Fermented foods are known for supporting overall health by helping to balance the body from within.
In Japan, fermentation has long been part of traditional food culture, but in recent years it has expanded into a wide range of modern dishes. At the same time, its connection to gut health and its compatibility with gluten-free diets have been gaining increasing attention.
Located in Nishi 18-chome, Sapporo, Katchan’s Health-Conscious Kitchen is a café that incorporates the principles of fermentation and traditional medicinal cuisine. On this visit, we tried a wheat-free lunch made with fermented seasonings, along with one of the café’s recommended medicinal teas.
What Kind of Café Is “Katchan’s Health-Conscious Kitchen”?
Located in the Nishi 18-chome–Maruyama area of Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Katchan’s Health-Conscious Kitchen opened on January 11, 2025.
True to its name—“a place created with everyone’s health in mind”—the café is built around the idea of gentle, nourishing food and a calming space, inspired by the principles of fermentation and medicinal cuisine (yakuzen).
The concept is “healthy gourmet food that delights the body and mind through all five senses.”
In the midst of busy daily life, the café hopes guests will slow down, take a breath, and spend a moment caring for themselves—an intention that naturally comes through in both the food and the atmosphere.
The café is run by owner-chef Katchan and his wife, who also operates an esthetic salon. Opening a café had actually been a shared dream of the couple for more than ten years.
After many years working as a company employee and relying heavily on eating out, Chef Katchan began to notice changes in his physical condition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he took the opportunity to rethink his diet and started incorporating homemade fermented foods into his daily life. Around the same time, he was introduced to the depth of fermentation and medicinal cuisine through specialists who visited his wife’s esthetic salon—an encounter that deeply sparked his interest.
Fermentation is a time-honored practice that enhances flavor, boosts nutritional value, and improves food preservation. Medicinal cuisine, rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, focuses on using seasonal ingredients and adjusting meals to one’s physical condition.
By integrating these two approaches naturally into everyday life, the body begins to feel balanced from the inside out, and the mind feels lighter as well. This desire to share that experience with more people is what led to the café’s central theme of “fermentation and medicinal cuisine.”
Visiting in person, you can sense how Chef Katchan’s gentle personality is reflected in the food, seamlessly complemented by his wife’s esthetician’s eye for beauty.
Stylish yet never intimidating, the café’s relaxed and welcoming atmosphere—where you can truly let your guard down—is one of its most distinctive charms.
Tasting the Homemade Onion Koji Chicken Steak Plate
This café offers three different lunch plates.
＊Healthy Balance Lunch Menu＊
（Vegetable salad + 4 side dishes made with homemade fermented seasonings + miso soup or koji soup)
・Lunch Plate A: Homemade Roast Beef — ¥2,530 (gluten-free)
・Lunch Plate B: Homemade Onion Koji Chicken Steak — ¥1,870 (gluten-free)
・Lunch Plate C: Homemade Koji Tofu Hamburg Steak — ¥1,870
※Gluten-free availability is based on information at the time of our visit. Please check with the restaurant when ordering.
＊Set Options
・Hot coffee +¥350
・Medicinal herbal tea +¥400
・Two kinds of homemade fresh koji chocolate +¥350
I ordered Lunch Plate B, the gluten-free Homemade Onion Koji Chicken Steak.
On this day, the soup served was a wakame soup made with onion koji.
The side dishes included:
- Miso-seasoned mushrooms and lotus root
- Carrot rapée made with amazake and salt koji
- Pickles made with amazake and salt koji
- Soy sauce koji–marinated soft-boiled egg
The salad dressing is also homemade, using amazake.
It has a rich yet mellow flavor, with very mild acidity.
The chicken steak, slowly marinated in homemade onion koji, was incredibly tender and juicy.
With every bite, deep umami flavors spread across the palate.
The gentle sweetness of onions and koji, combined with a rounded saltiness, never feels overpowering—yet it delivers a deeply satisfying taste.
The rice is Yumepirika, grown with reduced pesticides.
Its pleasantly chewy texture and natural sweetness shine through, and as you continue eating, the chicken juices subtly soak into the rice.
Rice soaked with those savory juices is the best.
Overall, the meal has a very gentle, comforting flavor profile.
The portion size is just right—easy to finish even when dining solo—and it was a lunch that left both my body and mind feeling truly satisfied.
Enjoying After-Meal Medicinal Herbal Tea Served in a Nambu Iron Teapot
Another must-try at this café is their original medicinal herbal tea, a specialty unique to this shop.
Rooted in the philosophy of adapting to the seasons and one’s physical condition, three types of herbal tea were available at the time of our visit:
- A seasonal medicinal herbal tea, with ingredients that change throughout the year
- A detox medicinal herbal tea, based on ginger
- A beauty medicinal herbal tea, based on black soybeans
The medicinal herbal tea can also be ordered on its own and is served in a Nambu iron teapot, providing a generous two cups per serving (¥1,200).
