Montana モンタナ 022-376-6444

Website:  http://www.welcome-montana.com/

Address:  仙台市泉区福岡字森下2-3.   Located way out in the boonies on the way to Izumigatake and Spring Valley Ski Resort on Route 223.

Map:  Scroll down below.

Open weekdays from 11 am till 7 pm, weekends and holidays open till 9 pm.  Closed Tuesdays.

Upon returning from a recent snowboarding trip to Spring Valley, my good friends, Yvonne and Fong, and I stopped by the Montana restaurant.  I heard about this famed American restaurant some time ago, and had visited once before a few years before I started my blog.

From the log cabin architecture and the Pontiac Trans Am in the parking lot, to the interior rich with Americana artifacts, this place so reminded me of my homeland.

Sitting near the wood-burning stove added an additional sense of coziness and warmth.

But my companions and I were starving, and although we enjoyed the atmosphere, we wanted to dig into some good-ole American grub!

We started off with an order of french fries (682 yen), which were actually thick potato wedges.  Crispy on the outside and seasoned just right!  Although, they seemed to be oven baked rather than fried, this was a plus as they were not the least bit greasy.  What a great way to start a meal!

フレンチフライ

Following the fries, came the Big Burger Sandwich (1312 yen w/drink), and true to its word, it was BIG!  Vonnie and I would have been better off had we shared one sandwich as we originally had planned, that’s how big it was.   However, it was mostly the romaine and iceberg lettuce that added to its size, along with the thick slices of bread, and not the amount of beef. The hamburger patty itself was quite flavorful, but I would’ve preferred to have it cooked just a little more thoroughly.

バーガーBIGサンド

Next came the Cowboy Rice (945 yen), which we ordered out of curiosity.  “What the hell is Cowboy Rice?” was the question being asked at our table, where two of the three diners were American born and bred.  According to the menu, this dish is a Montana original mix of chili, cheese, and rice.  To be honest, I didn’t have my glasses with me at the time, and had I read that it had cheese, I would have passed on it.  But after sampling a couple of spoonfuls, I would also recommend that you pass on it, too!  No flavor whatsoever.  It seemed as if they opened a can of Hormel chili beans and put it on top of the rice.  If this is what the cowboys ate, no wonder there ain’t many left.

カウボーイライス

Because our eyes were much bigger than our stomachs, we finished off our American-style feast with the Max platter of spareribs (2940 yen).  In my opinion, spareribs should be so tender that you can separate the meat from the bone with a fork, and then let the succulent beef or pork melt in your mouth.  

Well, I had to use a knife.  And, I had to chew… a lot.

Although the barbeque sauce was delicious, these were not the finger-licking spareribs I remember from home.

スペアリブステーキ

One thing I found interesting, in a good way, was the coffee that came with the hamburger set we had chosen.  I normally do not care for flavored coffees, but Montana’s coffee had what I believe to be a hint of cocoa, which was enjoyable.

Overall, I think you should try Montana if you are in the area, but I wouldn’t drive out of my way for a meal here.  My normal-eater friends were in agreement with me on this.

The next time I’m returning from Spring Valley, I would definitely want to stop in Montana for their tasty Big Burger, fries, and coffee, but that’s about it.

An old photo from a few years ago of the Chili con Carne.   More like a can of Hormel Chili.

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Golden Week Wrap-Up (and before)

Gobbled gobs of great grub this Golden Week and in recent days gone by.   

First off, I apologize that this is a rather late notice but Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream currently has their 31% discount off any double scoop of ice cream.  This works out to 280 yen for a small double or 400 yen for a regular double.  This campaign will end on Thursday, May 9^th.

Next, a special shout out to my favorite pizza in Japan, amo la pizza, who is celebrating their one-year anniversary this weekend.  My wife and I feel so fortunate that amo opened up within walking distance to us, and they seem to be flourishing!  Extra staff has been hired and they often sell out of their course sets and, unfortunately, pizzas.  But they have been very kind and gracious to us and we hope for their continued success.

