March 16, 2021

SENDAI: Tanya Zenjirou たんや善治郎

Come to Sendai, one must not leave without savouring the specialty dish over here! That’s Gyutan (beef tongue), one of the Sendai’s specialty that is sliced and grilled over the charcoal fire. A Japanese friend of mine highly recommended this restaurant – Tanya Zenjirou たんや善治郎.

READ: 10 Things to do in Sendai

For full itinerary, check out Japan Trip 2018: 9D8N in Aomori, Sendai & Tokyo

Tanya Zenjirou たんや善治郎

The gyutan specialty shop that is specializing in salt-grilled beef tongue (shioyaki gyutan). It is just some walk away from JR Sendai Station West Exit. I was told that there will be queue always, so I avoid coming at peak hours. Lucky me, there was no queue during my visit for an early dinner (roughly around 6pm).

But… it was already happening inside the shop!

I had the very famous grilled beef tongue set (¥2,400) that came with 3 pieces of beef tongue which were then sliced into 9 equal thickness of cut. The set was served a bowl of salad, oxtail soup and mugi meshi or the barley rice.

The grilled beef tongues were extremely springy, bouncy and delicious! Lightly shio-ed (salted), and packed with oil bits. So delicious that I polished clean the whole set (given that I usually cannot finish the whole standard bowl of rice).

I learned that not the whole slab of beef tongue is suitable for grilling. Only the middle part of the beef tongue is suitable for grilling while the tip and lower part sagari are pretty hard, so they were not suitable for consumption.

There were these refreshing pickled Chinese cabbage and Nanbanmiso paste (as you can see the small paste on the plate) which was lightly spicy and it could elevate the flavour when you pair it with the grilled beef tongue. While the pickled cabbage works great as the palate cleanser too.

The clear oxtail soup was so delicious, dosed with negi and a big chunk of meat. Oh gosh, all the essence was filled up in this bowl! I downed the bowl of soup! How I wish this could be refilled.

My friend who didn’t take beef ordered this Kamaboko Fried Cheese (¥ 780) while waiting for me to finish my meal. It is made of fish paste, which is also another specialty of Sendai, but usually it is made to grill over the charcoal fire.

Getting here:
About 1 minute walk from JR Sendai West Exit