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I may have to go to a Japanese restaurant soon. What's good to order that isn't too weird? Thanks for your help, all.
Posts: 781 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Look for things with the word "Katsu." It's basically breaded fried meat with sweet barbecue sauce.
Katsu pork is my standby when we go to sushi restaurants.
(Edit: If you are going to a Hibachi, just get the standard Hibachi meal - grilled meat and vegetables, none of which are weird.)
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Personally, I like yakisoba. It's kind of like spaghetti noodles (but made with buckwheat...mmmm!), usually topped with stir-fried veggies and meat.
Posts: 1006 | Registered: Jun 2006
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Other items that are going to be cooked and of a more familiar texture to the Western tongue:
Teriaki (beef or chicken, grilled and served in teriyaki sauce) -- picture Gyoza (an appetizer like "potstickers" -- little won-ton-like dumplings (usually with pork and veggies) lightly fried with a dipping sauce) -- picture Tempura (lightly breaded and deep-fried, usually vegetables and/or shrimp or chicken) -- picture
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Edited to add: Every Japanese restaurant I've been two has had all three. Plenty for a full meal.
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Lucky I want to go to a Japanese resturant where I will order sushi but not octopus or squid The suction cups scare me. I also detest ikura You can't go wrong with something teriakied.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Well, don't, unless you like fatty tuna slices (its actually incredibly delicious and melts on your tongue, but definitely not for everyone. It can be hard to find real o-toro in sushi restaurants in japan, too).
For some slightly more adventurous yet not too adventurous sushi, you might try a spider roll. Plain old carrot rolls are startlingly good, too. I strongly suggest you try out some 'weird' sushi, too. One of the white fish should be relatively low on the weirdness scale while still being a chance to try something unusual.
And definitely have unagi, in any form, its the second-best sushi out there IMO and not weird at all. O-toro being the first best .
Btw, you'll want to use the soy sauce and wasabi with any sushi you get. Take a small amount of the wasabi and place it in the little dish they give you. Pour some soy sauce over it, then mix until the wasabi is pretty much dissolved. Since you're a beginner, put in enough soy sauce such that they soy sauce is about the same color as normal.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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If you're talking about an Americanized Japanese restaurant--anything along the lines of a sushi place, teriyaki place, grill, bar, etc.--you should be able to get an English description of anything on their menu.
If you're going to a traditional Japanese restaurant (highly, highly unlikely), well...find an excuse to leave. Even Nikkeijin can't stand traditional Japanese cuisine.
If it's a "fusion bistro," flee in terror.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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You can't go wrong with California rolls. It looks like Sushi, but it's cooked, and you mostly taste the avacado and the soy sauce anyway.
Like others have said, the Teriyaki chicken is a safe bet.
If you like shrimp, the Shrimp Tempura isn't very different from fried shrimp you'd find anywhere else.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: Teriaki (beef or chicken, grilled and served in teriyaki sauce) -- picture
If at all possible, do NOT get teriyaki prepared this way. It's like ordering filet mignon and slathering it with A-1; a viable option, but what a waste. Good teriyaki is not served with sauce; it is marinated, and served without sauce of any kind.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by fugu13: And definitely have unagi, in any form, its the second-best sushi out there IMO and not weird at all. O-toro being the first best .
Blasphemy!
Unagi is so the best.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:Originally posted by fugu13: And definitely have unagi, in any form, its the second-best sushi out there IMO and not weird at all. O-toro being the first best .
Blasphemy!
Unagi is so the best.
I'm actually amazed - almost everyone I know puts ikura at number one.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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ew Ikura I like tobiko I wish i had some right now. And some nigiri sake sushi But I cannot have any as I will spend 20 dollars on it!!! Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Unagi is eel, right? I went out to a very nice, authentic sushi restaurant recently with my husband and my sort-of-step-dad, who was hyping up unagi so much that I just had to taste it. I was saddened to realize that it tastes exactly like baked beef liver (the taste of which I am quite familiar with, having handled show dogs for several years. Yes, we really do hold the bait in our mouths). While that would probably taste really rich and delicious to anybody else, to a show handler it's never a pleasant thing. Holding a big, fat piece of slimy liver in your mouth at 8:00 am, before you've had any breakfast because you've been grooming and walking dogs since 6:00 is just about the most drudging chore you can imagine. Even other types of bait will do it to you. I couldn't eat string cheese for three years because of Early Morning Bait Phenomenon.
