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If you haven’t already heard, the Tohoku Oktoberfest 2013 is in full swing at Nishikichou-koen just north of Kotodai-koen, and will run until Sunday, June 16th.  This festival is open everyday from 4 pm to 9 pm, but opens at 11 am on the weekends.

Here is their website:
http://www.oktober-fest.jp/2013tohoku/index.html

There are usually two Oktoberfests held in Sendai, the smaller, less popular one in June, and the bigger, genkier one in September.  My wife and I decided to stroll on over today to check out the scene and we were quite surprised at how big this year’s June festival is, and how lively it has become.  All the tents were packed with Deutsch-loving Japanese people.

Sure it’s a lot of overpriced food and drinks, but it’s great to see people having a good time!  Of course, we heard the standard “Roll Out the Barrel” from the German polka band, but it was funny to hear them play the theme to the Benny Hill Show.  What was funnier was watching a woman in heels run through the tent while they were playing this tune.  Seemed fitting to see someone scuttling across with this background music.

From the Konig Ludwig food/beer stand we tried the German potatoes (500 yen) and the 3 types of sausages platter.  The German potatoes were not bad, but nothing special.  The sausages were pretty good, but definitely not worth the 1400 yen price.

ジャーマンポテト

グリル3 種盛り合わせ。Tasty, but 1400 円？ 

Instead of satisfying our cravings for German fare, these tidbits merely enticed us more, so we headed down to one of our favorites, Brunenheim, which was down the street.

At Brunenheim we had some real German potatoes (710 yen), tasty garlic toast (530 yen), and a platter of potatoes with four different grilled sausages that tasted much better than the links at the Oktoberfest, and at a lesser price (1080 yen).

ガーリックトースト

グリルソーセージ

A poster outside of Brunenheim.  Cracks me up every time.

And if you head down to either the Oktoberfest or Brunenheim on Sunday, June 9th, be sure to stop at Kotodai-koen for the Jazz Promenade in Sendai.  I heard a few fantastic jazz groups today playing some familiar tunes.  It reminded me how great it is to live in Sendai where you can go downtown and be entertained by talented people for free.  I love Sendai!

Also, if you haven’t seen the TV commercials, Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream is running a Happy 4 You! campaign that allows you to purchase four mini-scoops of ice cream for only 400 yen.  These mini-scoops have 40% more volume than the double small scoops.  I believe this campaign will run until June 28th.

My Happy 4: Rocky Road, Chocolate, Cookies n' Cream, Chocolate Chip

And this Thursday, June 13th, marks the return of the Happy-Happy Melon Pan Truck in front of Daiei.  Please click the name to read about my previous posts about their delicious melon pan.  The truck will be parked at Daiei till Monday, June 17^th.

UPDATE:  I forgot to mention that next Saturday, June 15th, from 10 am till 3:30 pm at Kotodai-koen is the 食肉まつり.  I don't know what this is exactly, but a meat festival doesn't sound bad to me.

Oktoberfest in Sendai

Yodabashi Website:  http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120607-00000005-khks-l04

Nishikichou Website:  http://www.oktober-fest.jp/2012sendai/ 
Download the flyer from the Outline page for a 100 yen coupon.

Guten abend!  As of tomorrow, June 10th, 2012, there will be two, yes count them, zwei Oktoberfest events in Sendai running simultaneously.

Every year Sendai hosts two Oktoberfests, a small one in June and a bigger one in September.  I usually visit the one in September and always enjoy the food and the atmosphere.  Last year was especially enjoyable as it was heart-warming to see so many locals letting their hair down and having a raucous good time despite the hell that was endured during the year.

It's always a bit pricey, but when you're in the mist of a rollicking good time you really don't mind paying a bit (or a lot) more.  If I remember correctly the price of the special platter of spare ribs, sausages, and sauerkraut was 2500 yen.  Would I want to pay that normally?  Of course not.  But was it worth it then?  Definitely!

