Soup curry is one of those local dishes that you pretty much have to try; it’s a Hokkaido specialty that features a spice-packed, long-simmered soup crammed with veggies and meat, and served with rice on the side.
If you’re in Sapporo and you want to learn about Sapporo Beer, you’re all set. You can either stay inside the city and visit the Sapporo Beer Museum, or you can hop on a train and tour their factory (which is about an hour outside of the city).
Well, regardless of whatever else I do/see in Sapporo, I’m already incredibly glad that I came here if only for the ramen at Amewa Yasashiku.
I might have gone a little bit overboard with the ramen in Tokyo, so I made a conscious decision to avoid ramen in Sendai. As much as I love ramen (which is a lot, clearly), there’s so much great food in Japan to try.
But I obviously couldn’t leave without having at least one bowl. I mean, what do I look like, a maniac?
I mentioned in a previous post that I took a sightseeing boat from Matsushima that wound up at Shiogama.
Among other things, Shiogama is known for being one of the busiest fishing ports and processors of seafood in Japan. A pleasant side effect of this is that Shiogama boasts one of the highest concentrations of sushi restaurants in the whole country.
I mentioned in an earlier post that there are a couple of dishes that are specialties in Sendai. One of them is gyutan, or grilled beef tongue, which I quite enjoyed.
The other is zunda, a sweet, bright green soybean paste that’s traditionally eaten with mochi.
Matsushima Bay is a very quick train ride from Sendai (it’s about a half hour away), and the consensus is that it’s one of the most scenic spots in Japan. Obviously, if you’re in Sendai, you’ve gotta check it out.
Rinnō-ji Temple — a very well-restored temple from the 15th century — seems pretty unassuming at first.
I’m not sure where I just ate. I was trying to eat at Taimeshi Kotobukiya, a Michelin-rated restaurant that serves Japanese cuisine, and that has an affordable lunch special.
When you think of whisky, the first thing that comes to mind is probably either Scotch whisky, or American bourbon. But I think more and more people are starting to realize that Japan is putting out some whiskies that easily rival anything coming out of Scotland.