There is also a medicinal herbal tea set (¥1,550), which includes three varieties of the café’s house-made koji raw chocolate—perfect for those who want to relax and savor their after-meal time.
Since it was a special occasion, I chose the set featuring the Nambu iron teapot along with the three kinds of house-made koji raw chocolate.
Served together with an hourglass timer, the iron teapot and chocolates already felt special just from their appearance.
On this visit, I chose the “Beauty Medicinal Herbal Tea”, made with black soybeans.
According to the shop, this tea is designed to help nourish the body’s “blood” and support women’s beauty from within.
Blended with ingredients such as black soybeans, jujube, goji berries, and meiguihua (rose-family blossoms), the tea has a bright, light color reminiscent of barley tea. A gentle, rose-like aroma softly rises from the cup.
The flavor is clean and easy to drink, with no bitterness or strong herbal notes.
Even after a meal, it feels light and refreshing—almost as if it quietly soaks into the body.
The set also included three varieties of house-made raw chocolate: soy sauce koji, amazake, and miso.
Each piece of the smooth raw chocolate clearly reflects the unique character of its fermented ingredient—soy sauce, amazake, or miso.
As the chocolate slowly melts in your mouth, a gentle aroma lingers and drifts through the nose, allowing you to enjoy the nuances of all three varieties.
They are bite-sized and subtly sweet, making them easy to finish even after a full meal—I happily enjoyed all three without feeling heavy.
I never realized fermented foods and chocolate could pair so well!
Events and Special Openings: Another Charm of the Cafe
At Katchan Cafe, there’s more to enjoy than just the regular cafe service.
The space regularly hosts a variety of events and workshops, such as fortune readings and dance lessons, making each visit an opportunity for new encounters and experiences—one of the cafe’s unique charms.
Toward the back of the cafe, there is a quiet private room with seating for around four people. This cozy space is mainly used for workshops and personal sessions.
On certain days, the cafe also welcomes guest chefs for pop-up dining events, offering a chance to enjoy dishes that differ from the usual menu.
One such pop-up is “Yuka Shokudo,” run by Yuka-san, who is also a member of the cafe staff.
On Instagram, she shares healthy, sugar-free recipes focused on gut-friendly meals made with koji, and she has also published her own recipe book.
At past pop-up events, dishes prepared using a seiro (Japanese bamboo steamer) were served and proved to be very popular.
It’s always exciting to see how fermentation and koji-based cooking are creatively expressed in this space.
Schedules for events, pop-up dining, and regular cafe hours are announced on the official Instagram account. Be sure to check ahead before visiting.
Katchan Cafe – Restaurant Information
The dishes served here gently balance both body and mind, blending Japan’s traditional fermentation wisdom with the principles of medicinal cuisine.
From the onion koji–marinated chicken steak we enjoyed this time to familiar favorites like hamburg steak, the restaurant makes this philosophy feel approachable and easy to enjoy. Rather than offering something overly special or niche, what truly comes across is a focus on healthy food you’ll want to keep eating—comforting, nourishing, and sustainable.
In fact, even the water served in the restaurant reflects this thoughtful approach.
They use a high-quality functional water called Silfrare, chosen by many restaurants in Japan for its clean taste and gentle effect on the body.
Another highlight is the medicinal herbal tea served in traditional Nambu ironware teapots, along with sweets made using fermented ingredients. It’s a place you can enjoy not only for lunch, but also as a cozy café to stop by and unwind.
“Today, I want to be a little kinder to my body.”
“I might be feeling a bit run down lately.”
This is the kind of restaurant that naturally comes to mind on days like that—a place you’ll want to return to again and again.
Finally, do you have a message for our readers?
Please come and try our food at least once—we’d love to welcome you!
Thank you very much for reading until the end.
※This article is based on information as of January 2026.
※Please note that wheat-free menu items are not intended as certified allergy-safe meals.
| Shop Name | Katchan’s Health-Conscious Kitchen |
| Address | B1F Fortress Core 18, 2-20 Minami 5-jo Nishi 18-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo Open map |
| Access | ・About a 10-minute walk from Nishi 18-chome Station (Tozai Subway Line) ・About a 10-minute walk from Nishisen 6-jo Station (Streetcar) |
| Phone | 080-4509-3579 |
| Business Hours | 11:00〜17:00 |
| Closed Days | Irregular holidays ☆Please check the official Instagram for the latest opening hours and holiday information. |
| Parking | None (coin-operated parking available nearby) |
| Cashless Payment | Credit cards, electronic money, and QR code payments accepted |
| Seating | 18 seats (private room available: 4 seats) |
| Children | Welcome |
| Delivery | Available via Wolt |
| Official SNS | Instagram https://www.instagram.com/katchancafe_sapporo LINE https://lin.ee/moeGcd5 |
| External Sites | Tabelog https://tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010102/1080502/ |
| Notes | ・Please check the official Instagram for information on events and pop-up operations ・Takeout is available for drinks and sweets only |
