Will Miss #541 - genkatsu

Some people like an enormous hunk of meat that they can sink their teeth into. I'm not one of them. The truth is that my bite is uneven and my mouth is also small. I have difficulty tearing things off and chewing well. If my parents hadn't been so poor, I guess I would have had some orthodontic work done and I'd be able to bite off a hunk of animal flesh with the best of them. At any rate, due to my issues, I prefer things that are softer and easier to manage.

I didn't actually count them. I took their word for it.

Genkatsu is a pork cutlet restaurant that has a special way of making their tonkatus. They don't take a slab of dead pig. No, they layer 25 thin sheets of ex-swine and bread and fry it for eight minutes for your enjoyment. The result is very tender, juicy, and flavorful. I don't know if those layers add to the flavor profile or not, but they seem to give the tongue more of a chance to linger on the meat - of course, that may just be my experience because I'm probably swallowing things without chewing them as well as I might and releasing their juices.

Beyond this specialty way of offering tonkatsu, they give you choices of side dishes, miso soup type, and sauces in a way which is not especially common for set meals. They let me choose yuzu koshoo sauce so, you know, I'm going to love them.

I miss genkatsu and their lovely customizable sets and easy to manage multi-layered pork cutlets.

Will Miss #41 - no tipping (reflection)

I read several blogs devoted to food and cooking and little is more contentious than the custom of tipping in the U.S. One side claims it is a system designed to allow restaurants to justify grossly underpaying their employees. The other side says it allows the customer to be empowered in a fashion the promotes good service. My reply is, "can't it be both?" I am also only too aware that there are wait staff in some restaurants who make a good deal more in wages due to tipping than they would if they were paid minimum wage or even above it. It is a complex situation which has room for both abuse of and benefits to employees. There is nothing out there which does not have a good and a bad side, as this blog has endeavored to show for the years it has been in existence.

All arguments aside, the bottom line is that tipping is a pain. While the math doesn't trouble me, the need to calculate a tip after paying the bill adds this layer of hassle at the end of a meal which detracts from the overall experience of dining. It causes you to reflect not on the experience, but on the quality of service and how much you will want to "reward" the server for a job done well or poorly. It's simply not the way to finish a special evening in which you're not cooking and cleaning. I miss the fact that there is no tipping in Japan.

Won't Miss #41 - willy nilly food serving (reflection)

I can't say that I have eaten in a lot of restaurants in America, but I have eaten out about once every month and a half for the past two years. In all but one case, everyone at the table was served their food at the same time, and, unsurprisingly, that was at a Japanese place. For a culture in which people do everything together, I'm surprised that nobody cares if everyone gets to eat at the same time at the table. Food is served whenever it is convenient for the servers and the kitchen rather than in accord with the customers' needs or desires.

I don't miss sitting down to eat a meal at a restaurant and finding that I was eating 20 minutes before my seatmates because the kitchen and wait staff couldn't be bothered to coordinate. 

Won't Miss #518 - puny meat portions

A Thai meal "set" in Tokyo. See that little blob of chicken in the middle of my curry? See that enormous mound of rice? Discuss.

My husband and I have been back since the end of March 2012 and, oddly, we bought our first chain-made pizza yesterday. It was from Pizza Hut, and, coincidentally, that was the chain we patronized most in Japan. That means I have copious amounts of experience with pizza from said maker there. We bought a one-topping (pepperoni) pizza and were shocked to lift the lid on it and find that it was wall to wall with slices of said cured meat-stuff. Both of us remarked that we would never see that much meat on a pizza in Japan.

Ironically, that was the second time in as many days that we had an "American meat experience". We also attended a Portuguese cultural festival (because that's what you do when you're one of us) and got a pork dish from them which had half as much rice as pork. We both noted that such proportions would have been reversed in Japan.

I am not an enormous meat eater, but the carb to protein ratios in Japan when you went to restaurants were often insane. Here, there may be too much meat, but for a couple that has a strong inclination to split their entrees when eating out, this just means the whole experience costs that much less. I don't miss the puny meat portions in Japan. 

