Sonsoo Bansang

Sonsoo Bansang
(Incheon Airport, Korea)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

Although I was not in Japan anymore, the cheapest flight to and from Sendai goes through Incheon Airport in Korea. On my way to Sendai, I had a three-hour layover and managed to explore the Airport, at least a small part of it. Incheon Airport is huge! It’s also the most amazing airport I’ve been to, with free resting areas with beds, free fast wifi, and even free shower. However, I noticed it’s quite expensive also, in both its souvenirs and food. On my way back, though, I was provided emergency funds to ensure I was well-fed and can safely reach home, so I had enough to try out one of the food places there. I opted to try one of the two Korean-specialty food places in its food court (at least the one closest to my gate), Sonsoo Bansang.

Route Inn Hotel

Route Inn Hotel
(Natori, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

Since I got stranded for one night due to the typhoon in Japan, I needed to stay at Route Inn Hotel in Natori, the city where Sendai International Airport was located. It was only accessible by taxi if you have a lot of luggage with you, which, unfortunately, costs quite a lot, over 2000 Jpy one way. The hotel stay itself cost over 8,600 Jpy, including the booking fee by the tourist information concierge.

Jushoan

Jushoan
(Sendai Airport, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

While waiting for my flight back to Manila, I opted to have a late lunch/early dinner at Jushoan. Since it’s located at Sendai International Airport, it had a translated menu on the outside and I already know what I was getting even before I stepped in. The place, while a cafe, served quite a lot of different dishes, most of them using the local specialty gyu-tan as their protein, including ramen, donburi or rice toppings, and curry rice. I’ll let you guess which one I ordered.

Bonna Luna

Bonna Luna
(Sendai, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

During the “last” day of my trip to Sendai, before saying farewells to a couple of new friends I met in the Summer School, our party had brunch at Bonna Luna. This café is located at the basement of Sendai Station among many other food places there. This place was the only place that served pancakes as far as our searching goes, and since this was lenient towards dietary restrictions and didn’t have a queue, compared to the sushi and gyu(-tan) places that was commonplace, we settled here.

Higashiyama

Higashiyama
(Sendai, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

Based on my research, one of Sendai’s specialties is their gyu-tan or beef tongue. While exploring alone in the busy Friday night streets of Sendai, looking for a place that serves its specialty, I perchanced Higashiyama which featured an English menu on the outside that serves what I was looking for. Although the prices were quite steep, since I was still within budget, and because I didn’t know yet the problems that will arise the following day, I decided to splurge here.

T's TanTan

T's TanTan
(Sendai, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

Our same party that went to Namaskar had dinner at T’s TanTan the following night. From its name, I guessed that this place serves tantanmen, or somewhat thicker, spicier, and more noodle-focused ramen dish that Beloved always get when it’s available in Ippudo or other ramen/noodle places. To not ruin the “catch” on this place (but perhaps you can guess if you’ve been paying attention) read on.

Namaskar

Namaskar
(Sendai, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

Me and some of my classmates from the Summer School ate dinner at Namaskar after the second day of the School and essentially the third day of my stay in Japan. This is an Indian restaurant, one of the very few in Sendai City and closest one to our hotels. Personally, I’ve only tried Indian food a few of times, most of which are during multi-cultural buffets, and one time during our trip to Singapore. So this is actually a pretty fresh experience for me, perhaps strangely since I was in Japan.

Ishinomaki Genki Ichiba

Ishinomaki Genki Ichiba
(Ishinomaki, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

Although I didn’t personally choose and pay for my meal at Ishinomaki Genki Ichiba, I managed to get enough information and relatively nice pictures of the experience that I decided to write about it. Also, even if I did get a choice, I’d probably still choose what I was given. This was our lunch stop during our field trip around Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. Located near the Ishinomori Manga Museum, this place served up a nice lunch that also caters for vegetarian and halal folk present in our field trip.

Tully's

Tully's
(Sendai, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

During my third day in Japan, I made a small stop at Tully’s. This coffee chain is pretty much similar to Starbucks or Coffee Bean. In fact, according to Beloved, one opened up in Manila some months ago. Unfortunately, it didn’t really catch on and closed down before I managed to try it.

Ippudo

Ippudo
(Sendai, Japan)

This is a part of my Sendai, Japan trip. If you want to have an overview of my entire Japan “Food Odyssey”, I suggest you start with my 7-Eleven review and follow the different links from there.

As I mentioned in my precursor tale, I made it one of my personal missions to try out Ippudo in Japan, mostly to compare it to what we have locally. I also wanted to try out Ichiran ramen, but sadly, there wasn’t any in Sendai as far as my research went.