Hello world, we're here at this Japanese restaurant
and joining me today is my Japanese teacher, Yamamoto-sensei.
Hello, I'm Yamamoto.
So, every time I have visitors come to Japan
I find I'm giving them a crash course on how to order and eat properly.
If you don't have a guide to teach you how to do that,
well, we're here to do that for you.
Okay, let's go in.
Okay, let's get in.
Okay, so I think this might be a weird thing to ask, but how does a Japanese menu work?
So, this one's fairly simple. You have A to F or A to E.
But I think in family restaurants, you'll often see a glossy menu.
They'll have nice pictures, it seems pretty easy
but I've seen kanji for teishoku.
There will be setto and there will be tanpin. What does that mean?
Yeah. teishoku and setto is the same meaning.
Teishoku is for Japanese food like rice, miso soup, and pickles, and like fish or meat.
And set is for Western food like bread, salad, soup and a main dish.
And this tanpin means main dish only.
In the United States and in Canada, servers will come many times to ask you how you are.
Is this the same in Japan?
No, in the States and in Canada each server has their own tables for service
but we don’t have such a system. No tipping, so you can ask any staff member.
Ok, so you don't have your own personal server and no tips.
What about this?
This is oshibori. You wipe your hands.
Ok, so you just open it up and wipe your hands.
But I've seen, I mean, I use it to wash my face like this, too.
It's okay, but well, oshibori is for hands.
But I see like oji-sans all the time doing this and like doing their whole face, right?
(laughs) Yeah, because they are oji-san.
- Ok, so it's kind of rude to do that then? - Yeah.
Still pretty handy, it's nice and moist.
So, it was getting really dark, but one thing I forgot to ask was
how do you call the waiter or waitress over when you need to?
Do you say something like sumimasen or like onee-san onii-san?
Yeah, you can say "sumimasen!" or "onegaishimasu!"
- Okay, so onee-san, onii-san? - No.
- (laughs) I hear oji-sans say that all the time. -Yeah, oji-san.
Because it's an oji-san. So how do you do it?
- Hai, sumimasen! - Okay, let me see...
- What would you like? - Grilled Salted Saba set please.
- Would you like one set? - Yes, one please.
I would like the karage set please.
- Please wait - Hai, onegaishimasu!
Can I actually eat?
- Yeah. - (laughs) No.
[Arigatou gozaimasu - thank you very much] Wow, so beautiful.
- It's heavy. - It's a weight.
Thank you very much!
- Itadakimasu. - Itadakimasu.
Itadakimasu means thank you for food, and thanks to chefs, and farmers.
If you don't say it at a restaurant, is that rude?
No, I don’t think so because if someone eats
at restaurants by themselves they don’t say it.
Greg-san do you know how to break apart chopsticks?
Just like this?
Uh-oh, no, the right way is like this.
- Why is that? - It's if you break apart like this, you hit the next person.
Ok, ok, alright.
Okay, so how do we start? Do we need to eat things in a certain order?
In Japanese, it’s called sankaku tabe, which is triangle eating method.
You don't have to eat exactly in, you know, triangle.
The important things is, do not eat only one dish before eating another.
- Oh! - So we eat rice, soup, other dishes, little by little evenly.
Ah, so when I was young I was taught to eat vegetables first.
Yeah, vegetables first is getting common in Japan too,
it’s good for your blood sugar level.
- Do you know kaiseki ryori? - Yeah.
Kaiseki ryori is
traditional Japanese course dinner
and they serve you in a certain order, so you can eat in the order it's served.
So, one rule I'm fairly certain of is that you're
not supposed to put soy sauce or shoyu on rice.
- No, you can't. - Okay.
Another thing though is furikake though you can put on it right?
Furikake, it's ok but in my opinion furikake
is more for kids and normally kids don’t like rice
and they eat only other dishes so furikake makes rice tastier for them.
You know what i found though, I found otona.
