Tasuke is widely regarded as the restaurant that made gyutan a Sendai institution. Founded in 1948 by Keishiro Sano, who devised the technique of salting and smoking beef tongue before grilling it over charcoal, it has spawned dozens of imitators throughout the city. The original branch near the station is still the reference point.
The standard set comes with three thick-cut slices of grilled tongue, oxtail soup, and barley rice — the combination that Sano designed as a complete meal. The tongue is salted and left for two days before cooking, which gives it a distinctive firmness and depth of flavour quite different from the softer preparations found in Tokyo. Expect a queue at peak hours; the nearby station area branches are slightly less crowded.