Without a doubt, Japanese restaurants have to be one of the most fascinating places you can visit in the states. The only problem with these is that they are more scarce than peace in the Middle East. Finding a Japanese restaurant take an enormous amount of patience and a ton of luck besides. But once you find one, it will be like no other experience in food that you’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of.
There is one misconception about Japanese restaurants that needs to be destroyed right away because it is not fair to these fine places. Japanese restaurants are NOT anything like Chinese restaurants. For one thing, Japanese food and Chinese food is nothing alike. But even more important than that, in the USA, Chinese restaurants are really not authentic. They’re Chinese American dishes to appeal to the masses. Real Chinese food wouldn’t sell to a man starving in the desert. Japanese food, on the other hand, is the real thing in the states. These places make Japanese food that’s real Japanese food. And you better develop a taste for it, because it’s like nothing you’ve ever eaten.
Again, finding a restaurant is not easy, but once you do, there are a number of things you can expect to find at these establishments. The setups are a little different from your typical restaurant of any nationality. Also, there are various types of Japanese restaurants, each specializing in their own special dishes.
For example, one specialty Japanese restaurant is the Japanese steak house. This is a real treat to not only eat at but to behold as they do the cooking right in front of you. I kid you not. You get to see exactly what they put in your meal and how it is made. Ask somebody at any other restaurant to do that for you and they’d laugh you out of the place.
Your typical Japanese steak house has a bar like setting. You walk in and sit down at what can only be described as a bar. If there were drinks behind it the setting would be complete. But no drinks. Just a lot of good food.
Behind the bar is their little hibachi. This is where they cook your meal. The chef comes out. No orders are taken because they specialize in one thing. That’s what people go there for, the classic Japanese shrimp and steak dish. The chef takes an enormous amount of shrimp and right before everybody’s eyes, starts to chop it up at lightening speed. This is basically the highlight of the evening, watching this master at work.
After he’s done with the shrimp, he works on the other ingredients of the dish, doing the same. He then throws everything together with the steak and cooks it on the hibachi. When it’s done, he takes a portion and puts it on plates for each person sitting around the bar. The waiter or waitress then takes each plate and passes it down the bar. Yes, this is the most unusual way you’ll ever be served at a restaurant in the states. You’ll never forget it.
Of course there are also your more standard Japanese restaurants, if you can find them, where you sit down at a table and they serve you authentic Japanese dishes like sushi. Either place you go to, you are certain to have the time of your life.
Establishments
TagRestaurants – All You Can Eat
If you want to know what so many Americans are overweight, all you need to do is take a look at all the all you can eat establishments that are popping up all over. The craze is beyond out of control. It’s become an absolute epidemic with each place trying to outdo the other in price and selection. If you’ve never experienced this phenomenon, sit back and take a deep breath. If you love food, you’re going to love this review.
All you can eat restaurants are just that. You walk on, pay one price and you can stay as long as you like and eat as much as you like. I guess they figure that most normal people can only eat so much and won’t consume more than what they’re charging, which is still reasonable in most cases. However, with the stiff competition these days, many of the restaurants are practically giving the food away. It isn’t unheard of to walk into one and get an all you can eat buffet for under $10.
So what exactly DO you find at an all you can eat restaurant? Well, that’s not an easy question to answer. Unlike other types of restaurants they usually specialize in certain types of foods or at least have a limited selection, all you can eat restaurants have just about anything. And unless you specifically know what a particular restaurant has before you walk in, there is just no way of knowing if they’re going to have something that you’ll even like eating. Some places will have some kind of a features list posted outside on a sign so you’ll at least have some idea. Others will have the kind of food they serve included in the name of the restaurant itself. For example, one place in the states is called “Country Buffet”. So you at least have a clue what you’re going to find.
The way these places operate are simple. You walk in, pay your fee, which is anywhere from $9 to $20 per person and then find yourself a table. They’ll give you a marker for your table that you have to keep there for your entire stay so they know you’re still actively eating. After that, you simply walk around the place and pick out the foods you want. Yes, it’s self serve. However, they have quite a full staff at these places. You’ve got the people who have to clean the tables, the people who restock the food trays and the folks who serve you special items that they keep behind counters. These vary from counter to counter. Most of the workers are simply there to restock.
The quality of the food varies from place to place. Some are good, others are just okay. It’s hard to find a place where the food is what you would call excellent because they have to cook these things quickly so there’s no time to make anything really fancy. So if you’re expecting top quality food, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re looking for something that tastes good and is relatively cheap, especially if you’re a big eater, then an all you can eat place may be just the thing you need.