Squampton.ca » Food & Drink

Over The Shoulder

Andrew — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 11:13:26 +0000

Don’t really remember when I took this photo, or even why. I didn’t know this person, but I suppose alcohol played some part in me walking up behind her like a perv and snapping this picture.

Ramen (ラーメン)

Andrew — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:13:07 +0000

Most come in three flavours: Miso, Shoyu (soy sauce), and Shio (salt). Personally, I prefer the miso chashu (miso with sliced pork) variety.

Siesta (Hirune,昼ね)

Andrew — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:01:04 +0000

Taking a brief siesta during a long night of bar-hopping. I don’t think I’m allowed back in this particular bar actually, but that’s another story for another day…

Jack Daniels

Andrew — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:01:59 +0000

Apparently Jack Daniels is the whiskey with the highest calorie content. I guess I’ll have to make mine with a Diet Coke.

Hanging Screen (Taremaku, 垂れ幕)

Andrew — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:01:36 +0000

A thin straw screen separates tables in a busy restaurant.

Vending Machine (Jidou Hanbaiki, 自動販売機)

Andrew — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:01:41 +0000

Most serve soft drinks or cigarettes, but in the sticks you can still find the old school booze vending machines. This is a deluxe model, selling both beer and smokes altogether.

Beer (Biru, ビール)

Andrew — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:01:14 +0000

One of the big three beer companys in Japan (Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo), which all taste like crap.

Christmas Dinner

Andrew — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:06:58 +0000

Instead of doing the KFC thing (a strange Japanese Christmas traditional meal), or buying a pre-cooked glazed leg from the supermarket, I went on the hunt for a whole bird yesterday. I searched a couple places and finally found some 3-4 pound birds for sale under Sendai Station.

Made a nice rub with some salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage, then fired her in the oven for a couple hours. Next, roasted garlic to add to the mashed potatoes, stuffing from scratch, steamed carrots and brussels sprouts, and gravy. Found some cheap spareribs as well, so there’s a little twist to the standard dinner. Wish our oven could make some yorkshire pudding, but it just won’t get that hot.

By the time Kyoko got home from work, everything was set for our first Christmas dinner in Sendai.

Now playing: The Strokes – The Modern Age
via FoxyTunes

Barock

Andrew — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:07:29 +0000

Our epic Monday adventure around Sendai finally landed us at a new bar near Sendai Station. Primarily a whiskey bar, they’ve also got a little wine and one Japanese beer, Heartland, which isn’t as bad as the regular domestic swill. As you can see the atmosphere is very dark and cozy, with classic vinyl albums spinning on the turntable. Complimentary macadamia nuts and an industrial-looking nutcracker complete the experience.

View Around Sendai in a larger map

The Morning Market

Andrew — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:27:35 +0000

Took an epic, 12-hour jaunt around Sendai this past Monday. Our original plan was simply to visit Asaichi, the Morning Market, to pick up some fresh-off-the-boat seafood for dinner. It quickly mutated into an all out tour of the downtown area though. Here’s the first leg of our trip.

View Around Sendai in a larger map

The Morning Market is located just a couple blocks from Sendai Station. Basically it’s a single narrow street block consisting of plenty of seafood and produce dealers. The clientele ranges from restaurant owners to old women. All types of fresh fish, squid, octopus and crab are available, and you can usually haggle a bit on the price as many stalls are competing against each other for your hard earned yen. It’s a great place to find deals on fruit and vegetables too, especially considering how expensive produce is in supermarkets and Japan in general. Like most of these types of markets however, it’s been known to charge different prices to non-locals (foreigners and Japanese alike), so try to avoid buying anything that isn’t expressly priced beforehand.

Another benefit to shopping here is that you can often get quantity discounts. This concept still hasn’t really caught on in Japan. For example, if I buy one donut the price is 100 yen. If I buy 100 donuts, the price is 10,000 yen. At the market though, if you don’t seem to interested in the asking price the vendors will often throw in something extra at a discounted price. Unfortunately I didn’t feel like gutting a huge squid when we bought a slab of tuna sashimi, so that kind of backfired on us.

It’s open Monday to Friday (excluding holidays), from early morning to mid afternoon. If you’re visiting Sendai, or live here and want to pick up something for dinner, it’s definitely worth a look!