When you visit Sendai, what you can not miss out on is the Sendai Morning Market (仙台朝市). This market began shortly after the WWII air raid and is now filled with stalls selling fresh local produce. The price tags here are so friendly that citizens of other prefectures travel to Sendai for their grocery shopping (≧▽≦).
Many come to the market for Kaisendon (a bowl of rice topped with mountains of fresh seafood), but it’s still a spot for us vegetarians to enjoy the local culture.
Aside from seafood, the 200-meter-long market also features stalls selling fresh vegetables and fruit. You will surely find some delicious vegetarian side dishes and local specialties, such as bread, deep-fried food, and the famous triangular “Abura-age” deep-fried bean curd!
What we usually get from the market is fresh fruits. Fruits in supermarkets in Japan are generally expensive. So, we would get fruits that can last several days (such as apples and mandarins) from the market to enjoy during our trip.
Tip: You might get a bargain if you visit the market at the end of the day, when shops are trying to clear out their stock. But note that only some shops are open until sunset.
Saitō Croquettes (斎藤惣菜店)
If you love croquettes, make sure you visit Saitō Croquettes. The deep-fried side dish shop has a range of croquettes in different flavors for you to choose from. And they are cheap, at just around 100 yen for one croquette!
The shop has an English menu, so ordering won’t be hard (refer to the 5th photo in the IG post). The pumpkin croquette and the potato croquette are the two vegan options that you can get. Both were delicious!
Whenever we visited Saito Croquettes, there was always a queue. While the queue usually wasn’t long, it could take a while before it’s your turn. So, leave yourself around 5 to 15 minutes if you plan to get croquettes from Saito Croquettes.
Per the second photo in the Instagram post, red lines are marked in front of the shop. It indicates where you should queue so the shop’s customers don’t block the road. Check if people are queuing on the right when you arrive. You don’t want to be the one who cuts the queue.
There are a few simple benches next to the shop for those who want to enjoy the deep-fried food on the spot. The garbage goes into the garbage bag/bin near the counter.
You can utilize the phrases in our Essential Japanese Travel Phrases for Vegetarians and Vegans article to order a vegetarian/vegan croquette.
Hanagasa Rice Ball (花笠だんご本舗)
Next to Saitō Croquettes, you can get some rice balls to enjoy with the deep-fried side dishes, and your lunch or late breakfast is sorted!
There usually isn’t a queue at Hanagasa Rice Ball. However, the popular items do sell out, especially on weekends and public holidays. So, if there is anything you want to get from the shop, purchase it before it is gone!
Sendai Morning Market’s Business Hours and Access Information
- Sendai Morning Market opens at 8 am, and some shops stay open until 6 pm.
- Note that many shops open from 9 am, especially in winter.
- The market closes on Sundays and public holidays.
- Translating the official website HERE using Google Chrome’s translation function at the right of the address bar is probably best to ensure the market will open on the day you plan to visit it.
- The market is less than 5 minutes away from Sendai Station on foot.
Discover Other Attractions in Sendai
You might not be aware of it, but Sendai, the Tōhoku region‘s biggest city, receives more than 20 million tourists each year!
So if you want to find out how Sendai managed to attract so many visitors, refer to our article on Sendai, which is filled with historical, cultural, and natural attractions (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ.
