Lesson 8Ordering - Fast-Food -
Let's see
Various Restaurants
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Explanation through photos
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Restaurant district
There are many kinds of restaurants in Japan. You can eat various foods from different countries of the world. There is a wide range of restaurants, from expensive premises to inexpensive diners. There are lots of restaurants where you can casually go alone.
Signboard of a kaiten-zushi restaurant
This is a kaiten-zushi restaurant, or a conveyor-belt sushi bar. The restaurant is called Tenka Zushi.
Counter-style table of kaiten-zushi
This kaiten-zushi restaurant has only a counter. Customers sit anywhere they want. The menu is hung on the wall.
Conveyer belt of kaiten-zushi
Many kinds of sushi go around on a conveyor belt. Plate color indicates price. As you finish, you pile up the plates on the counter. Your bill is calculated by counting up the plates.
Putting sushi on a plate
A sushi chef is making sushi behind the counter. The shaped sushi is put on a plate and placed on the conveyor belt.
Variety of sushi
Plates of anago [sea eel], toro [fatty tuna], and maguro [tuna] are being carried by the conveyor belt.
Picking up sushi
Customers pick up plates of their favorite sushi as they arrive in front of them and eat the sushi. You can also order what you want from the chef or server. At some restaurants, customers press buttons at the table to place orders.
Green tea bags
There are green tea bags on a table. Put one of them in a tea cup and pour hot water. Some places have powdered green tea instead of tea bags.
Making a cup of green tea
In front of the table, there is a hot water tap. Press a tea cup against the black button to pour hot water.
Green tea
Customers serve tea by themselves. Refills are free, and they can drink as much as they want. At sushi restaurants, tea is sometimes called agari.
Kaiten zushi restaurant
Kaiten-zushi is inexpensive, and you can eat there casually. It is popular with families and those who come alone.
Platform 1
There are restaurants in train stations in Japan.
Soba noodle stand
This is a soba buckwheat noodle restaurant in the station. The name is Ajisai Jaya.
Sign of a soba noodle stand
You can eat soba noodles and udon flour noodles as well as other things here.
Buying a meal coupon
There is a meal coupon machine in front of the shop. Choose what you want and buy a meal coupon before you enter the restaurant. Insert money and press a button. Some machines accept IC cards like Suica.
Meal coupon
This is a meal coupon. The coupon says Kakesoba/udon.
Entering a restaurant
Once you get a meal coupon, you enter the shop. This shop's door is automatic, and it is opened by pressing the button.
Placing an order
You hand the meal coupon to a shop assistant at the counter. At this time, you tell the assistant whether you want soba or udon.
Preparing soba noodles
Once the assistant takes the order, it is immediately prepared.
Receiving soba noodles
Soon the kakesoba is done. The customer picks it up at the counter and takes it to an empty table.
Kakesoba
This is kakesoba, a simple bowl of soba in hot soup without any other ingredients. All soba dishes are topped with chopped green onion.
Eating soba noodles
She is eating kakesoba. She eats the noodles using disposable wooden chopsticks found on the table. A screen is set on the table so that customers will not face the person sitting in front of them.
Eating while standing
At station soba shops, people usually eat while standing. That's why it is called tachigui soba [standing soba noodle bar). Some shops have chairs for customers.
Platform 2
This is the stand-up meal system for people who use trains and need to eat quickly. It is very convenient for busy people.
Queue for ramen restaurant
Many people are standing in line in front of a ramen restaurant. The name is Takano. Ramen is very popular in Japan, so there are often long lines at shops famous for delicious ramen.
People in a queue
In order to eat the tasty ramen, customers are standing in line waiting for their turn. Everyone is neatly lined up in order not to disturb pedestrian traffic, waiting for their turn.
In the restaurant
The shop is crowded with customers. There are people who are waiting inside the shop, too.
Making ramen
The cook and shop assistant are making ramen. There are ramen shops where customers buy a meal coupon beforehand as well as ramen shops where customers pay when they finish.
Ramen 2
This is ramen. It is topped with slices of roast pork and nori seaweed. The taste of ramen varies according to the ingredients of the soup and the type of ramen noodle.
In the restaurant 2
Ramen is very popular with both adults and children. You can eat ramen all over Japan.
