Teppanyaki or Stuff on Sticks - Another fine meal in Japan
One of our favorite meals in Japan was a late night meal in the Roppongi district of Tokyo consisting of meats cooked on a skewer and fresh vegetables dipped in various sauces. This was one of the few places we were required to remove our shoes when we entered. I looked around when the waiter jestured we should remove them and did not see any other shoes there. Were we the only ones asked to remove them? I was suspicous, but did as told. Turns out they removed them to a closet behind the hostess station.
Anyway, the waiter from Okinawa was very helpful and translated some of the menu for us, so we could order chicken and pork on skewers, as well as mushrooms and bacon-wrapped asparagus (yumm!).
The sauces for dipping were (left to right): salt with seaweed, bean sauce, soy sauce, and lemon juice. They brought out a nice wooden bowl of fresh cold cut vegetables, too: cabbage, carrot, cucumber, hicama. Very refreshing and appreciated as fresh vegetables seemed to be a rarity. Both fresh vegetables and fruit seemed rare or very expensive.
The selection of sake was daunting, to say the least, especially because there was no translation and the only sake I can name is from Berkeley or Napa. So our friendly waiter suggested he pick some out for us and that was good with us. We told him we preferred dry to sweet.
He also brought us a vessel of some sake from his hometown in Okinawa (to try for free). I wish I could know what that sake was because it was absolutely wonderful. We would love to get a chance to visit Japan again and especially Okinawa. If our waiter was any indication, the people are friendly and generous and maybe a little mellow relative to Tokyo standards.
Anyway, the waiter from Okinawa was very helpful and translated some of the menu for us, so we could order chicken and pork on skewers, as well as mushrooms and bacon-wrapped asparagus (yumm!).
The sauces for dipping were (left to right): salt with seaweed, bean sauce, soy sauce, and lemon juice. They brought out a nice wooden bowl of fresh cold cut vegetables, too: cabbage, carrot, cucumber, hicama. Very refreshing and appreciated as fresh vegetables seemed to be a rarity. Both fresh vegetables and fruit seemed rare or very expensive.
The selection of sake was daunting, to say the least, especially because there was no translation and the only sake I can name is from Berkeley or Napa. So our friendly waiter suggested he pick some out for us and that was good with us. We told him we preferred dry to sweet.
He also brought us a vessel of some sake from his hometown in Okinawa (to try for free). I wish I could know what that sake was because it was absolutely wonderful. We would love to get a chance to visit Japan again and especially Okinawa. If our waiter was any indication, the people are friendly and generous and maybe a little mellow relative to Tokyo standards.
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