September itinerary in Japan Day 1 (Miyagi Day 1 Meal edition)
(Sunday, September 26)
Table of contents
Lunch
This time, I ate “Gyutan-yaki“, which is a “Local dishes loved by the nation”, for lunch. Since I arrived at Sendai station early, I went around the sightseeing spots at “Loople Sendai” first, got off at Jozenji-dori City Hall, and ate Gyutan-yaki set meal (beef tongue set meal) at the nearby “Umami Tasuke”.
“Umami Tasuke” is the origin of Gyutan-yaki, and even now, beef tongue is grilled over charcoal. The charcoal-grilled firepower is strong, so it will be ready within 5 minutes of ordering. I think it’s worth just looking at the beef tongue chunks at the counter. It was about the size of a tire.
Of course, the taste of beef tongue was delicious. I’ve been to Sendai several times, but it was a restaurant I’ve never been to. This is a recommended restaurant. I would like to revisit.
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/kouryu/kyodo_ryouri/attach/pdf/190131-6.pdf
Snack
For dessert, I ate “Zunda mochi” at “Tea-dokoro Aoba Namiki Tamazawa” (S-PAL Sendai store main building B1F, Sendai station basement). Of course, “Zunda mochi” is a local dish of Miyagi prefecture. It is a small restaurant with only 5 seats at the counter. I was able to taste beautiful matcha and eat a very delicious “Zunda mochi”. “Zunda mochi” had the taste of edamame, and it was a very delicious taste with a modest sweetness.
You can have 2 cups of matcha. Moreover, the first and second cups are roasted by changing the temperature of the hot water in which the matcha is added. It’s a very small restaurant, but it was very cozy and it was a very satisfying tea time.
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/kouryu/kyodo_ryouri/attach/pdf/190131-1.pdf
Dinner
I ate “Harako-meshi“, a local dish of Miyagi prefecture, at “Hamaya S-PAL store” in the basement of Sendai station. At first, I made a reservation call from 17:00 to eat “Harako-meshi” at “Arahama Sendai store”, but on September 26th, I had to give up because it was full all day.
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/kouryu/kyodo_ryouri/attach/pdf/190131-1.pdf
However, the “Harako-meshi” at “Hamaya S-PAL” was very delicious and the dinner was a hit. Isn’t the steamed type “Harako-meshi” rare? Before eating “Harako-meshi”, I had a chopped ark shell and white fish with miso, sashimi of ark shell, raw shirasu (Japanese ice fish), and sashimi of pacific saury.
The ark shell and raw Japanese ice fish were shipped in Yuriage, Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture (located in the southeastern part of Sendai City). The fishing season for ark shells in Yuriage has just begun from September to June. The fishing season for raw Japanese ice fish in Yuriage is from July to November, which is in the middle of the season. Both were delicious, but the raw Japanese ice fish was more impressive.
The pacific saury is in season right now. Miyagi Prefecture has the third largest catch of pacific saury in Japan. After all, the sashimi of pacific saury was delicious. However, I always think that it is better to grill saury.
On this day, I really wanted to eat the bigeye tuna brand “Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono“, so I went to the standing sushi shop “Senrei-zushi”. “Senrei-zushi” is a popular sushi restaurant located on “Sushi-dori” near the central exit of the Shinkansen. Before going to “Hamaya S-PAL”, I went to scout to see if “Senrei-zushi” also served “Harako-meshi”, but they didn’t serve, so I went to the Hamaya S-PAL store.
However, the recommended sushi in front of the “Senrei-zushi” was “Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono”, so I really wanted to eat it. The season for “Sanriku Shiogama Higashimono” is from September to December, and the season has just begun. Both the tuna akami and the tuna chutoro were very delicious.
In addition, I ate sushi such as sardine, raw conger eel, kinki (broadbanded thornyhead), spanish mackerel, striped jack, and flathead, which are in season in September and autumn. I ate a little too much, but I was walking around all day on the 26th, so let’s say it’s okay.
Also, when I came to Miyagi prefecture, the only seasonal seafood and local dishes I didn’t eat were bonito, abalone, Kinka mackerel, and scallops. I came to Sendai and had a very fulfilling meal in just over half a day.