Will Miss #517 - (fearlessly) taking pictures of food

I didn't realize it until I returned, but people in the U.S. think it's really freakish to take pictures of your food when you're at a restaurant. In Japan, it's practically a sport. Many people use their cell phones or cameras to catalog what they're eating and then post the picture on social media sites. It's not only considered socially acceptable by your cohorts, but also by the restaurant staff. They realize that it's actually a form of promotion of their business because a Facebook status or Tweet that shows the food might lure customers to them. Of course, food is usually pretty appealing in appearance in Japan so few have anything to fear.

In America, restaurants sometimes actually tell you that you can't take pictures of their food and will get upset if you do so. They think you're trying to mock their slop online. Other Americans simply think you're strange.

I liked taking pictures of my food in Japan and am glad to have recorded what I ate. It has not been unusual for me to look back through Facebook albums to locate a restaurant based on my pictures and descriptions so I could go there again or recommend that place to others. I miss the way it was socially acceptable to take pictures of your food in Japan.

Won't Miss #476 - lack of a doggie bag culture

My husband and I have two anniversaries. One is the day we became a couple and the other is our wedding date. For the former, we went to a Turkish restaurant and it was only afterwards, when my husband asked to have the remainder of his meal wrapped up, that I remembered that you can do that here. In Japan, the custom is rather different because cleaning your plate reflects satisfaction with the meal. Also, leftovers are less popular there than in America. People like to have fresh food and the notion of enjoying the rest of your restaurant meal the following day is unappealing. Additionally, the portion sizes are generally smaller (though not always), so there rarely is enough food left to make packing it up worthwhile. Even if there were lots of leftovers, most restaurants in Japan would be a bit put off, if not utterly confused, by a request to put the rest in a doggie bag.

I won't miss the fact that taking the remainder of an (often expensive) meal home is pretty much off the table in Japan. 

Will Miss #458 - quieter eating

This was a Chinese meal in Japan. My husband forgot to take a picture until he'd consumed most of it. Usually, we get a shot before we start eating.

There are some things about life in America which I never realized were the case until I was removed from the environment long enough to forget that they were natural. My husband and I ate at a Chinese restaurant in America for the first time since returning and I was taken aback by how noisy his eating seemed to be in terms of clanking his fork and spoon on the porcelain plates. I asked him to try not to do that, then I listened and figured out that everyone in the restaurant was doing the same thing. In fact, it was difficult not to scoop kung pao chicken from the serving dish to the dinner plate without scraping the dish with the spoon (and they didn't offer chopsticks). Eating in America due to the types of utensils and dishes is a much more cacophonous affair.

I never realized how much quieter it is eating in Japan with chopsticks and/or lacquerware bowls and plates and I miss it. 

Will Miss #455 - cut-up food

Among the many failings that American's possess in the eyes of their European and Euro-centric neighbors is the manner in which they cut their food up. We fail in one of two ways. The primary way is that we swap hands to use the knife and fork so that we are eating with the dominant hand. This is apparently inferior to the European manner in which one keeps the knife attached in one hand and the fork in the other throughout the meal. The secondary, and apparently far more reprehensible way, is that some people (horror or horrors) cut up all of their food before tucking in so that they can simply eat without pausing to slice each bite one at a time. When an American cuts everything up before eating, they are behaving like incompetent infants who lack proper eating skills. In Japan, well, they also cut up all of their food before they eat it and that is just fine because they're doing it in the service of eating with two sticks. The Japanese, unsurprisingly, don't look down on Americans based on how they use a knife and fork.

The fact that all of the food in Japan is served cut into pieces that can be easily manipulated with chopsticks not only makes the experience of eating easier, but it also takes the tiresome and petty judgment of how one cuts ones food as an indication of cultural superiority off the table, and I will miss it.

Will Miss #408 - oshibori

"Oshibori" are wet towels, sometimes hot, sometimes not, and sometimes real cloth and sometimes a paper towel, that you are given at the beginning of a meal in restaurants in Japan. They are given to allow you to approach your food with clean hands. One of my students once mentioned their absence in restaurants in the U.S. and said she didn't know what people did to make sure they had clean hands before eating. I told her that I would wash my hands in the bathroom, but the truth is that I think most people just forget to do anything at all. Chances are they get served a sandwich or finger food and just tuck in without a second thought.  Even if you do remember to wash up in the bathroom, I'm not so sure that you're a whole lot better off because you usually have to touch a door handle to get out and there are people who don't wash their hands after doing their business who touch it. 

