Sapporo Kaitakushi Brewery Harriet

I've been to this restaurant/brewpub twice, and have been equally unimpressed both times. In general, I find the food not better than average and unexciting (they claim their fondue is famous, but I haven't bucked up the cash to try it)--and the atmosphere is dull.

I think going to the Bavarian-style restaurant downstairs is the way to go as the full line of Kaitakushi beers is represented there, as well as Sapporo's Edilpils and the rare Ebisu Half-and-Half.

The Kaitakushi Brewery Harriet is lit like a hospital--and in fact reminds of a hospital cafeteria. The style is distinctly "modern hospital".

From the outside, the building is impressive however. It's an old brick warehouse/factory--the original location of Sapporo Beer in fact--and houses a bunch of shops and restaurants. There's also a big iron smokestack with Sapporo Beer written on it. Before entering the restaurant Harriet, there is a small museum on beer-making and of beer in Sapporo in general.

The food is standard japanese bar foods with a few more expensive entrees and smattering of German-inspired foods. Service is also good. The most impressive part of the menu is the beer page, which gives good descriptions of the beers. They had 8 beers on tap when I was there, which is exciting as they only bottle 3 of them, but less exciting when my seasonal "grapefruit snow" beer was awful. Prices I found a little steep.

The location is good, adjacent to the "Sapporo Factory" shopping mall, only a short walk from most downtown Sapporo sights. Perhaps worth a stop if in Sapporo, but only if there's time to kill and money to waste.