There isn't any kind of sushi that tastes like string cheese, is there?
Posts: 1006 | Registered: Jun 2006
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If you're eating sushi and want to avoid raw fish, you can usually get tamago (sweetened cooked egg), kappa maki (cucumber roll), or california roll. Many places make something which is variously called Alaska roll, philadelphia roll, and other things which is smoked salmon, cream cheese, and either avocado or cucumber. It's one of my personal favorites. If you're hoping to avoid seaweed altogether, the tamago is probably your best bet.
Many japanese restaurants also serve things like teriyaki, udon (noodle soup) and tempura (battered and fried vegetables or seafood, usually shrimp.)
None of it is particularly weird by most standards.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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I love BC roll for cooked food in sushi, but I've only seen it in Canada. (smoked salmon skin -- very crunchy, excellent with wasabi and soy)
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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Actually "katsu" I believe is "pork" and "yakitori" is BBQ chicken.
No, Dagonee is right about katsu. You're thinking of ton katsu, which is pork katsu.
THATS right. Thank you for correcting me. That's why I speak Chinese not Japanese You crazy folks using our characters but calling them all the wrong things!
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by fugu13: And definitely have unagi, in any form, its the second-best sushi out there IMO and not weird at all. O-toro being the first best .
Blasphemy!
Unagi is so the best.
I'm actually amazed - almost everyone I know puts ikura at number one.
Eh...I don't care for roe. Eel, however, gets my undying love, now and forever, amen.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Everything in teppanyaki dining is wonderful and nothing is weird.
Assumingyou mean sushi instead, I started with very easy stuff: New York roll and Philly roll. The New York roll has salmon that is (I believe) smoked, while it may be raw in the Philly roll. I no longer remember. After I had found something I liked, everytime I went for sushi with someone (usually my wife) I "expanded my repertoire": we would share two rolls, or three if there were three of us, and I'd make sure one was something I knew I liked, and at least one was an experiment. Since I've slowly worked my way into eating sushi, I have yet to have anything I really didn't like. My favorite is still the Philly roll, though, followed closely by the New York roll. But I like the feeling of experimenting each time, and watching sushi novices stare at me as I eat, say, eel.
Octopus is yummy, btw.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Miso soup is always good if they offer you that. It's a salty/savory sort of soup. I also think that you'll like teriyaki, gyoza, yakisoba, etc. Donburi is also good--meat and vegetables, often with a scrambled egg or two thrown in, on top of rice. Also, if you've never had tofu, consider giving it a try. When cooked right, it is delicious.
As for sushi, I'm actually not a big seafood fan, so I usually get the vegetarian stuff. Tamago rolls are usually just the rice with some egg on top (tamago = egg). I also had some really good avocado sushi once. You can always ask for vegetarian options if you want to avoid too much of the weird stuff.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I looooooove Miso soup I wish I had some right now, but i have no clue how long miso lasts. And I have no green onions Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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If you're going for vegetarian sushi options, oshinko (pickled...um...plum?) is also quite good. And cucumber rolls.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Aside from Miso Soup, which I love, I don't really like Japanese food... but I love Chinese food.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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I always got tempura veggies when I went as a child. Not too weird and good if you like fried food.
Soup with noodles is also usually good. I don't like miso and I avoid seafood, so I'm not much help when it comes to Japanese food...
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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There's a Sushi House in Alameda where you can literally stuff yourself to the point of immobility with some of the best sushi in the Bay Area, and all for less than ten bucks a person, including tax and tip. It's as close to heaven as you can get on Earth.
My faves: unagi for sure, followed by most raw fish, avocado-based rolls, and salmon roe. For entrees, you can't go wrong with oyako donburi, which is egg, chicken, and onions cooked together and then served over rice. Tempura is also great, and I have a soft spot for teriyaki chicken, even though it's probably the most Americanized thing on most Japanese menus, after those nasty "Philadelphia rolls."
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Katsudon. You can probably get it with either pork, beef, or shrimp; and possibly vegetarian. Katsu is a method of battering and deepfrying not tied to a specific meat.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Originally posted by fugu13: And definitely have unagi, in any form, its the second-best sushi out there IMO and not weird at all. O-toro being the first best .
You may just be the love of my life... (in terms of sushi, of course.) Posts: 168 | Registered: Feb 2006
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