????

I can only think you must have been eating kaiseki, or other "haute cuisine," and picking out just those dishes you wanted. In most neighborhood-type restaurants, Japanese meals tend to be huge. A steaming donburi meal (rice+something bowl) consists of a lot of food. So do noodle bowls - ramen, soba, udon - where you consume the soup as well as the noodles. Omuhayashi or omuraisu are also more than I can comfortably finish. I think TaiwanEd was referring to MEAT portions as being small, within the context of a full meal set.

Aside from fish, I think the best bet for an Atkins follower is probably one of the various forms of yakiniku - grilled meat on a stick. You purchase by the skewer and only consume (and pay for) what you want. Or, the aforementioned hamburger pattie wrapped in lettuce leaves .

JR