The Japanese way of giving you a towel to wash your hands before eating at a restaurant makes it easier to be clean before touching your food and removes any concerns about forgetting or getting re-introduced to bacteria from touching dirty surfaces in the bathroom. I will miss being given oshibori at the beginning of a restaurant meal.

Will Miss #351 - WYSIWYG at restaurants

Click this small image for a bigger view of a lunch menu.

In America, there are two kinds of menus for the most part. There are those that display extremely unrealistic styled shots of food and those that have no pictures at all. The former is to make food look more appealing than it really is and the latter to avoid customer complaints (or even lawsuits) when people don't get what is shown in the picture. In restaurants in Japan, 99% of the time, the menus are "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG). This is a testimonial to the ability of the service folks in Japan to offer consistent and appetizing presentation.

It's awesome knowing that what I'm going to be served is what I expect and that no one is trying to trick me into thinking otherwise or hide the truth.

Will Miss #343 - lunch sets/deals

A fairly typical lunch set including salad, pickles, dessert, an entree, rice, and soup. This one went for a mere 650 yen ($7.94).

Eating out in Tokyo is expensive if you order dinner, but it can be both economical and awesome if you eat out at lunch time. Back home, I know that there were occasional lunch specials, but it's an art form with restaurants in Japan. You pay between 500-800 yen, and can often get a meal that includes a variety of dishes and a drink. There is nothing that I like more than having a tray full of various dishes served up to me, usually including a finish with a few bites of dessert. It feels like luxury, even when it's not.

I'll miss sampling the lunch sets of various restaurants and the bargain prices they often come at.

Won't Miss #338 - low protein (and veggie) meals

An extremely delicious Sri Lankan meal that I ate in Shinjuku with a tiny salad, 3 bites of chicken (with skin), rice, potato salad, and bread. Three carbs in one meal - great if you're running a marathon, or want to expand the size of your ass. Despite the carb overload, I heartily recommend this place - Court Lodge. The staff is wonderful (attentive, friendly,  offering more gravy as needed) and the food is tasty and moderately priced.

My husband and I spent more years not eating at restaurants in Japan than eating at them. That wasn't because the food here isn't good, nor was it because the portions are small or things can be expensive, though the latter was definitely a factor. The main problem is that most of the restaurant food you get in Japan is low protein, high carbohydrate, and low in vegetables. If you're Japanese, it seems that getting a giant noodle, rice, or bread portion with a couple of bites of meat and garnish-size amounts of vegetables seems to be okay, but it really isn't a good balance nutritionally. In fact, I often see people getting even more rice or bread on top of the heaping portions they already have. I always end up eating half of the carbs (or less) and my husband always has to order a(n often pricey) side dish with more protein to balance things out. 

The food here is often fantastic, but I'm often dissatisfied with the nutritional balance based on the usual composition of protein, carbs, and vegetables.

Will Miss #327 - cat cafes

Tokyo has quite a few "cat cafes" in which patrons can go in and play with cats as well as have drinks and food. As someone who loves cats, but isn't allowed to have one in her apartment, this is a pretty nifty service. I'm not sure, but I believe it's also the kind of thing which would never be allowed back home because of concerns about cleanliness when animals are mixed with food preparation and consumption areas. In Japan, there are very strict regulations to ensure safety for both the animals and the patrons.

The existence of cat cafes not only reflects a certain flexibility about how businesses can operate and a need to allow people to interact with pets on an incidental basis, but also trust that a business will do what is best when two tricky elements are mixed, and I'll miss that.

Won't Miss #301 - stingy drink service

Have you ever researched the cost of a fountain drink to a business? In some places, it costs mere pennies for enough syrup to make a few hundred glasses of Coke. While I'm sure that this is slightly more expensive in Japan (as many things are), it's not greatly more expensive, yet free refills are almost unheard of in most parts. Costco Japan's food court is a rare exception to the rule. I'm actually not too terribly fussed about the lack of free refills as I'm not really the type of person who needs to down a liter of soda with a meal. However, I am annoyed at a different sort of petty stinginess in Japan and that's the partially filled glass. What is worse, if you ask for a drink without ice,  you will get a proportionally reduced amount of liquid in your glass. If it is 80% full with ice, you'll get it 60% full without ice.

This sort of pettiness flies in the face of the idea of "good customer service" (which goes beyond a bow and polite words, much as many think that's all it is about), and I won't miss it.

