emma69

I have been doing some reading ahead of my trip to Tokyo, and was reading about 'breakfast sets' (coffee, toast, an egg and a salad, if I have that right).

So, silly question, is 'breakfast set' what you ask for, or is there a Japanese word for it (and if so, could someone write in Latin alphabet so I can read it?)

mjm

Due to the consonant and vowel structure of all but one sound in Japanese, "Set" would be, if at breakfast or lunch and there is a set offered it will simply be "Seh-toh" or if there are two, likely "Seh-toh ay" or "seh-toh bee".

You will get used to it quickly but the salad at breakfast will be forever weird.

ajGoes

I don't know the answer to your question, but I did observe on my first visit to Japan last fall that the English side of menus uses "set" where American menus would say "plate" or "combination".

msb0b

For example Denny's uses Settoh for western breakfast and Tayshoku for Japanese breakfast. And yes, you can have bacon and egg with a bowl of rice, miso soup and natto.

ksandness

A common term (and one that will be widely understood, no matter what name the restaurant uses ) is "morning set," or, as the Japanese say, "mo-o-nin-gu setto."

If breakfast is not included or unavailable at your hotel, try to find a traditional, non-chain coffee shop or family restaurant for your morning set. Otherwise, the chain coffee shops and bakeries offer a variety of pastries.

However, even some of the budget hotels include a breakfast buffet with the price of a room. You may be surprised at some of the Western items that are considered breakfast foods in Japan: potato salad, corn soup, and cocktail wieners are three of the oddities I have found. Also, beware of the scrambled eggs in budget hotels. The cooks there have mastered the technique of making them both dry and watery at the same time.

Don't worry. It is almost always possible to find bread of some sort and coffee.

abmj-jr

There are no stupid questions from first time visitors. :-)

The included breakfast buffet is one of the things I look for when booking a room. Not that the lower cost business hotels offer a sumptuous array but I don't really need a fancy breakfast. Some eggs or meat, miso soup, a little salad and bread are really all I want anyway. I also like the grilled fish and simmered vegetables that are sometimes available but many westerners will not find them appetizing at breakfast.

Japanese scrambled eggs are always very loose and runny. I can handle that ok but if you can't, look for a cooler case or pot of hot water with hard boiled eggs. Omelet squares will also be cooked more to western liking but will often be lightly sweetened. Most hotels will offer a wide variety of breads for toasting and rolls in addition to the ubiquitous rice.

If you haven't tried miso soup, do give it a try. I'd rather have that and some tea than a cup of coffee at breakfast.

If you want a "morning set" breakfast, you will probably have to leave the hotel and find a coffee shop. They tend to be small little spots with a few tables and can be recognized by the menu board out on the sidewalk in front. The offerings always seemed a bit on the small side for me. I guess I just need a little more than toast and coffee in the morning.

LapLap

The shoku pan bread in a "morning set" should be fine as you are vegetarian rather than vegan (made primarily with milk). I would ask about the salad as the dressing may well have been made with some chicken bouillon or similar.
EDIT TO ADD - see SeriouslyLost's post #20 about commercial shoku pan (not a product I usually buy or have served to me in Japan)

kore sarado ni niku ga haitteimas(u)ka? (Corrected - not expecting this to be memorised, but the phrase may end up in a notebook or iPod)

Is a way to ask if the salad is made with meat, there is probably a better, more specific question to ask.

Also watch out for curry bread (kare pan) which often finds its way onto breakfast buffets and looks like a European jam/jelly donut. I've personally never eaten one as it usually contains meat - still haven't hunted out a vegetarian version (never was a fan of British style curries so not high on my list of priorities)

gnaget

Not sure about that sentence..... especially the two wa particles.

My Japanese is rotten, but how about: niku wa kono salado ni arimasuka?

If you can in fact use hairu in this context then: niku wa kono salado ni haitteimasuka? Has meat entered the salad?

But in general it is pretty pointless to teach people phrases like this. One will not remember the phrase because the words are meaningless.

MSPeconomist

Most Japanese hotel rooms have coffee and tea making facilities, so if you prefer a light breakfast, you just need to purchase some pastry. In the tourist areas of Tokyo, it's easy to find French bakeries; sometimes they're right in the hotel or you can look for something in the the basement food hall of a big department store.

jpatokal

Sumimasen... kono sarada ga niku haittemasu ka?

The usual disclaimers about Japanese interpreting "niku" (meat) pretty narrowly apply. "Meat? Oh no, there's no meat in that salad. Just some tuna, and ham, and bacon, and sausage."

LapLap

Post created in error - LapChild is ill so a little sleep deprived now.

TrojanHorse

uhmm you didn't run into my kids (or me) during our trip

plenty of stupid questions LOL

LapLap

The problem with this approach is that the bakeries don't open until late.

I make this work by buying discount pastries the night before (preferably at a discount) and ensuring that I have a strong sturdy paper bag.
Next morning I pop the pastries into the paper bag and blast them with the hottest setting of a hair dryer for a minute or two to revive them. Result: "fresh" pastries that taste like they've come from the oven.

To make a decent cup of green tea in your hotel room:
You can get a small tea pot and internal mesh strainer from a 100 yen shop and good leaf tea from a whole host of sources. Ask about the optimum water temperature and brewing time for your particular tea (use paper and show "80C ?" to find out, then tap your watch and see if they follow that)
If your hotel is 4 star or under check the quality of the water from the water heater. Generally you will need to empty it and refill it with bottled water as Tokyo tap water, whilst safe, can taste unpleasant. It's a good habit anyway as water heater water may have been sitting in there for longer than you'd care to imagine.
See if your water heater will provide water at 80 degrees Celcius, this temperature and a one minute steep time is a good place to start.
Lots of online resources are available that will help you get the best out of Japanese tea so need for me to delve further into this (thankfully, my tea making skills are way, way better than my dreadful Japanese language skills)

MSPeconomist

What's late? The bakery that I'm currently most familiar with opens at 10, which is fine for me, especially when I'm jet lagged.

mjm

Jetlagged flying west means being wide awake at 5am unfortunately so 10am would be akin to lunchtime. Flying East it is easier to sleep in though.

I can recommend Mt. Thabor in Azabu-juban which opens at 8:30 and makes arguably Tokyo's very best Milk Bread.