About two minutes away from JR Sendai station via the subway Nanboku line, alight at Hirose-dōri station and get out at exit 4 to arrive at Vlandome Ichibancho, where Yakiniku Gyūjin Ichibanchō is located.

As you pass through the noren curtains at the entrance, climb the steps to the restaurant's chicly decorated entrance, where a display of "Sendai Tansu," a type of traditional handicraft from Sendai, is on display.

All seats are in private rooms. The Japanese-style design uses many types of wood and wooden-textures, allowing you to enjoy your meal leisurely. During our visit, our room used wooden building materials from an old residence.

One part of the floor is in the "hori-gotatsu" style of seats, which has a rectangle of floor dug-out under the table, allowing you to sit on the floor without kneeling in seiza. Regular table seats are available as well, and those who prefer those seats can check with the staff when making their reservations on the day itself.

The shop's specialty is its 35-day-old aged Sendai Beef and other types of high-quality beef, which is aged using tightly controlled temperature, humidity, and air circulation conditions. As the Sendai Beef is purchased by the shop whole, rare parts and cuts are available as well.

In Sendai, beef tongue is grilled over a charcoal flame, and there is even a famous street called "Gyūtan-yaki". We started out by ordering the "Jukusei Atsugiri-tan," which costs 1,680 yen. The thickly cut beef tongue is marinated in rock salt for four days, and is one of the restaurant's recommendations.

After the flames on the charcoal have subsided a little, place the 1.5-centimeter-thick beef tongue on the grill. When both sides have been grilled to a nice brown, use the scissors to cut it into bite-sized pieces.

The thickly cut beef tongue has the charcoal's fragrance, with a crisp exterior and juicy interior. The meat itself has a nice saltiness to it, and though it can be eaten on its own, adding a little lemon and rock salt increases the umami flavor. The slightly salty beef tongue is a perfect match with alcohol.

If you want to enjoy a more Japanese-style menu, you can try out the "Atsugiri Sagari Wasabi Yaki," which costs 2,280 yen, and the "Jukusei Gyū-no-Akami," at 1,580 yen.

When it arrives, the sight of the generous helpings of wasabi sandwiched between the beef slices really leaves an impact, and makes you worry, "If it's too spicy, I might not be able to finish it."

But grilling the wasabi decreases its spiciness a little, and you can taste a little sweetness too, so please do not worry. The "Aged Beef Red Meat" uses Sendai Beef with thick amounts of fat, and is a great match for the wasabi. The light spiciness leaves a refreshing aftertaste.

As a memoir of our visit to Sendai, we ordered one more beef tongue menu item. The "Gyūtan Moriawase," which costs 1,880 yen, is a set that allows you to try and compare three types of meat: "Atsugiri-tan," "Shio-tan," and "Kyoku-tan Steak."

The "Kyoku-tan Steak" is made using the "Shin-tan", a cut of the tongue which has only a few centimeters available on each portion. The thinly-sliced "Shio-tan" can be grilled on one side, and the moment meat juices begin to appear on the top of the meat, it's the best timing to take it off the grill to enjoy. As the taste is light, you can enjoy as many slices as you want!

After finishing our meal, the staff Kamata-san took us around the shop. "Our draw is in creating a space that is as warm as the welcome you get from visiting a traditional Japanese house, where you can enjoy grilled meat. Our crockery is carefully selected as well, and we use Imashiroyaki ceramic pieces from Osaka. In November 2020, we had a renewal opening of ‘Gyūjin Sendai Izumi,’ which is 25 minutes away from Sendai station, so if you get a chance, do pay a visit," he says.

The course menu is available in English, Chinese and Korean. Staff from China, Vietnam, and Nepal are available as well. Besides this, ample measures against Covid-19 are in place. Anti-viral towelettes are provided, and shared dishes are individually portioned before serving. A pair of tongs is also provided for each person.

