Eating in Japan

I was looking through blog entries in my, "incomplete" folder so that I could finish one and make a new blog for today when I came across this one. I'm sure that I had planned on some interesting things about eating in Japan like how it's rude to ask for a doggie bag and what fun and adventure you can have by trying rice balls at random but reading back over what I'd written so far I think more text might ruin the impact of what I'd already written. So here's the "incomplete" food in Japan blog.

Food In Japan

Traveling with strict dietary requirements is tough. It's especially tough if you're an adventurous person for whom part of a trip is trying out the local food. It's made even more difficult when you don't read the local language and can't speak more than a few basic survival phrases (and have forgotten the phrase, "please speak more slowly"). This is why traveling is fun.

And involves lots of nausea and stomach cramps for the poor vegetarian model.

Japanese restaurants generally do not have English language menus. During our week and a half long trip, only three of the restaurants we went to had special English language menus that were only more or less in English. The good news is that almost all Japanese restaurant menus are pictorial. If the picture looks good you can just point to it and say, "Kole, Kudasai" (this please). Food in traditional restaurants is served in "sets" with the main dish, a salad, pickles (everything is served with pickles), rice, and if the main dish isn't soup, a soup, and if the main dish is soup, a sauce or pudding of some kind.

Sometimes when you point to a picture, you've chosen a set that requires answers from you. This is always going to be stressful and confusing. The server says something you can't understand and points on the menu to words that you can't read. Clearly a choice of some sort needs to be made. Even if your server remembers the English from class in school, he probably doesn't have enough vocabulary memorized to translate a restaurant menu. I quickly memorized the phrase, "what do you recommend?" and used it every time I was asked to make a choice. The server would think and then happily reply something else that I couldn't understand. I would nod like that was a great idea, close my menu and say "Yes please". Only once was this not the right answer. That server was very confused with me. I figure she said something like, "well I don't know. I like the Karabonara, but the Udon is good too." and I replied, "Yes please." while nodding like I knew what I was talking about.

The bounty of the farmers market

This week I showed up at 10 am after walking dogs (if you're in RVA
and looking for a dog at the SPCA I highly recommend Cedric) and just
about everything was sold out already!

I got broccoli, sugar snap peas, strawberries, mint and garlic
scrapes. I had to change the game plan after I found that the things I
wanted were sold out. I missed out on leeks, spinach, edamame and
whole chicken.

The haul from the farmer's market today!

Leeks, half lb teeny asparagus, teeny radishes and not so teeny, very
fragrant strawberries!!

Outfit

I always tell you guys I'm going to show youwhat I wear to work and
then I forget. Here's today.