Witty and inspiring writing by robyng. It's like reading a "best of Kansai" list in a Japanese gourmet magazine. I do love both Kyoto and Osaka ( and Kobe ) for their food offerings and would make a humble recommendation to try some Korean inspired dishes on your next Kansai trip.

It's a pity that the standard opinion on Japanese food here in China is "yuck, too sweet" just like in Korea.

At the New Otani in Tokyo and the Comfort Inn in Kyoto, they spoke enough English to get the job done. I would think it would almost be a requirement these days to know rudimentary English to work in customer service (depato, hotel, mainstream restaurant, eki help desk), not because English is "best" or anything but because it has become by default the universal language.

Most of my "dining" as it were took place under train stations and under depatos, walk around until a place looked interesting and sat at a counter. I also found if as I sat I pointed at a menu and said something like "Engrishu," they would have the kind of menu you'd give a child at IHOP. Big shiny pictures, few words of English description. Worked just fine. There was an alley near the Otani that had many restaurant choices, and luckily for my nephew a Starbucks for his fix.

The no English at the RC Osaka surprises me too. Last summer I stayed at the Hilton, pretty much across the street, and everyone in the hotel spoke English quite well.

Food-wise, there is an office building across the street from the Hilton, half-way between the RC and Hilton, with a great collection of restaurants in the basement. We had one of the best Chinese dinners ever.

About the hotels with staff that do not speak English (most everyone should know written English though), I don't think it is that they do not speak English. A lot of Japanese are hesistant to speak another language, especially if they do not feel their ability is good. Especially when speaking to a native speaker (they might not even understand if you're speaking at a normal pace). I'm not surprised that they are trying to have their staff speak better English though. (although I am surprised they aren't sending them to Nova style places).

Was this message translated from Japanese?

Perhaps the RC management should be poaching their staff from the Sofitel in Nagoya. I don't rate the actual hotel very highly, but the service and the standard of English from the reception staff was exceptional. They belonged in a 5 star establishment, they were wasted there. (Little tourist traffic goes through this hotel, I got the impression they were delighted to practice English with me.) Even the Takanawa Prince staff (4 star) and New Takanawa Prince (3 star +) have commendable English.

I dined at the trattoria at the RC in Berlin a month ago. The staff were French and as my French is infinitely better than my German (which doesn't say much) I started communication this way, as soon as they overheard me speaking to MrLapLap I was addressed in perfect English.

I guess by way of defense -

The Ritz Carlton in Osaka had quite a few restaurants. Some of the restaurants were Japanese. And a subpart of that section of restaurants was a traditional tempura restaurant (and - like I said - that restaurant had only about 10 seats). The chef was a highly authentic Japanese tempura chef - chosen no doubt for his proficiency in tempura as opposed to his proficiency in English. And that worked for me. I suspect that if one were to go to the more "western/non-Japanese" restaurants in the Ritz Carlton (French, Chinese, etc.) - or even the Japanese "steakhouse" restaurant - that one would find more English spoken. I know that perfect English was spoken at breakfast (the person who seated us and took our orders was Italian!).

Also - I am curious about when people say they have encountered good English in hotels - where have they encountered it? Even in the FS Marunouchi - a lot of staff we encountered at places like the bar didn't speak great English (although the concierge and restaurant staffs certainly did). Didn't surprise me - because about 95% of the bar business I saw was Japanese businessmen conducting "after-work" business over cocktails and bar food.

So perhaps it is an issue of whether certain hotel staff are more or less likely to encounter people who speak English. And - if they do meet people who speak English - how critical is it that they speak English (it is certainly more important for a concierge or reception person than a tempura chef or bartender)? On my part - the lack of English on the part of the tempura chef wasn't an issue. He actually hand wrote everything we ate in kanji on a "menu" after we finished dinner. It's a cherished souvenir. Wasn't an issue with the bartender either (we managed to "talk" without either of us speaking the same language).

And with regard to written versus spoken English - I exchanged email with all 3 hotels we stayed at before we arrived (mostly concierge desks to make restaurant reservations and other plans). No problems at all. The written English - while not perfect - was 100% ok in the sense that everything I requested was done before I arrived.

P.S. to Mosburger - I think we did have some Korean food in Osaka. Although - looking at the pictures - it seems more like a mix of Chinese and Korean. Can't tell - I don't know much about Korean food except that if there's a side of kimchi - there is probably something Korean about the meal . Robyn