Originally Posted by
ckn2
So, I just had the japanese meal on a LAX-NRT run which I had to reserve calling EXP desk at least 24 hours prior to the flight.
What I can tell OP is that I was extremely disappointed with it. I used to like it (sushi starter followed by a large bento-type box). Now, the sushi is gone and they give you a small bento-type box with cold appetizers followed by a small hot japanese dish along with a small rice bowl and miso soup.
We just had the Japanese meal on LAX-NRT/NRT-LAX over the new year. Sounds like yours was very different from ours. There wasn't any of the more Western style "suchi", but ours certainly had several kinds of fish, Japanese pickled things of different sorts, and vegetables. Basically, stuff that Japanese people eat. Quite true-to-form an very good, even though I can't tell you what everything was. Well worth it for those who like real Japanese food.
As to size, I found it to be more than enough. Hardly small. Anything much more than that would stray into the gluttony range
Edit to add: We were able to request this online. After selecting the Japanese meal, when I would look again, I would see that our selection had actually changed to a "Special Meal." I don't recall the actual code at this point, but it basically said "Japanese Meal"...it was just now in the Special Meal section. If I re-selected "Japanese Meal" in the main section (did that once or twice thinking that things had screwed up), it always reverted to the "Special Meal" representation. In the end it worked in both directions, so it's a harmless little glitch.
Cheers.