basic information

Sendai is the original home of gyutan, a dish consisting of pieces of thinly sliced beef tongue, cooked over a charcoal grill. Besides the standard version of grilled tongue and pickled vegetables seen above, gyutan is also popular in domburi form, as a curry, or in a beef stew.

The dish originated fairly recently in 1948 when a yakitori restaurant owner in Sendai devoted his business to the preparation of beef tongue dishes. It has grown rapidly in popularity and spread throughout Japan.

Common side dishes of gyutan are oxtail soup, and mugi gohan (steamed white rice with barley). In its domburi variety, gyutan is served over a bowl of steamed white rice, while the curry gyutan is accompanied by rice as well.

The two most popular gyutan restaurant chains are Rikyu and Kisuke. Both of these chains have branches on Gyutan Dori (gyutan street) on third floor of Sendai Station. The restaurants of Gyutan Dori open their doors at 10:00 while most of the city branch gyutan chains open for lunch around 11:00. Menus generally range in price from about 1000 yen to about 2000 yen.

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