Discover the best eats in Tohoku’s largest city with our comprehensive Sendai food guide. From the famed gyutan to green gyoza, and even chilled ramen, there is so much to indulge in!
Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in Tohoku, is known as the gateway to northern Japan. Just a one-and-a-half-hour shinkansen ride from Tokyo, Sendai has a rich history and food culture, making it a must-visit destination on your next trip to Japan.
We’ll explore Sendai’s local delicacies and provide you with tips and insider knowledge on where to find them in this Sendai Food Guide.
Table of Contents
Beef Tongue (Gyutan)
Beef tongue, also known as gyutan in Japanese (牛タ), is Sendai’s most famous delicacy. During the 1950s, straight after the war, the late Keishiro Sano, the first owner of the renowned restaurant “Aji Tasuke” began grilling beef tongue. During that period, many American soldiers stationed in Sendai often consumed beef but discarded the tongue. Japan’s mottainai (do not waste) culture inspired Sano to simply grill the beef tongue and serve it alongside tail soup and barley rice. Due to food shortages at the time, barley rice was chosen for its high nutritional value and ease of filling the stomach.
Gyutan quickly gained popularity, and with good reason. Simply grilled over charcoal with salt, you can enjoy the slight crunch and tenderness of the tongue. It is often paired with various pickles to add depth of flavor and to help cut through its meatiness.
If there is one dish you must try in Sendai, it is gyutan. Specialty shops offering this delicacy can be found all over the city, making it difficult to choose. Heading to gyutan’s origins at Aji Tasuke is an easy choice, but it can also be crowded. Another fantastic option is Gyutan Tsukasa, conveniently located near Sendai Station. It offers gyutan set meals as well as gyutan sausages, meatballs, and a whole assortment of delicacies that will tantalize your taste buds.
Zunda
The Tohoku region is a major producer of edamame, or young soybeans. While they are typically enjoyed as a snack alongside a cold glass of beer, you can also find them mashed up as zunda. Made by boiling, mashing, and seasoning edamame, zunda can be found in various sweets, desserts, and drinks!
When you arrive at JR Sendai Station, head to Zunda Saryo, where you can enjoy their famous zunda shake and zunda mochi! They even offer zunda soft serve and parfaits if you’re in the mood for sweets. While wandering the station, you’ll also find zunda mochi boxes, perfect as Sendai souvenirs!
A Fun Tidbit: Zunda is said to have originated from one of Japan’s most famous samurai, Date Masamune, who founded the Sendai area. While on the battlefield, Date crushed his edamame using the handle of his sword, known as a Jindachi. He served the crushed edamame to others alongside some mochi, earning the name Jindachi Mochi, which eventually became zunda mochi.
Sendai Beef
Although it may not be widespread, Miyagi Prefecture has a thriving livestock industry. While the national average number of animals per farm is 62, in Miyagi, that number is less than half at 28. Many small-scale farmers raise each animal with care and attention. Additionally, Miyagi is a rice-producing region with low rainfall and dry weather in autumn. This results in the production of high-quality rice straw, which is a key factor in producing marbled beef.
When people think of beef, particularly Wagyu, the first thought is often Kobe beef. However, Sendai beef is equally delicious and is characterized by its soft texture, mellow flavor, and rich meat.
While many steakhouses offer Sendai beef, we recommend trying yakiniku (Japanese BBQ). You can enjoy various cuts, from skirt and sirloin to tongue and ribeye, seasoned with salt, wasabi, or a yakiniku sauce. Head to Yakiniku Gyujin Ichibancho for a luxurious and unforgettable meal featuring local Sendai beef.
Oysters
You’ll be pleased to know that the Sanriku Coast along Miyagi Prefecture is one of the world’s three major fishing grounds, boasting some of the finest seafood in Japan. The convergence of the Oyashio and Kuroshio currents in the Sanriku Sea creates abundant plankton, attracting migratory fish throughout the year. These calm waters also provide ideal conditions for wakame and kombu farming, as well as for scallops and oysters.
Oh, sweet, briny oysters! The port town of Matsushima, just a 50-minute drive from Sendai, is famed for its oysters. If you can’t make it to Matsushima, fear not! You can still enjoy oysters at various restaurants and izakayas across Sendai City.
For oyster enthusiasts, we recommend heading to Kakiya no Kakiya. This cozy oyster bar offers a small menu featuring all kinds of oysters! For lunch, they serve oyster teishoku (set meals), including kaki fry (deep-fried oysters) or raw oysters accompanied by a small side of kaisendon (fresh seafood rice bowl).
You can also pick up a plate with carefully sourced oysters from around Japan, including the famed Matsushima ones! Enjoy, taste, and compare how the sweet and creamy oysters’ flavors change from region to region! They also offer a range of sake to pair with them for those who want a drink!