Otona is for adults and you don’t bring your own furikake to a restaurant.
And this is for night time snack for adults.
So, one thing I was reading about online was whether or not
you're allowed to pick up bowls when you're eating.
I heard some bowls you’re okay, some bowls you aren’t.
Which ones are ok on this table here?
You should pick up the bowls and plates which are smaller than your palm.
- Ok, so... - Yeah, maybe this is bigger.
Bigger? So, I can't pick that up?
- But this one? - Yes, yes, you it should pick up.
- What about miso soup? - Yes, you should pick-up.
- What about drinking like this. - Yeah, that’s okay.
Okay.
Finally, at 3 p.m. Yamamoto-sensei gets to eat.
She wasn't kidding when she asked if she could eat the food or not.
And by the way, she really is my Japanese teacher
so it’s with my full recommendation when I say this.
If you want online one-on-one Japanese lessons with Yamamoto-sensei
right now she has some open slots available
for which, I’ll leave the links to in the description.
Now, back to the food lesson.
I don't have any allergies, but sometimes I have visitors and they do.
Sometimes it's a gluten allergy or maybe it’s a peanut allergy.
What do they do when they go to a restaurant?
You would say "peanuts alelugii ga arimasu."
Oh, you got a convenient sign here.
In Japanese, allergy is alelugii. You put food like peanuts alelugii ga arimasu.
Or flour ko-mu-gi, komugi alelugil ga arimasu.
And then I think you can point at the menu and so is this okay?
Ah, so like a ja pinnatsu alelugil ga arimasu kara daijobu desuka?
Good.
Okay. What about if you just don’t like something?
Like, if you don’t like tomatoes for example, can you ask for no tomatoes?
Unlike the United States, most Japanese restaurants are not used to customizing orders.
So, you get whatever they serve.
If you don't like tomatoes, just leave them on your plate.
Okay, so just leave it, got it.
And side note, for those with special diets like vegan or halal
I'll leave links to helpful sites in the description.
Is it rude to leave stuff on your plate?
Because I have a small stomach, I don't always eat everything.
Well, it’s better to eat all dishes, but I also have
a small stomach, so I always ask for less rice.
How do you say that in Japanese?
[Gohan sukunamede onegaishimasu]
- Yes! -Okay.
- It means for less rice. - Okay.
What about leftovers, can you ask for leftovers?
It’s not common in Japan. I think most restaurants
refuse it because they care for food hygiene.
Ah, okay, I see.
Greg-san you cannot do this. I researched this for the video and actually it's rude.
Okay, so what are you supposed to do then?
You should have used chopsticks rest.
If you don’t have chopsticks rest, I will show you how to make it.
Like this, fold this in half, and just knot. There you go.
Can’t you just roll it up like this or something
- and make it rest, you know, like that? - What do you mean?
Just make a roll, I don't know... (laughs)
- There you go, right? - With the towel?
Using this?
- Ok with this, can you do that with paper? - I don’t think so.
- It has to be this fancy? - No, not really. (laughs)
- Like this, I’ll put it there. - Okay.
- That’s okay? - Yeah, okay.
Okay, I can handle that.
- But it's just a knot. - Okay. All right.
We have several chopsticks taboos, do you know any?
Yeah, one's no rubbing them together like this.
Another one is you shouldn’t have a rice bowl and plop them in like that.
You shouldn’t have two chopsticks and pass among them
because both of those are associated with funerals.
And when you have a shared dish, this isn’t a shared one but we’ll pretend it is,
you flip your chopsticks backwards and you grab it like this,
and put it on your own bowl.
It’s not true. Using the back end of the chopsticks is not, it’s not good.
Are you serious? Because my family always does that or they taught me to do that.
Yeah, so between family members, it's okay.
But I looked it up online and you’re supposed to use
separate chopsticks for a shared dish.
Ah, okay so like this our nice salad bowl then separate chopsticks.
Okay, so now where do we place these chopsticks? Do we place it on the salad bowl?