Measures against Covid-19
-Disinfection of shop interior and facilities
-Disinfectant available for use
-Disinfection between guest rotations
-Regular ventilation
-Use of coin trays
-Staff required to use masks, wash hands, disinfect, gargle, and have their temperatures taken
-Limits placed on number of customers allowed to enter, and social distancing between seats
-Reservation system to enter shop
-Customers feeling unwell requested not to enter
-Customers requested to use masks and have their temperature taken

Within walking distance of the west exit of JR Sendai station along the arcade street Hapina Nakakecho, is A5 Sendai Gyū Yakiniku Sushi Tabehōdai Nikujūhachi Sendai Eki-mae 2-go-ten.

It's an all-you-can-eat restaurant that offers an 80-minute long all-you-can-eat course where you can order Sendai Beef and sushi. It's the talk of the town for its high-quality ingredients at reasonable prices.

The shop interior is designed with a theme of black, with exquisite paintings on display for a gorgeous ambiance. The seats and spaces are all arranged in a relaxed manner. The table seats along the window are recommended as they allow you to gaze at the shopping street while dining.

This shop's biggest draw is its all-you-can-eat course of grilled meat, sushi, salad, noodles, and dessert. There are three courses available: the "Standard Course" allows you to enjoy 90 different items for 2,948 yen, while the "Special Course" allows you to try 120 items for 4,048 yen, and the "Premium Course" offers 145 items for 5,148 yen.

If you're looking to enjoy grilled beef without breaking the bank, the "Premium Course", which offers a wide variety of cuts of Sendai Beef, is recommended.

The first item to arrive at our table is the "Sendai Gyū-no-Moriawase" from the premium course. Though the cuts may vary, it's an exquisite variety of Sendai beef cuts, including upper loin and short rib. You can enjoy the different flavors of each part.

As the large slices of beef are placed onto the hot grill, the melted fat makes a delicious sizzling sound.

Once both sides of the meat have changed color, add some condiments to the meat. Available at the table are soy sauce and sweet and spicy tare sauce, wasabi, and rock salt.

The shop's recommendation is to enjoy the meat in three stages. First, use rock salt to get the mild flavor of the beef itself. Next, the wasabi topping is a match for the sweetness of the fat. Finally, enjoy the meat with a mix of wasabi with tare-sauce and soy sauce, allowing you to enjoy the same cut in different ways.

After tasting the various cuts from the "Sendai Gyū-no-Moriawase," we ordered the "Atsugiri Gyū-tan" from the premium course's beef tongue menu. The beef tongue is so thickly cut that you can feel the weight when you pick it up with your chopsticks. There is a skill to grilling the meat over the fire in a short amount of time by eye.

Once you have grilled the beef tongue, which is seasoned with salt and pepper, you can squeeze some lemon over the meat, if you'd like. Despite its thickness, the softness of the meat on the first bite is surprising! The combination of the meat juices with the refreshing lemon on your tongue is top-tier.

Besides grilled meat, sea urchin, salmon roe sushi, and salad, and as you savor each dish, in turn, you can feel your tummy filling up.

The last item we ordered was the "Domestic Beef Rib Roast." It's a menu item of large slices of marbled Japanese beef rib loin. Grill the surface lightly, and enjoy it with lemon and rock salt.

We heard from Sakamoto-san, one of the staff, about the provisions they have for foreign visitors. "The ordering system uses a touch panel which is simple, and information on the course menu is available in English, Chinese, and Korean. As it's in the nearest shopping arcade to JR Sendai station, it's an easy location to get to while doing some shopping. Please enjoy some delicious Sendai Beef and sushi." It's a shop which you can patronize with ease.

If you add an extra 1,480 yen to your course, you can have alcohol as well, while an additional 480 yen can get you free-flow soft drinks. As this is an all-you-can-eat course, if you over order and end have food leftover, there are penalties for food wastage, so do take note.