I’ve forgotten to mention that amo now offers a point card!  You receive one point per meal.  Due to our numerous dining experiences at the amo, we have received a free soft drink and a free dessert, and are now six visits away from our 500 yen discount.

This was sometime before GW, but we recently returned to Koan Bakery while out for a drive.  I ordered the Koan Special Plate lunch for 850 yen, which came with a hot sandwich of mustard chicken on a cubed croissant roll, drink, salad, soup, cheese toast, and a sampling of fruits.

The salad was mainly cabbage with some red and yellow bell pepper slices, but it was quite nice.  The soup of the day was minestrone, which went down nicely.  Despite me not caring for cheese, I would rate the cheese toast as not bad, mainly due to the softness of the bread.  I’m sure someone who liked cheese would rate this much higher.  The highlight was the cubed croissant chicken sandwich.  This was very good, the croissant possessing a flaky and crispy outside with a wonderful taste.  The mustard chicken was tender and delicious.  The fruit sample rounded out a nice variety of flavors on one platter.  Oh, and I forgot about the rich coffee!

こうあん特別プレート

My better half ordered the hearty pumpkin chowder soup set with extra bread for 650 yen.  There was also an option for vegetable corn chowder, as well as only the regular serving of bread for 550 yen.  My wife really enjoyed her pumpkin soup, and was quite happy that she was given three different rolls to try.

具沢山スープセット

And although I was quite full, I forced upon myself a delightful lemon danish.

Lemon Danish

We’ve also stopped by on a couple of occasions to another of our favorites, Bistro Ampoule, where we’ve tried a couple of new items.  First off was the pork and duck rillete as an appetizer.  Despite me savoring every morsel, I’m afraid that my description of this plate will not sound very flattering:  it tasted like an exquisite Underwood Deviled Ham.  That was the first thought that entered my mind upon first bite.  But the rillete was really tasty and I would not hesitate to order it again.

豚肉と鴨のリェット

My wife ordered the “Perfectly Round Hamburger Steak” that she absolutely loved!  I sampled it and found it to be extremely soft, almost creamy, and flavorful.

まん丸ハンバーグステーキ

On another visit, Bistro’s Spanish omelette was the appetizer of choice.  I keep saying that I’m not a fan of omelettes, but I did like this Spanish version.  I don’t recall the ingredients, but paired up with the accompanying salad made a nice starter. 

Spanish Omelette

And a special update that my friend, Tony, told me about me.  Barbaresco Pizzeria has a special half-price discount on all their pizzas on Sunday and Holiday evenings.  This sounds like a great deal!

I hope you've enjoyed your Golden Week as much as I have, but hopefully, you haven't packed on the weight like I have. 

KAMAKURA: Café Campanella カンパネラ 0467-22-6798

Website:  http://2-14-12.net/menu

Address:  鎌倉市長谷2-14-12.   Located about a 30-second walk from Hase JR Station in Kamakura.

Map:  Scroll down below.

Open from about noon till around sunset.  Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It was the perfect combination.  We were starving, and Campanella was the first restaurant we saw open after getting off the train at Hase Station in Kamakura.  Luckily for us, things worked out well!

For me, it was a tough choice between the honey and cinnamon crêpe with vanilla ice cream set (1050 yen) and the Kamakura ham with buttered toast set (950 yen), but since I felt that my body was craving protein, I went with the ham, toast, and the Kamakura blend coffee set.

鎌倉ハムトースト

My better half was eyeing the chocolate, banana, and caramel crêpe set (1050 yen), but she also opted for a more protein enriched meal and chose the Kamakura ham and cheese toast set (1000 yen).

The buttered toasted bread was light, fluffy, perfectly toasted, and delicious!  The ham slices were slightly thick and also scrumptious.  A small, tasteful sampling of pumpkin paste was served alongside pickled vegetables that went well with the toast and ham.  This felt more like a snack than a meal, but it did tide me over for an hour or two until my next opportunity to snack.

