Nakanoshima. It will soon celebrate its 24th anniversary, and during this time, it has accumulated such brilliant achievements that it is hard to find even if you look for it on a national level, such as being awarded the EAST 100 Best Ramen Restaurants by Tabelog for seven consecutive years starting in 2017, and also being recognized as a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

I had been checking out Menya Saimi for some time, thinking that if it is such an amazing restaurant, I had to try it once… and I visited the restaurant during my visit to Sapporo in the summer of 2024. I wondered what miso ramen, reputed to be the best in Sapporo, would be like. Curious, I headed for the restaurant…

This is indeed a Michelin Bib Gourmand winner! On a weekend evening, the line and wait time at Menya Saimi looked like this…

I arrived at Menya Saimi at around 5:30 p.m. on a Friday evening. I went directly from New Chitose Airport to the restaurant, but I couldn’t make it in time for the evening opening time. As I got off the subway and headed toward the store, the line stretching from the storefront to the back of the store became larger and larger as I got closer to the store. As I got closer, the sense of despair grew in my heart.

By the time I arrived at the restaurant, there were a total of 20 customers ahead of me in line. It was as if the restaurant had won the Michelin Bib Gourmand! I was very impressed with the quality of the food. The wait time from this point until I could enter the restaurant was about 25 minutes. The restaurant has a total of 25 seats (including 7 counter seats), which is a little larger than most ramen shops in central cities, so I was glad to see that the customer turnover was quicker than in other ramen shops.

Let’s take a look at Menya Saimi’s signature dish, Miso Ramen, and see if its reputation as “Sapporo’s No. 1” is true or false…

Let me introduce you to Menya Saimi‘s Miso Ramen (priced 950 yen including tax), which is reputed to be the best ramen in Sapporo right now. After about 10 minutes of waiting after ordering, the Miso Ramen arrived in front of me…

Compared to the miso ramen I had at the Sumire Nakanoshima Head Shop, the miso ramen has less oil floating in the soup. The white miso base and light color also give the soup a somewhat light image from the outside.

Let’s take a sip of the soup… The soup is a blend of three types of white miso with the clear soup made from pork bones, aromatic vegetables, kelp, shiitake mushrooms, etc. The salty taste is a little subdued, but the mildness and richness of the miso can be felt. The amount of minced pork is quite small (although there is some fine minced pork in the soup if you look closely), and the soup does not have the same savory flavor as Sumire’s soup, but the miso flavor is nicely emphasized by the small amount of minced pork. The aftertaste is clean and crisp. In addition, if the grated ginger on top of the chashu pork is dissolved in the soup, the spiciness and freshness of the ginger will change the flavor of the soup in a spectacular way. If you don’t mind ginger, you should definitely try this soup flavor change!

The noodles for this are medium-thick, frizzy noodles made by Morizumi Ramen, a familiar name in Sapporo ramen. The frizz on the noodle soaks up the soup and stimulates the brain with its plump texture and hard firmness as it enters the mouth.

The main topping, chashu pork, is loin meat with little fat and soaks up the flavor of the broth, making it easy to eat. It is large, thick, and meaty enough. Unfortunately, the amount of chashu pork cannot be increased. Looking at the menu list, it seems that it used to be possible to upgrade to chashu men…but I strongly hope that the option for more chashu pork will be restored in the future.

The Miso Ramen, the signature menu item at Menya Saimi, is basically a royal roadmap, or rather, a straightforward Sapporo Miso Ramen. In the midst of this, I could feel the subtle influence of Sumire, where the owner trained, and I personally enjoyed it enough in many ways. It is not surprising that it has the reputation of being ”Sapporo’s No. 1 miso ramen”. I think this miso ramen can be a benchmark for people who are wondering “what is Sapporo miso ramen like” or for tourists and those who are thinking about eating and exploring Sapporo miso ramen in the future.

Examples of other menu items at Menya Saimi (prices include tax)

• Soy sauce ramen 950 yen
• Shio Ramen 950 yen
• Spicy Miso Ramen 1000 yen
• Spicy soy sauce ramen 1000 yen
• Medium size rice 100 yen
• Sepia no Shigeki 200 yen
• Black oolong tea 200 yen

Note: Large bowls of ramen will cost an extra 100 yen.

Miso ramen for souvenirs can be ordered by mail order… Menya Saimi is a 6-minute walk from Misono Station on the Sapporo Municipal Subway Toho Line, the closest station to the restaurant.

Menya Saimi also sells ramen for souvenirs. Miso ramen alone is available for 550 yen, including tax, for a single serving, with soup and bamboo shoots. When I visited the restaurant in the evening, there was a yellow sign that said “Sold Out for Today”…how popular is this Miso Ramen? By the way, You can order Miso Ramen from Menya Saimi through Amazon or Rakuten. I’ll post the link below so you can order it at home and try it for yourself.

麺屋彩未 味噌ら〜めん 生ラーメン スープ・めんま付き 1袋×3

Amazon 参考価格:2108 円、楽天参考価格:2362 円

Amazonで買う

楽天で買う

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…