A note on the words: yaki-gaki are oysters grilled right in the shell over an open flame — a Matsushima specialty you’ll see served from streetside stalls all along the waterfront near the sightseeing-boat pier.
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Nihachiya on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hey, this is Hangover Meshi. So, I ended up in Sendai somewhat by chance. And if you’re already in Sendai, you’ve got to hit Matsushima, right? So I hopped on the Senseki Line for about 50 minutes to Matsushimakaigan Station. I bought a ticket for the sightseeing boat there, and while wandering around killing time before it left, I noticed there are a lot of stalls grilling and serving oysters. So I decided to try the oysters at “Nihachiya,” the first place that caught my eye.
Best of all, you can eat right there outside as you walk around! (You can also eat inside, by the way ^^)
Squid: 950 yen
Scallop: 600 yen
Whelk: 600 yen
Oyster: 600 yen
Ultra Super Jumbo Oyster: 800 yen
Grilled oysters are 600 yen, but you can also get an Ultra Super Jumbo Oyster for 800 yen, lol.
Ultra super, lol. I mean, I have to try that! So I ordered one regular oyster and one Ultra Super Jumbo Oyster.
They grill them hard and fast. The Ultra Super Jumbo Oyster is big, sure, but the regular oyster is plenty big too.
After a while they pry the shells open, and once that’s done, they blanch them briefly. I’d guess it’s because the shells are so thick that the inside doesn’t always cook through evenly, so this quick blanch is there to make sure it’s properly cooked.
And here’s the oyster! This is the normal size, lol. I’d bet this “regular” oyster would count as a Super Jumbo pretty much anywhere else.
And here’s the Ultra Super Jumbo Oyster. It really is huge. Sprawling, even.
I squeezed some lemon over it and took a bite — yep, delicious! Though honestly, at this point it’s less “grilled oyster” and more “raw oyster,” lol.
The shell’s so thick that the heat never really gets all the way through, so it’s basically a raw-oyster experience, lol. The quick blanch probably just makes it a little easier to eat.
Delicious!
So, when you’re in Matsushima, it really has to be oysters, right? Hopping between the street stalls for a bit of eating-while-walking is a lot of fun, so I’d recommend it! It also looked like you could buy outside and then head in to eat afterward. Oh, and this place takes PayPay too, which is a nice bonus! The farther you get from Tokyo, the more places seem to be cash-only, so a spot that takes QR payments is genuinely valuable!
Nihachiya (Cafeteria / Matsushimakaigan Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
