moons over my hammy, onegai-ishi-mass
alright. I broke a cardinal rule of mine for international travel: I went to an American chain restaurant. In this case, it was Denny's for breakfast. I was quite a bit ashamed at my decision, but not having the time to search out other options I sucked it up and went inside. It sure looked like a Denny's, complete with formica tables, tacky light fixtures, and peach and teal paint. After fumbling through a mild confusion with the server that I wanted non-smoking, I sat down and got my menu. Lo and behold! The menu style was all Denny's (big pictures, which makes ordering nice and easy in Japan), but most of the meals were Japanese. dig. Yeah, you could get eggs and bacon, but it came with miso soup, pickled vegetables, and green tea. I went for the grilled salmon with soup, rice, and natto.
Now, natto is not usually tourist food. In fact, most Japanese people I've eaten with are surprised when foreigners eat it. It's basically fermented soybeans all stuck together with their own little cobwebby threads. It ain't pretty to eat and it makes a big stringy mess like little threads of hot-melt glue everywhere. There really isn't much flavor, and as far as I can tell it is eaten because it's "healthy," not because it's tasty. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm not opposed either, so I didn't mind that natto was included in my breakfast. So I point to the picture for the waiter, mumble a little "onegai-ishi-mass" (please), and he nods and begins to walk away. He gets a few steps, pauses, turns back and opens the menu, pointing to the natto and asks something ".....natto?" the gist of which was asking whether I really wanted natto. "Hai, natto," I reply. I think he just wanted to make sure this little tourist wasn't unpleasantly surprised.
all in all, I was pretty impressed with the Denny's selection. and it is damned convenient being right on my way to the train station from my hotel, so I may have to hit it again. curse it all, but it was a good (and non-american) breakfast. oh, and they won brownie points with me by not offering forks and knives. in fact, they had their own little Denny's-brand chopsticks for use.
Now, natto is not usually tourist food. In fact, most Japanese people I've eaten with are surprised when foreigners eat it. It's basically fermented soybeans all stuck together with their own little cobwebby threads. It ain't pretty to eat and it makes a big stringy mess like little threads of hot-melt glue everywhere. There really isn't much flavor, and as far as I can tell it is eaten because it's "healthy," not because it's tasty. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm not opposed either, so I didn't mind that natto was included in my breakfast. So I point to the picture for the waiter, mumble a little "onegai-ishi-mass" (please), and he nods and begins to walk away. He gets a few steps, pauses, turns back and opens the menu, pointing to the natto and asks something ".....natto?" the gist of which was asking whether I really wanted natto. "Hai, natto," I reply. I think he just wanted to make sure this little tourist wasn't unpleasantly surprised.
all in all, I was pretty impressed with the Denny's selection. and it is damned convenient being right on my way to the train station from my hotel, so I may have to hit it again. curse it all, but it was a good (and non-american) breakfast. oh, and they won brownie points with me by not offering forks and knives. in fact, they had their own little Denny's-brand chopsticks for use.
random bits cobbled together by j-dub
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