Another First-Timer with Miscellaneous Questions
Mar 15, 2014 | 6:56 pm
#31
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,424
Having visited a number of these, I completely agree! However, there is something horribly cruel about these establishments...they sell the most amazing ready-to-eat foods, and yet there is NOWHERE to eat them, and eating while standing is such a no-no as I am told. So what on earth are the locals doing with this hot, fresh, ready to eat food? Just packing it up in the 15 layers of wrapping that these stores insist on providing and letting it get all cold and soggy during the hourlong train ride home? That is a crime against humanity!
Mar 15, 2014 | 7:22 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Central California
Programs: Former UA Premex, now dirt
Posts: 6,531
Well, what works for me and maybe not anyone else, is to find the closest department store to my lodgings. I buy and then take it "home" to eat. I have also gotten pretty good at scoping out local parks where I can picnic on a park bench. There is always a way.
Mar 15, 2014 | 9:06 pm
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,265
You can smoke but you can't eat...
For those infrequent times I enjoy a smoke I'd prefer not to have "moody lighting".
Mar 19, 2014 | 10:25 am
#34
Join Date: May 2003
Location: N/A
Posts: 413
Thanks, all, for the advice. I had a great trip!
Having visited a number of these, I completely agree! However, there is something horribly cruel about these establishments...they sell the most amazing ready-to-eat foods, and yet there is NOWHERE to eat them, and eating while standing is such a no-no as I am told. So what on earth are the locals doing with this hot, fresh, ready to eat food? Just packing it up in the 15 layers of wrapping that these stores insist on providing and letting it get all cold and soggy during the hourlong train ride home? That is a crime against humanity!
Having visited a number of these, I completely agree! However, there is something horribly cruel about these establishments...they sell the most amazing ready-to-eat foods, and yet there is NOWHERE to eat them, and eating while standing is such a no-no as I am told. So what on earth are the locals doing with this hot, fresh, ready to eat food? Just packing it up in the 15 layers of wrapping that these stores insist on providing and letting it get all cold and soggy during the hourlong train ride home? That is a crime against humanity!
Mar 19, 2014 | 2:37 pm
#35
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,424
A friend of ours in Tokyo gave us a nice gift - a book called Japanese Food (The Original Point and Speak Phrasebook) by Toshiya Enomoto. Tons of pictures/drawings - various ingredients/dishes arranged by category. It was extremely useful during our stay. I haven't been able to find it in the United States - but it should be easy to find in a Tokyo bookstore. Robyn
Thanks, all, for the advice. I had a great trip!
Having visited a number of these, I completely agree! However, there is something horribly cruel about these establishments...they sell the most amazing ready-to-eat foods, and yet there is NOWHERE to eat them, and eating while standing is such a no-no as I am told. So what on earth are the locals doing with this hot, fresh, ready to eat food? Just packing it up in the 15 layers of wrapping that these stores insist on providing and letting it get all cold and soggy during the hourlong train ride home? That is a crime against humanity!
Having visited a number of these, I completely agree! However, there is something horribly cruel about these establishments...they sell the most amazing ready-to-eat foods, and yet there is NOWHERE to eat them, and eating while standing is such a no-no as I am told. So what on earth are the locals doing with this hot, fresh, ready to eat food? Just packing it up in the 15 layers of wrapping that these stores insist on providing and letting it get all cold and soggy during the hourlong train ride home? That is a crime against humanity!
Then again, sometimes the counters in those food halls offer free samples. Take a bite of your meal while you meander, and you'll fit in...
Mar 19, 2014 | 8:33 pm
#36
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota,USA
Programs: UA, NW
Posts: 3,752
I usually follow the practice of getting food from the department store nearest to my hotel.
However, if the department store has a roof garden and the weather is nice, you can sit out on the benches there.
However, if the department store has a roof garden and the weather is nice, you can sit out on the benches there.
Mar 29, 2014 | 6:34 am
#38
In memoriam
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Near Jacksonville FL
Posts: 3,987
). But the book is good for figuring out what you're eating .I don't have any particularly funny anecdote. But I used the book a lot going through department store food basements - trying to figure out what different foodstuffs and prepared foods were. It was good for things like asking our server what the people at the next table were eating (because it looked good and we wanted to try it). Also asking a counter chef at a place with a fixed menu what he was serving us.
At least on this last trip - we only went to one restaurant where any staff spoke even a word of English (and that was the chef from France at Robuchon). The menus (to the extent there were menus) were 100% in Japanese too (except at Robuchon). My husband speaks a very small amount of Japanese. But obviously doesn't know the thousands of words for different foods. So the book was a means of communication. Robyn