Okushiba Shoten Parents' home — Restaurant in Sapporo

Randomly found this hokkaido curry spot, only to learn about its popularity afterwards. "Okushiba" (奥芝) is actually a chain serving shrimp curry. Read somewhere that Anthony Bourdain has also featured it (but was a deleted scene).

The other outlet near Sapporo Station (Soup Curry Okushiba Store Ekimae Soseiji) is the one that is a lot more popular with tourists. Didn't try the other outlet, so I don't know if it is any different.

I arrived about 10 minutes before opening in the evening and there was only 1 person waiting in front of me. There are stools in front of the shop for the queue. I went with the spicier level (before the additional fee), and it had quite the kick, especially in the hot summer day.

The shrimp curry reminded me of prawn noodles from Malaysia. Overall it was a pretty interesting dish, worth trying. Didn't feel like each individual component of the dish was particularly flavourful, though. Great "hidden gem"...

Great soup curry! (Literally curry in soup form. Comes with rice). Came for dinner shortly after opening. A little hard to find (it's in the basement and kind of small). You line up outside the store and then order off a machine (they have english and japanese menus to look at while you wait and the machine has an English option), then they seat you. They have bar seating, a couple of 2 person tables and a couple 4 person tables where you sit on the floor. Not sure if there is more space in the back.

I got the "Botom Zengi" soup curry which is soup curry with fried chicken (the internet says it's a Hokkaido thing). Tasted a bit like the Japanrse curry I know, but tangier with different toppings (lotus, burdock and wood ear were options). You can choose the spice level. I haven't tried other soup currys but this was tasty and filling! Staff was also attentive and there was plenty of...

This soup curry champion restaurant was located at B1. The entrance and entire shop were quite small. We took a lift on the 1st floor to B1.

Before seated, we need to order at the self ordering machine and make payment. It is the restaurant policy that each customer must order at least one item regardless of main or drink. Therefore, we ordered their signature steak burger in shrimp soup curry and additional vegetables and tempura. The second person just ordered a beer will do. After payment, we were seated.

Waiting time about 10 minutes upon payment.

The curry soup was full of the fragrance of shrimp and so addictive. The steak burger was soft and flavourful. The vegetables such as potato, cabbage, and carrot were a great compliment to the soup. The tempura was outstanding, especially the pumpkin that elevated its taste to a higher level. 2130 per serving....