Where to Dine - Tokyo - page 124

124

the teishoku, or daily special meal (also called “set course” or simply “course,” especially
in restaurants serving Western food); these are fixed-price meals that consist of a main
dish and several side dishes, often including soup, rice, and Japanese pickles. Although
most restaurants have special set courses for dinner as well, lunch is the usual time for the
teishoku, generally from 11 or 11:30am to about 2pm.
Once you've decided what you want to eat, flag down a waiter or waitress; waitstaff
will not hover around your table waiting for you to order, but come only when you sum-
mon them. In any case, in many restaurants there are no assigned servers to certain tables;
rather, servers are multitaskers, so don't be shy about stopping anyone who passes by.
HOURS
Most Japanese restaurants (that is, restaurants serving Japanese food) hang a rod of noren
(split curtains) outside their front door to signal they are open for business. Otherwise,
restaurants in Tokyo are usually open from about 11am to 10 or 11pm. Of course, some
establishments close earlier, while others stay open past midnight; many close for a few
hours in the afternoon. Try to avoid the lunchtime rush from noon to 1pm.
Keep in mind that the closing time posted for most restaurants is exactly that—every-
one is expected to pay his or her bill and leave. A general rule of thumb is that the last
order is taken at least a half-hour before closing time, sometimes an hour or more for
kaiseki restaurants. To be on the safe side, therefore, try to arrive at least an hour before
closing time so that you have time to relax and enjoy your meal.
HOW TO DINE IN TOKYO WITHOUT
SPENDING A FORTUNE
Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. During your first few days here,
money will seem to flow out of your pockets like water. (Many people become convinced
they must have lost it somehow.) Here are some invaluable dining tips on getting the
most for your money.
SET LUNCHES I know people in Tokyo who claim they haven't cooked in years—and
they're not millionaires. They simply take advantage of one of the best deals in Tokyo—
the fixed-price lunch, usually available from 11am to 2pm. Called a teishoku in a Japanese
restaurant, a fixed-price meal is likely to include soup, perhaps an appetizer like sashimi,
a main dish such as tempura or whatever the restaurant specializes in, pickled vegetables,
rice, and tea. In restaurants serving Western food, the fixed-price lunch is variously
referred to as a set lunch, seto coursu, or simply coursu, and usually includes an appetizer,
a main course with one or two side dishes, coffee or tea, and sometimes dessert. Even
restaurants listed under Very Expensive (where you'd otherwise spend at least ¥13,000
or more per person for dinner, excluding drinks) and Expensive (where you can expect
to pay ¥9,000-¥13,000) usually offer set-lunch menus, allowing you to dine in style at
very reasonable prices. To keep costs down, therefore, try having your biggest meal at
lunch, avoiding, if possible, the noon-to-1pm weekday crush when Tokyo's army of office
workers floods area restaurants. Because the Japanese tend to order fixed-price meals
rather than a la carte, set dinners are also usually available (though they're not as cheap
as set lunches). All-you-can-eat buffets (called viking in Japanese, probably because
Japan's first buffet was in a restaurant called Viking in the Imperial Hotel), offered by
many hotel restaurants, are also bargains for big appetites.
So many of Tokyo's good restaurants fall into the Moderate category that it's tempting
simply to eat your way through the city—and the range of cuisines is so great you could

6