Or do we need to make another chopstick stand for it?
Yeah, maybe form another chopstick stand.
- Or like... -Like that?
I'm not sure (laughs).
I'll have to research that too.
- Okay, what do you do with your family? - Yeah, we do.
- You do what? - We do use separate chopsticks.
Separate, okay, so your family is a little bit higher class than my family.
- No! - That’s what you’re saying, okay I got it.
- Okay, are there any other taboos? - No stabbing food. No stabbing your food.
- Like this? - Yes.
- Is that bad? - Yes, and do not point at food or people or anything.
Oh, so like that thing, and that thing, and this, you. Okay.
And no, do not pull your bowl or plates towards you.
- Okay, so like this? - No, you cant.
Yeah, my wife just scolded me, over here sorry.
My wife just scolded me recently for doing that.
So, I was reading up online about Japanese food etiquette
and I had a few questions for Yamamoto-sensei.
My first question is, is it really okay to eat sushi with your hands?
Yes. Okay. Sushi and onigiri rice ball, we can eat with hands.
So, this is actually a personal question...
When I was eating, we had a shared dish, and was a whole bunch of tonkatsu
and so I just picked up a whole bunch.
And my wife got mad at me because she said you can only have
a couple pieces or a few pieces at a time on your own like plate.
- Yes, she's right. - She's right?
Yes. You put three or four pieces or three
or four bites portion on your plate at once.
Yes, so you better to how... how many people there
and how much food left and don’t take too much.
I thought I did that because, I guess in Canada,
what happens is you have all your food on the table
and then you do look at other people around. But then
you make sure everyone takes out like salad,
you take your meat, your rice, or whatever.
And you take out your full meal that you plan
to eat, then you sit down and you eat it.
Then afterwards, if everyone is finished, then
you ask people, do you mind if I have seconds?
- But it’s not that way in Japan? - No, just you know, take little by little.
So, you always have to be, you know, asking people to pass that dish?
- Okay, I see. - See, I told you so!
Some guys do it like that. My husband, he tends to do that.
- Like what I do? - Yeah.
(laughs) See, there you go?
- No, but that’s not good. - I know. I think the Canadian way is better on this one.
Okay so here’s another one I heard is that it’s really polite
to pour drinks for other people. So, if we’re here at the table,
and this was actually a drink and not tsukemono,
I would pour for you first then pour for me, like that.
Yeah, but you don’t have to pour for others.
But in a business situation, where you are drinking with your customer, boss
or sempai, older people than you, then you have to.
- So, like with me with you? - No, not between friends (laughs)
- But you're my sensei! - No, no, that's okay we are friends.
So between friends and family members you don’t have to.
Most people pour drinks for each other, you know, it's being hospitable.
Hospitable, ok I see.
So, last question is about slurping noodles.
I think most people think that it’s ok to slurp noodles in Japan. Is that true?
- Yes. It’s okay for soba. - For soba? What about ramen or udon?
Yeah, Ramen and udon are okay. I think the
noodles with chopsticks are okay for slurping.
- Okay, then what about spaghetti? - Spaghetti no slurping because you use a fork.
- Shall we go? - Yeah, gochiso samadeshita.
Gochiso samadeshita.
And what do we have here? - We have the bill.
And so do you pay the bill at the table or go to the cashier?
Most restaurants in Japan, you bring the bill to the cashier.
And according to data from 2017, 80% of restaurants accept credit cards
but only 25% of noodle shops, cafes, and diners accept.
Recently, there’s been a government campaign to go cashless
so it's getting easier to pay without cash.
But it's best to always have some cash on you.
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- Alright, that’s it for this video. Thank you very much Yamamoto-sensei. - Thank you!
We talked a lot about Japanese food etiquette but please don’t worry too much.
I like you to enjoy eating food in Japan.
So, thanks for watching. See you next time. Bye!
What's food etiquette like where you're from?