Measures against Covid-19
-Disinfection of shop interior and facilities
-Disinfectant available for use
-Disinfection between guest rotations
-Regular ventilation
-Use of coin trays
-Staff required to use masks, wash hands, disinfect, gargle, and have their temperatures taken
-Limits placed on number of Customers allowed to enter, and social distancing between seats
-Reservation system to enter shop
-Customers feeling unwell requested not to enter
-Customers requested to use masks and have their temperature taken

A six-minute walk from the west exit of JR Sendai station is "Minami-Machi Dōri," and on the left is "Sendai Ginza," an alley lined with various food shops. In one corner of this street is "Yakiniku Horumon Kagura," where it is said that you can enjoy high-quality Sendai Beef and fresh and good offal, and we decided to pay a visit.

"Yakiniku Horumon Kagura" was started in 2013 by the owner Saitou-san, who trained himself in running grilled meat and horumon, or offal, restaurants.

The shop has two floors, with counter seats and tatami-style seats available. This time, we relaxed on the koagari-style tatami seats on the first floor to enjoy our meal.

One of the shop's specialties is fresh offal, called "horumon" in Japanese. If you're thinking of trying better quality offal, the pork offal here is sourced from Miyagi Prefecture's Tome city, while the beef offal is obtained from two markets in Sendai City.

Though there are differences between preparation styles, offal typically starts to go bad once it comes into contact with water, and the food items are washed and cut only after the order is made. The washing process is done quickly, but it seems to be one of the secrets to its deliciousness.

"We have good shimachō on hand today," we heard from Saitou-san, and we ordered it with haste. Shimachō is part of the cow's large intestine, and as implied by its name, is known for the "shima," which means stripes, on its surface. After placing the meat on the grill, once the surface has browned, turn it over and grill the fatty portion for a short time.

Shimachō is prepared in a special tare sauce made using miso, and though you can enjoy it as is, you can complete the flavor by blending powdered togarashi and garlic with the slightly spicy tare sauce to make a condiment for the meat.

The moment it passes your lips, the thick juices spread throughout your palette, while the fragrance of the miso embraces your senses. Many people often find offal hard to chew, but this shimachō is easily torn to bits by your teeth, allowing you to swallow it easily. The excellent mouthfeel is a testament to the freshness of the ingredients used. This is a dish that you'll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

Besides fresh offal, high-quality Sendai Beef is another specialty of the shop. The Japan Meat Grading Association grades marble meat on the "Beef Marbling Standard" (BMS) from a scale of 1 to 12, with 12 being the highest quality. The shop only offers Sendai Beef higher than a grade of 10. Incidentally, that day, grade 12 meat was available, and we found our expectations rising unexpectedly.

The thinly-sliced marbled Sendai Beef is delicious if you grill it lightly on both sides, said Saitou-san. With just a little rareness left on the steak, garnish it with some sweet and spicy tare sauce, and enjoy. The balance between the mellow fat and muscle is terrific! The meat melts in your mouth within an instant.

According to Saitou-san, the shop's main sales point is "to provide meat deserving of a high-class grilled meat restaurant, and through skilled preparation and control of prices, to provide it at a reasonable cost. As it's just a six-minute walk from Sendai Station, I think its ease of access is another draw too."

As there is a large hotel nearby, there are many foreign visitors here too. As you communicate your orders with the staff and peruse the menu, make wonderful memories of your trip.

Measures against Covid-19
-Disinfection of shop interior and facilities
-Disinfectant available for use
-Disinfection between guest rotations
-Regular ventilation
-Use of coin trays
-Staff required to use masks, wash hands, disinfect, gargle, and have their temperatures taken
-Separating boards used between seats
-Customers feeling unwell requested not to enter
-Customers requested to use masks and have their temperature taken

So how about it? Regardless of which restaurant you choose, you'll get to taste delicious meat worth more than what you paid for, so do be sure to pay a visit the next time you're in Sendai for a holiday.

Text by: Shoepress
Information in this article is accurate as of November 2020.