Monday, October 18, 2010

Japanese Portion Sizes

This past weekend, Sean and I tried a new restaurant in Okinawa called Bistro Chez.

The server handed us an English menu which listed pizzas and pastas. However, we noticed a board listing the daily specials in Japanese. I'm a big fan of daily specials in Japan as they are usually made with the freshest ingredients according to season. (I highly recommend getting the server's recommendations too) So we randomly ordered a few dishes without knowing what to expect.

Most of the time in Japan, we're surprised in a good way by the food, and that night was no exception.

Our meal started with an appetizer of oyster, shrimp, and salad.

Next, we got a lovely mixed vegetable salad of pumpkin, eggplant, and okra. The dressing was a cold soy sauce based broth, and a nice extra touch was that the pumpkin was sauteed and warm!
Our other plates included yakisoba noodles with shrimp and baby clams...
... and garlic chicken with Thai chili sauce

There was also a plate of penne with gorgonzola cheese sauce (not pictured as we had to dive right into it without pause for a photo). At first we wondered if we had ordered enough food. Anyone who has been to Japan knows that the portions are much smaller than what we're used to it in the States.

But you know what? We ate and took pictures (obviously) and had conversation. After eating, we felt comfortable and awake!

I actually really respect Japanese portions- especially for pasta and meat. They are sensible and focus on quality rather than quantity.
What's your view about portions? Do you believe in getting a lot of food for your money when you eat out? Do you think you'd starve in Japan?

7 comments:

shopgirl said...

This food looks delicious!! You know I get so envious when I see this food because I can't get it here. I can't even get the ingredients to cook it myself.

I'm off to read your post on your other blog!

Hope you had a great weekend!

p.s. I'll switch with you any day a plate of pasta for a plate of Japanese noodles :-))

Ashley said...

I definitely understand the portion thing. Shane and I have eaten at a few places here and when we received our food we are both like "is that it?!?! That was 1,200yen?" lol.

Mary and Sean said...

Shop girl,

You say that now, but when you leave Italy, you are going to miss all that pasta craziness!

Mary and Sean said...

Dear Ashley,
We thought that way at first when we moved here too! Now we know what to expect in the portion department...

Европе said...

Looks very tasty ☺

David said...

Thanks for the beautiful photos !!!

Angelina said...

Very useful tips! Thanks!

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