I’m not sure where I just ate. I was trying to eat at Taimeshi Kotobukiya, a Michelin-rated restaurant that serves Japanese cuisine, and that has an affordable lunch special.
There are four restaurants clustered into one small building here: there’s Taimeshi Kotobukiya, a dessert shop called Mr. Mash, a ramen place called Menya Fubo, and on the upper floor, the restaurant where I just ate lunch.
I assumed this was Taimeshi Kotobukiya, but I’m looking at photos now; it clearly wasn’t. And yet Google Maps isn’t showing a fourth restaurant at this location, so… I ate lunch. I have no idea where. It was tasty.
Here’s where things get even more vague, in case they weren’t vague enough already. I ordered the set lunch (or teishoku), and I honestly have no idea what the main dish was.
Whatever it was, it was quite tasty — it was some kind of stew (seaweed, I think?) served on rice. It had a vaguely slimy (but not unpleasant) consistency, and a very mild seafood flavour thanks to the tiny little fishes that were interspersed throughout. It’s served with a dollop of ginger puree on top, which adds a nice sharpness of flavour that helps round things out. It’s quite good.
The other things on the tray, going clockwise from the main dish, are potato salad, thinly-sliced fatty pork with glass noodles, pasta salad, miso soup, pickles, and yogurt with a berry sauce.
Nothing blew me away, but everything on the plate was very good. In particular, the miso soup had a uniquely tangy flavour that worked quite well.
The whole thing came up to 850 yen (about ten bucks Canadian), which is an absolute steal for the quantity and quality of food.
Location: Uh… well, here’s the address for Taimeshi Kotobukiya: 3-chōme-2-10 Kokubunchō, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0803
How to find it: It’s on the upper floor — the stairway is right below a sign that has “12” printed on it in red (among other things).