Favorite Japanese Version of Your Country's Food/Dish/Restaurant

In reading Misa J.'s thread, I began to think of all the American dishes I've had in Japan and I have to say that I'm really beginning to like the Japanese version more. Examples:

- Denny's: Anyone who has eaten in a Denny's back in the States will tell you that it's the last resort option when it's past 11:30 and you're starving. The service (usually curt and mechanical) is an omen of the food that's about to come. When it arrives, you swear that the waitperson dropped it along the way because it looks nothing--NOTHING!--like the picture. Now contrast that with the Japanese version. First of all, there's things in the Japanese version that are unique to Japan, but things like pancakes, waffles, and eggs all look as if they popped out of the menu. And the taste? Well, I regularly go there on Sunday afternoons for a nice brunch it that's an indicator.

- White bread: I know. Sounds boring, but these things are unbelievable. I used to think that Wonder Bread (spare the nutritional criticisms) was nice, but these things are beyond nice. As if little angels gently blew on the loaf (no sexual comments please), these things are fluffy, soft and extremely tasty!

- Pasta: Now, before all you Europeans chime in, allow me to preface this with an example of my American Pasta Experience. I went to an Olive Garden (i know, not a great place but probably the most popular) and asked the hostess if I could have the pasta "al dente." Simple right? Well, she looked at me as if I was asking her to decipher Aramic. She finally said, "well, I don't know what kind of pasta that is, but we have spaghetti, linguine, fettucini..." I was floored! Then I asked the waitress and she responded that they could not do it that way because all the pasta is pre-cooked. PRE-COOKED!??!!! I ended up ordering a pizza. NOW...in Japan...no matter where I go--it could be a full-on fancy place or an obvious chain restaurant, the pasta is always cooked al dente. Once, in a playful mood, I asked if they could cook the pasta a little longer than usual, and then the waitress simply said, "you're from America, right?"

Re: bread "As if little angels gently blew on the loaf (no sexual comments please), these things are fluffy, soft and extremely tasty!" Heh, you crack me up.

Yeah, I hear ya. Just about everything i've tried here that we have back in the states is far more superior not only in terms of taste, but service, quality, and presentation. I'm a pretty strict vegetarian now but once in a while the Wendy's in Canal City located in the heart of Fukuoka calls my name...

p.s. In the off-chance any representative of Wendy's corp. actually reads this, I will gladly use my sig space to advertise in exchange for free food. Hook me up!

Shibuyaexpat said:

She finally said, "well, I don't know what kind of pasta that is, but we have spaghetti, linguine, fettucini..."

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That's too funny.

Speaking of "Denny's", they have some unique menu in Japan; I used to go to the one in Aoyama after drinking, but anyways, they have 'shark fin rissotto' which is very good.

Shibuyaexpat,
Do you still live in Shibuya? If you do, did you every try to go to a pasta restaurant called 'Goemon'? They use interesting ingredients for their pasta sauces nothing Italian, but stuff such as seaweed, spicy cod row, salmon row, or shimeji mushroom, and they give you chopsticks instead of a fork. It kind of sounds too comceptional, but I liked their food.

Misa J.,
I haven't seen shark fin rissotto on the menu, but I'm sure it's there (my Japanese is still awful). Yes, I still live in Shibuya, but I've not heard of Goemon. Where exactly is it? The food sounds pretty interesting.

Thanks in advance,
Shibuyaexpat

misa.j said:

They use interesting ingredients for their pasta sauces nothing Italian, but stuff such as seaweed, spicy cod row, salmon row, or shimeji mushroom, and they give you chopsticks instead of a fork.

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壁の穴 is the restaurant that created those Japanese-style pasta dishes.
Interestingly, there are now more than one unrelated group of people who use the Kabe no Ana name, like this and this.