My wife loved the flavor of the cheese on her toast, and was quite satisfied that we found such a convenient eatery to gobble down a light snack.

鎌倉ハムチーズトースト

Capanella was quite busy on the Saturday we ventured in.  I was quite surprised and happy that the kind and helpful waitress was a fellow foreigner.  It’s rare to see a foreigner working as a staff member in a restaurant in Sendai.

I’d love to come back to try Campanella’s dessert crêpes some day, hopefully come next hanami season.

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Sasebo Burger 佐世保バーガー 022-721-1575

Website:  The website written on their receipt doesn’t work, so here is another site that has some info on them: 
http://tabelog.com/miyagi/A0401/A040101/4010472/

Address:  仙台市青葉区国分町2-14-25.   Located on Jozenji-dori about a two-minute walk from Kotodai-koen Subway Station.

Map:  Scroll down to the bottom.

Open everyday from 10 am.  Sundays and Holidays open till midnight.  Mondays to Thursdays open till 2 am.  Fridays and Saturdays open till 4 am.  Lunchtime special is from 11 am to 2 pm.

My friend, Ben, and a host of others that swear by these burgers, recommended this joint to me.  My wife had dined here by herself sometime ago but didn't think much of it at the time, so it took a while to convince her to give it another shot.

Last month we visited there for the first time together and tried their lunch set for 880 yen.  It came with a choice of sandwich, fries, salad, soft drink, and dessert.  It’s a very good deal and quite voluminous!

The Lunch Set for 880 円.

Being the picky eater that I am, I don’t like a lot of extra stuff (avocado, bacon, cheese, etc.) contaminating my burgers so I chose the plain hamburger, while my wife ordered the Avocado Burger for her selection.  When the burger arrived I remember thinking “What a thin meat patty.”  The dressing on the burger was really delicious, so delicious in fact that it helped curb my disappointment in the meat patty (due to the beef's thinness and lack of substantial seasoning).  I asked my better half how her Avocado Burger was and she said it was “average.”

Close-up of the Plain Hamburger

Close-up of the Avocado Burger

I wanted to test the waters with the onion rings for an additional 390 yen.  The onion rings looked gorgeous and on the first bite you could tell they were fried to perfection.  Yet despite being very crispy they didn’t have a whole lot of flavor to them, either.  The salad that came with the set also looked quite nice, but as with the meat patty and the onion rings, there was nothing savory about it.  The dessert was cold banana pound cake with Hershey’s chocolate syrup on it.  Again, not bad but nothing special.  The fries were the saving grace as they were very good, crispy and salty.  We walked out of there full, satisfied with the value but not so much so with the taste.  We agreed that maybe since we had the lunch special that we didn’t get the best they had to offer.

Onion Rings

So last week, I decided to give this place another try and ran into my old friend, Iain, and his lovely wife, Kyoko, at Sasebo Burger.  They invited me to sit with them and we discussed our thoughts about the food.  Iain and Kyoko, both normal eaters, gave me some insight to the attractiveness of the burgers.  Iain said it was the dressing that was the distinctive characteristic of this restaurant.  Actually, he said it much more eloquently but I forgot his exact words.  I agreed that the dressing is great, but that I think the patty should be just as good.

I had missed out on the lunch special by five minutes so I went with a double burger in order to be able to really evaluate the flavor of the meat.  The patty was a little thicker than the last time and had a little bit more seasoning, but still not enough.  The onion rings were left in the fryer just a touch too long but they also seemed to have a bit more flavor today.

Double Burger

I can understand why some people love this restaurant as there are many good points about Sasebo Burger:  the sauce, the value, the location, and the fries.  They also have quite the variety of burgers and sandwiches to choose from.  But I’m going to upset those friends, and others, as I’m not putting this in my Recommended list.  I’ll list in the You Should Give This A Try category as you may become one of the many who end up raving about Sasebo Burger.  But I still have to go back to the beef:  the thin, not-so-flavorful beef.

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