I'll be adding much more to this one, but here's what I can tell you for
now...
The Japanese typically like to have a little of everything when the eat out. I have yet to see a meal of any sort that was something like just a big steak and a big potato. If fact, the least complicated meal I've come across is a combo at McDonald's. Burger, fry, drink. That's incredibly dull for the Japanese. My powers of observation also tell me that texture often means every bit as much as taste, if not more. I don't care what they say, a piece of steamed squid has no flavor! It's just something that feels really different in your mouth when you chew, and I think that to them, the more textures you can get in a single item, or in meal, the better in many cases. By no means am I saying that flavor doesn't matter though, as there are many things here that are absolutley delicious. You'll see what I mean about mixing in a minute.
Yes, sushi is everywhere, and it is as good as it gets. But, there are even more yakitori places by far. These are essentially nothing more than bars where you pick out a number of shis-k-bobs and have a guy cook them for you on a grill in the middle of the room. They are definitely yummy, and the beer, and sake are too. Mushrooms wrapped in bacon, scallops, little spicy hot dogs, beef strips, chicken meatballs, whole sardines, etc. There are probably 20 basic types, and then you can ask for whatever custom combination you might want, as well. Of course, the combo at McDonald's is right up the street, if you want something dull.
By the way, there is no tipping when eating out. For that matter, you never tip bartenders either. I actually had a guy give a tip back when I offered, and then refused to take it when I insisted. Makes the high(er) prices of the meals not quite so high when you don't have to add that extra 15 to 20% to every meal you eat out.
Other notes:
They like to mix things that we wouldn't, like corn on pizza, or corn with breakfast. There's a long list...
Things that come fried can look just like anything else that is fried. This can be very frustrating, as you can think you are buying fried chicken nuggets, but are actually buying cow tongue instead. They also have lots of these fried balls that are all identical and can be sweet potato, mashed potato, chopped chicken balls, eggplant, squash, meatballs (I'm not sure what the meat is though), etc. It's an adventure every time I bite into one. Fortunately, they're all pretty good (even the tongue, which I couldn't finish for psychological reasons - because it is the tongue of a cow).
They'll apparently eat any part of an animal. You can order a plate of cooked chicken skin at a nice restaurant. In fact, the skin costs as much as breast meat.
They chop up and cook chicken in a way so that you can't tell what the hell part of the chicken it is. Just like they often do in the US at the Chinese joints.
Because of the texture thing, they think that the more fat/gristle you can get in a cut of meat the better it is. The most expensive meat typically has more fat and gristle in it than 5 cheap steaks in the US. I think the perfect steak to them (at least by looking at prices at the grocery) would be something like a soft filet marbled with some intertwined strips of tire rubber. I absolutely can't stand knawing on fat, so I'm not to keen on eating beef here. Sometimes this works out in a "Jack Sprat" kind of way though, as I went to a co-workers house for a dinner that included strips of beef cooked on a griddle, and they all gave me the leanest strips, and kept the fattiest for themselves to work on.
Speaking of fat content. I hate to say it, but there's a place up the street that has some of the best hamburger steaks ever. It's because they've got so much fat in them that one should be enough to make your cholesterol go up ten points for a month.
You'd think they all ate healthy food as thin as they are - but absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. All whole milk, eggs all the time, fat, fat, fat meat, and tons of fried stuff. No wheat bread either. Genetics.
Here's an
example of a big meal for 7 people (think about how many different textures
and tastes there are):
- big strips of very fatty and chewy pork that we cooked on a
little gas grill in the middle of the table
- bowls of okra w/ seaweed and some clear sauce
- baked 6" butteryflied prawns
- tempura-fried shrimp w/ sauce
- medium rare aged filet that was as good as any I've eaten in my life,
but had a few things of gristle in it that I had to spit into a napkin
(unseen of course)
- pickles
- cabbage w/sauce
- steamed king crab legs on salad
- beef and daikon (big raddish) stew, the beef had chunks of tendon in
it (spit them out too), but the meat itself was exceptional
- melted brie-like cheese and toasted bread
- corn chips and salsa
- breaded, deep-fried chicken meatballs
- 3 different types of fried chicken, each with its own sauce, some with
skin and cartilage included
- vegetable spring rolls
- corn and soybean fritters with sauce
- chopped octopus in a bowl of clear snot (skipped on that one)
- many bottles of Kirin, Guinness, and a couple of bottles of red wine
Ooishii
(oh ee shee) = good food
a good word to know
These are typical expensive steaks. Not very thick at all, and about $12.95 each. Look at how much fat there is!
Strips of beef for grilling are about the same. $17.20 for this pack, and it's about half fat. Lean strips are much, much cheaper. Good for me!
Thin-cut pork chops, with plenty of fat of course. These are the expensive ones at $6.80.
Mystery chopped chicken. Skin, cartilage, fat, and all - then deep fried. I find little pieces of bone mixed in all the time, too. $5.
Steve
says you tip over your sake bottles
when you finish
them, before you order another.
Still haven't seen anyone else do it though.
Maybe they just make the bottles last longer than I do :)