Oktoberfest 2011 platter:  2500 円

This year it looks as if three Oktoberfests will come to Sendai, two of them this weekend.  As you may have gathered by now one event is being held on the second floor of the old Yodabashi Camera building behind Sendai Station (in case you haven't heard, there is a new Yodabashi Camera across the street).  As I was checking out cameras today I decided to saunter over to the old building for some sausages and saurkraut, and to soak in some of that Oktoberfest festive feeling.  Was I in for a surprise!

The entire second floor was filled with tables and benches.  A three-piece female band was playing German music (I think), and the booths selling beer, wine, and food lined up an entire side of the place.  However, there were only about ten people in the place.  I blame this on poor PR, for even the Yodabashi Camera staff inside didn't know anything about this event.  On the outside of the entrance to the new Yodabashi Camera there is a woman who is handing out coupons for this Oktoberfest, but inside some staff didn't know what I was talking about.
The Yodabashi Oktoberfest is open Mondays thru Fridays from 4 pm till 10 pm and on weekends from 11 am.  This event will run till September 2nd.

An empty beer hall

But plenty of beer

Nishikichou Koen is opening their Oktoberfest tomorrow and it will run till Sunday, June 17th.  Click on the "Location" link below for a map to this park. This event will probably be more festive then the Yodabashi site, but the big steins will come in September.  For a peak at that Oktoberfest, please look at the following site:  http://www.sendai-oktoberfest.jp/

Just to let you know, since I passed on Yodabashi today, but still feeling in a German mood, I headed over to Brunenheim for another fantastic dinner!

Brunenheim German Restaurant ブルネンハイム 022-223-6776

チキンのワイン煮込み

UPDATE: OCTOBER 3, 2015
IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART TO ANNOUNCE THAT BRUNENHEIM IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/t032100/

              http://r.gnavi.co.jp/t032100/lang/en/ in English!

Address:  宮城県仙台市青葉区国分町3-1-1 第一生命黒ビルB1.   Located on Jozen-ji Dori across from the new Sukiya gyudon restaurant.  Follow Ichibancho towards Jozen-ji Dori.  Cross the street going towards City Hall.  Look for a staircase that leads down to a basement, on the same side as the Kotodai-koen subway station entrance.  It’s right next to some housing company (Sekusi House or Daiwa House, I forgot).

Map:  Scroll down to the bottom.

Open USUALLY from 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm everyday, but since the owner is also the chef, sometimes the place is closed for no apparent reason.

Cover charge:   600 円/person.

Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s difficult to find authentic ethnic food in Japan.  Brunenheim’s dishes definitely slant towards the German palate, but I never ate food like this when I lived in West Berlin.  That being said, this food tastes GREAT!!! 

A shot of apple wine and a small appetizer of shrimp and tomato in a tasty dressing are brought to your table immediately upon being seated. 

Because I’m a picky eater I usually order the same side dishes every time I dine here.  I start off with the Brunenheim salad (ブルネン風サラダ ) which is a green salad with slices of red and yellow bell peppers sprinkled with a tangy Chinese salad dressing.

Brunenheim Salad

Next is the always-pleasing garlic toast with caraway seeds!  But my favorite are the German potatoes ( ジャーマンポテト ) which are baked and lined with bacon bits.  These are so sensational that I’ll sometimes order a second helping!

For the main course I’ve tried a few of the different chicken dishes, like the chicken with mustard sauce (チキングリルのマスタードソース).  But for some reason they put mayonnaise on it, which I really didn’t care for (because I’m a picky eater).    Recently I went with the chicken in wine sauce (チキンのワイン煮込み) and was very pleased with this selection.  The wine sauce had a tartness to it that I quite enjoyed, plus the portions were rather sizable.

Years ago, they did serve a delicious wienerschnitzel.  But since the limitations on imports of American beef were imposed, this dish is no longer available.  I’m hoping that with the current troubles concerning the safety of Japan’s domestic beef that veal will once again be allowed to be imported.

Also, they serve glüwein: hot spiced red wine.   This is just like West Berlin and my wife loves it!  I highly recommend it.

This restaurant is just a little pricier than others on this list.  A typical dinner for two is roughly 6000 円,and that’s not a course meal.   But I definitely think you’ll enjoy this restaurant!  Auf wiedersehen!

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