Sasa Kamaboko
Speaking of delicious seafood, sasa kamaboko is next on our list. During the early Meiji Era (1868-1912), there was an excess supply of flounder. However, due to insufficient storage facilities and transportation, much of it went to waste. To combat this, people began grinding the flounder meat into fish cakes, now known as sasa kamaboko (笹かまぼこ), or bamboo leaf fish cake.
Head to Abe Kamaboko-ten to pick up some sasa kamaboko souvenirs, or try grilling them yourself! You can purchase sasa kamaboko on a stick at the counter and use the in-store grills to add a delicious char and smokiness to them. So good!
Also, try the Hyotanage, fish cakes coated in batter and deep-fried until golden brown on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Aoba Gyoza
Aoba Gyoza, or green leaf dumplings, are characterized by their vivid green color, which distinguishes them from traditional gyoza. This unique hue comes from Sendai yukina, a green leafy vegetable indigenous to the area. The gyoza skin is typically thicker than that of traditional gyoza, lending a slightly chewier texture. The filling is similar but often includes extra yukina, making it healthier and lower in calories.
You can find these delicious green gyoza in various restaurants and izakayas throughout the city, but our favorite is the ones served at Ichiban Goro ramen restaurant. Enjoy a steaming bowl of ramen alongside some earthy and delicious aoba gyoza!
Did you know that Aoba translates to “green leaf,” but it also represents Sendai as it is known as the “City of Trees?”
Hiyashi Chuka
Hiyashi Chuka is a classic summer cold noodle dish that is said to have originated in Sendai! During the summer of 1937, when ramen sales started to drop due to the heat, members of the Sendai Chinese Cuisine Industry Association (currently the Miyagi Prefecture Chinese Beverage Industry Association) created a cold noodle dish called Ryanbanmen. Initially, the dish consisted of chilled noodles with boiled cabbage, salted cucumbers, carrots, and chashu pork. However, after the war, as supplies became more available, a modern style with luxurious toppings emerged. Now, thinly sliced pork fillet, cucumber, ham, eggs, and jellyfish are commonly enjoyed as toppings.
As the noodles chill, they develop a chewier texture and are served alongside a refreshing soy sauce-based or a rich sesame sauce.
At Ryutei, the original Hiyashi Chuka restaurant, you can choose either sauce, and all the colorful ingredients come on the side, allowing you to customize your meal. Although it is designed as a summer dish, hiyashi chuka is delicious all year round!
Seri Nabe
Miyagi Prefecture ranks as the number one produce of seri, or Japanese parsley, and is known for its distinct earthy flavor and edible roots. During winter, seri is added to nabe (hot pot) with a soy sauce-based soup made with duck or chicken stock. It adds a rich amount of nutrients and vitamins to keep you healthy during the cold, but is also a textural delight.
The roots are slightly crunchy, with an earthy taste, while the upper stems are soft, almost chewy, with a herbaceous and bitter taste. It comes with a side of chicken or duck, along with other typical nabe ingredients such as tofu and negi (long green onions), although this varies from shop to shop.
You can find seri nabe in many specialized restaurants or local izakayas. One popular restaurant is Serisoan Sendai-Ekimae, recommended by a local Sendai friend, but unfortunately, it was fully booked for the week! Instead, we tried a local izakaya called Irori (いろり). The seri nabe came with tofu, gobo (burdock root), a large portion of seri, and some chicken thigh.
Sankaku Aburaage
Last on our list is Sankaku Aburaage, or triangular deep-fried tofu. Aburaage is a common Japanese ingredient used in dishes like miso soup. However, what sets sankaku aburaage apart is its thickness and triangular shape.
We decided to head to the source of sankaku aburaage, located about 50 minutes from Sendai City by car, to visit to Jogi Tofu Store. Inside, you can see many signed papers from famous personalities who have visited to get a piece of their aburaage.
It turns out that its triangular shape is the most efficient for frying! Their kitchen is equipped with a rectangular deep fryer, and the triangular shape allows them to maximize and efficiently deep-fry the largest amount of tofu at once! The tofu is double-fried: first at 250°F (120°C) until cooked through, and then again at 375°F (190°C) until the outside is crispy.
The sankaku aburaage has a delightfully crispy exterior with a chewy interior, accompanied by the aroma of soybeans. You can add soy sauce, garlic shichimi (seven spices), or regular shichimi as you like. It makes for the perfect snack after visiting the nearby Jogi Nyorai Saihoji Temple!
If you don’t have the chance to visit the Jogi Tofu store, you can also find sankaku aburaage in some izakayas and restaurants in Sendai City.
So, that concludes our list of Sendai specialties you must try in northern Japan! We didn’t even realize how rich the food culture in Sendai is, apart from Gyutan, so we all hope you get the chance to visit! In the comments below, let us know which city food guide you want to see next!
If there’s any food we left off of this Sendai food guide that we should have covered, let us know in the comments below.