Will Miss #300 - tonkatsu

There is a type of cuisine in Japan called "yoshoku", which is influenced by Western cooking practices and was developed during the Meiji restoration in the 1800's in Japan. At that time, the emperor ended Japan's isolation and incorporated aspects of Western culture into Japanese life. One of the many results of that is tonkatsu, or pork cutlet. It is a piece of pork (or sometimes chicken) which is breaded and fried, served with cabbage, rice, and often miso soup. It is served with a unique sauce which is slightly sweet and spicy. The entire meal is a wonderful combination of Japanese and Western food that is easy for Western palates to accept.

Though I tried tonkatsu in America (prepared at a Japanese restaurant), I found if very inadequate next to what I've had in Japan, and I'm going to miss it.

Won't Miss #287 - otoshi/tsukidashi

Cultural customs and habits are a reflection of a country's culture. Even small things like the custom of tipping in the United States tell you something about the priorities and expectations of the people. In the U.S., tipping is the way of empowering the customer and giving more control over the meal's expense (often at the expense of the servers). In Japan, the custom of "otoshi" or a "forced appetizer" (sometimes referred to as a "table charge") reflects the passive nature of the Japanese and their willingness to place power in the hands of others. Many bars (izakaya) or places that serve alcohol will add a charge of 300 yen (about $3) to your bill and serve you an unrequested appetizer with your beverage. You don't order it and you have no control over what it is that you are given. You don't have to like it. You don't even have to eat it, but you have to pay for it and you can't refuse it (or at least the Japanese en masse very rarely, if ever, do so).

I won't miss this custom of forcing you to buy something you didn't order simply because of something you did order (alcohol).

Will Miss #244 - automated ordering

A few buttons on a huge automated ordering machine. These are for curry and curry toppings.

Japan has long been famous for its technological innovations. Some day, I'm sure that they will be able to do away with people altogether in the service industry. Given that the birthrate is a bit under 1.4, they'll probably need to do this. For now though, they do the best they can to put technology into the mix and that includes these machines that are used to streamline the ordering process at some restaurants. Instead of troubling yourself with paying a cashier, you buy a ticket from a machine outside first, give the ticket to the person in the shop (not yet a robot, but soon, I'm sure), and they serve you the grub you want without any dirty money exchanging hands.

I'm sure these types of machines are in some other places in the world, but the dazzling array of buttons on the Japanese ones and the fact that they are common occurrences always impresses me, and I'll miss seeing them.

Will Miss #242 - Curry House Cocoichibanya

If you think Japanese food is healthy, then you don't know the guilty pleasures of Curry House Cocoichibanya. One of my favorite ways to eat myself into a carb stupor is to get a cheese curry bento with pari pari chicken (grilled crispy skin chicken) and garlic. The basic bentos are so huge though that I can only eat half. That's okay because then I can re-stupify the next day on the leftovers. You can also order "half" sizes, but then you can't relive the pleasure the next day. You can order a basic bento and then pile on any amount of toppings (paying a fee for each) and choose whatever heat level you want. I usually go for "8" out of a top hotness level of "10".  Japanese curry has a unique flavor, and this particular shop's sauce is pork-based and very savory.

It's delicious and far from nutritious, and I'll miss it.

Won't Miss #183 - close quarters in restaurants

Japanese people may not mind rubbing shoulders and bumping elbows with strangers while they slurp their soup, but I like my experience when I eat out to be comfortable. Because of the high cost of space in Tokyo, it's not the least bit uncommon for restaurants to place people almost on top of each other to maximize occupancy within a limited space. This sometimes means you barely can move your chair without bumping the person behind you, and sometimes means that your nearest neighbor so encroaches into your space that you have to keep your elbows tucked in at all times.

I won't miss restaurants that seat people too close together rather than seat them at a proximity for comfort.

Won't Miss #164 - Horumon

In the past few years, horumon (ホルモン), or beef and pork offal (that's the stuff we throw away like guts and organs), restaurants have been popping up in more places in Japan. I'm guessing that part of the reason for this has been the sagging economy, but this cuisine has been around for a long time. I realize that there is nothing necessarily wrong with eating these things, and it's actually a good way to avoid waste, but my meat-based food tastes are too ethnocentric to find value in this type of eating.

Just seeing these restaurants (and there's one about 2 minutes from my apartment) gives me a queasy feeling, and I won't miss them.