Fresh Sashimi
There are well over a thousand restaurants and bars in the Kokubuncho entertainment district in Sendai, and for dinner I headed into one of the best fish restaurants in town, Hikozo.
Despite it being a Monday, which is typically a quiet day for people dining out in Japan, the restaurant was bustling with activity and seemingly packed out – a testament to Hikozo’s popularity!
Hikozo is well known locally for it’s fresh fish, and to call it fresh isn’t an exaggeration. The fish are caught early in morning in the port town of Onagawa, 60 km away on the Pacific coast, by the restaurant’s very own fishing boat!
The selection of raw fish was brought to us in a steaming wooden box, sealed with a lid, but with several holes with steam pouring out, giving the appearance of giant wooden kettle. As I removed the lid, a plume of steam rose up to reveal a selection of fish including Tuna, Salmon, Octopus, and Shrimp, gleaming under the steam.
It was a huge amount of sashimi, but luckily I had a few friends to help me through it, and it went down particularly well with a bottle of local sake (Nihonshu) from Ishinomaki.
If you’re a lover of raw fish, be sure to try Hikozo next time you’re in Sendai.
Restaurant: Hikozo
Address: 2 Chome-7-13 Kokubuncho, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
