Another foreigner "discovers" Japan

[cstaylor]

In Tokyo, Lots to Eat for Very Little

N Tokyo, one of the most expensive cities in the world, where a cantaloupe is $17 and a glass of French white wine is $25, it is possible to eat an entire meal, excluding liquor, for $25 a person.

Idiot.

The secret? Follow the Japanese middle class, the "office girls" and "salary men" to their favorite restaurants, like a sushi place on the edge of the Tsukiji fish market or restaurants specializing in tonkatsu, a cutlet of the most tender pork, wrapped in a flaky, golden panko crust and nestled in a three-inch-high Mount Fuji of freshly grated crunchy cabbage.

Weak-sauce writing.

"This is the best rice," Takaharu Tezuka, an architect, said on one visit. It is a rice, said Hiroko Shimbo in "The Japanese Kitchen" (Harvard Common Press, 2000), that is moist, tender, pleasantly sticky, and has a very subtle fragrance. The subtleties may be lost to more Western palates, though.

Uh huh, just like good wine is wasted on the Japanese. Ever seen the imported swill they ship in from France and charge three times what it's worth?

[AssKissinger]

Holy Shit. I just thought it was just another dumb ass's idiot blog but that's the NY Times no less. First he reinforces some typical JPN BS stereotype and then...

a three-inch-high Mount Fuji

FUCK OFF!!!

[String]

How dare you post that at dinner time?! I just ate!

[Taro Toporific]

In Tokyo, Lots to Eat for Very Little

The secret? Follow the Japanese middle class, the "office girls" and "salary men" to their favorite restaurants

Hmmm, let's see now.... Could "office girls" be OLs (aka "office ladies"), and could "salary men" be "salarymen"?

[Molokidan]

Geez, putting a space between salaryman. .. what is the world coming to these days!?!?!

[Naniwan Kid]

Last time I saw a gaijin following an OL into a restuarant he got arrested and deported....

[mnine]

Mmm, I sense hostility. Someone been eating at Yoshinoya too often?

[cstaylor]

Nah, we just aren't fooled by that tired old line from Tezuka-san, who's obviously never had California-grown Japonica.

And having Ton-katsu is the surest sign of an uncultured Japanese, similar to eating fast food (kind of like stopping at the local diner for a burger), unless we're talking Kyuushu pork, and then it goes for far more than what a local salaryman can afford on his monthly allowance.

$17 cantelopes are gifts, not food that you would take home for the family. Far less expensive fresh fruit can be found at your local supermarket. It may have a few visible external blemishes, but the taste is just as sweet. Japan has two large gift giving seasons: one in the summer, and one in the winter. You would also bring gifts with you when visiting a valued customer or a relative.

A glass of white wine for $25? You're eating at a restaurant for show, not for value, because you can head to any decent italian-style restaurant in Japan and get an entire bottle of white wine for less than $20. If you're eating on the 68th floor of Landmark Tower, I can understand why you're paying that much for a glass, but odds are you'll never see a salaryman or OL in there.

[cstaylor]

[cstaylor]