At the second party, I entered the restaurant. One of the three people from the first party joined us after finishing their work. It was probably around 9 p.m…? We were led to a semi-private room in the back of the restaurant. Once again, each person drank their favorite alcohol to toast! I started with a “soba tea-juiced” sake. This restaurant is a famous place serving Yamagata soba. It’s also a very convenient place for a Japanese bar. During my previous job, I used this restaurant for business dinners. There are also private rooms available in the dining area. The appetizer was “boiled beef teriyaki”. The person who joined us from the second party hadn’t eaten anything yet, so they ordered “6 pieces of teriyaki chicken”, “Kensui”, “salted sweet potato kenshi-pan”, “salted cabbage”, and “swordfish poppo-yaki” in a hurry! The “teriyaki chicken” was extremely delicious with just the right sweetness. In no time, the person who arrived late had his large beer jigger empty (laugh). There were three people who arrived late for the “teriyaki chicken”, and the other three each ordered one… (laugh). The “Kensui” was something typical of a restaurant serving Yamagata soba. It’s perfect as an accompaniment to alcohol! Both the “kenshi-pan” and the “cabbage” are great as side dishes! The “swordfish poppo” arrived quite late, but it was still a decent dish as a side dish. The last order was at 10 o’clock, and the restaurant closed at 10:30. We drank and ate non-stop… Japanese sake was the only thing left.“米鶴蛍ラベル。” “コクがあり、飲みごたえのある味わいが特徴的です！” 夏にぜひおすすめする純米酒、夏酒は美味しいです！ワインでも有名な山形県高畠町のお酒です。10時のラストオーダーで、遅れて来た方が「冷たい並の板そば」を注文しました。他の3人は山形名物の「冷たい鳥ラーメン」を注文しました。私は今日のランチが「山形肉そば大盛り」だったので、「冷たい鳥ラーメン」にしました。これは本当に美味しかったです！そば屋さんのそばつゆをベースにした、鶏ガラ味の和風中華そば。鳥だしの少し甘めの冷たいスープが、ちぢれ麺とよく絡み合い、本当に美味しかったです！それにしても、今日は飲んだ！食べた！話した！シ・ア・ワ・セ！ご馳走様でした。話も盛り上がり、楽しい楽しい時間を過ごしました。閉店まで粘り強く対応しました（笑）。
Today, I went to watch the Sendaia Aoba Festival’s mountain kofun procession. I entered the restaurant around 1:40 PM after waiting for just a few minutes. The festival was still going on, so there wasn’t much waiting time. It was a long time since I’d been here last, so I was surprised to find that all the seats were replaced by chairs. We sat in a half-private room with six seats, with two people sitting together. The staff member said, “Please enjoy your meal comfortably.” This made me feel good. The atmosphere of the restaurant was still retro, with an old-fashioned feel. First, I ordered a small bottle of beer. Then, I ordered a medium-sized plate of soba (1350 yen) and a regular-sized plate (1050 yen). Additionally, I ordered some traditional Yamagata soba noodles with Geso Tensu (400 yen) and a slice of Nishin’s country stew (380 yen). The freshly made Yamagata soba was delicious, with a good texture. Geso Tensu was still warm and delicious. Nishin’s country stew was soft, with a sweet and salty taste that I liked. Our restaurant offers a wide variety of sake and dishes from Yamagata and Miyagi prefectures. It’s a great place to enjoy a drink at night. Next time, I’d like to go there again at night.
