Yesterday for lunch, I found a cafe I had read positive reviews about earlier in the week. It's a local okonomiyaki shop called TIME. There's no English translation for okonomiyaki aside from literal ones like "fried as you like it"; just accept it as a Japanese food item. It's a cross between omelettes, pancakes, and bunch of other things. TIME did indeed take me some time to find: the sign for it is a bit smaller than a US letter piece of paper. I had a general idea of the location, and I had read on the review site that there aren't any large signs in the area like you find around the bigger restaurants and chains.
I ordered the スペシャル (special), so I don't really have an idea of what I ate; most of the flavours were too different from what I'm used to. I managed to detect, cabbage, shrimp, egg, and some sort of bacon-like meat. Regardless, it was tasty and a very generous portion.
Next time I go, I'm going to ask the owner or at least the attendant if I can take some pictures since the place has a great atmosphere. It's in a rectangular concrete building that was actually pleasing for a change. There are a good number of concrete buildings here that are quite refreshing to look at and be in: the concrete is used in the visual design of the place as opposed to just being a structural component. The seating area is on the main floor of the building, which is just slightly below ground level. The tables are single slices of wood taken from rather large trees and each is supported by a single steel beam from the floor. The front of the building is set back from the main road and has a large window allowing the patrons to look out on a small green patch concealed from the road. To access the cafe itself, you have to take a catwalk elevated about half-a-floor. Well, that's about as much as I'll say without pictures.
2007 Gourmet Plus Rally
While I was there, I saw a poster for an event, the 2007 Gourmet Plus Rally, and since I like food, I decided to investigate a bit more especially considering that TIME was quite affordable, as lunch or dinner can be had there for under 10 CAD. After classes today, I found a pamphlets for the event.
The pamphlet has a small map and brief entries for each of the seventy-eight participating restaurants. Each entry lists the establishment's name, phone number, address, a recommended item from the menu along with its price, a special available for people with the event passport, typically a free drink or dessert, the days the restaurant is closed, its business hours, available parking, the time the last order is taken, and special notes.
All this is great because in an unfamiliar city, knowing the approximate cost of a meal at a restaurant greatly aids the selection process. And even better, although there are four or five places on the list with meals costing more than 30 CAD, most are around 10 CAD! I.e., this is definitely something of which I will be making good use.
Why you should read and not skim
After talking with the Uchida-san from the student affairs office about my gas bill, which was actually a notice of payment from the last bill and finishing what was hopefully one of my last general supply shopping trips, I didn't particularly feel like returning to the store again to pick up groceries to make dinner. Turning to the event pamphlet, I found a reasonably nearby restaurant with prices under 10 CAD, looked it up on the bigger map I bought today, and set off. It's about a 20 minute walk to the south-south-west from my apartment. (I dislike cycling after dark since the streets aren't exactly illuminated, and I don't really mind walking.)
I arrive in the general location which is just to the north of the entrance of Minami Park and start looking around for it. The restaurant, じゃんご (Jango), appears just of the north of the park entrance on the map, so I figured I was close. I walked around the block once, then again, then the adjacent block, checked the map, and repeated the process, but there was no sign of the shop. I was even looking for US letter paper-sized boards on the sidewalk. Alas, I was having no luck, but decided to check the pamphlet once more. I read the entry for the restaurant again, "[blah, blah, blah] . . . 定休日：木曜日 (Teikyuubi: mokuyoubi)!!!" "Bloody hell!"
I have forgotten once again that in Japan, almost all shops, which are not in business 365 days a year, take a holiday once a week. Unlike western countries where this is usually a Sunday, in Japan, it can be any day of the week. Of these days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday seem most popular, and the above part of the entry that I just read happens to mean, "scheduled holiday: Thursday"!
Alas, not all is yet lost
Naturally, now that I'd resigned myself to stop at some random place on the way back to my apartment, I find the restaurant I was looking for in the first place. It was closed, of course, but I know where to find it next time.
Additionally, the random place that I stopped at on the way back was half-decent too. For 1150円, which at today's exchange rate less the 3% or so that the bank takes off works out to 9.92 CAD, I had a meal with a small potato salad, a medium bowl of noodle soup similar to the beef-and-dish dish we often make at home, and a plate of crab fried rice. That's right, real crab meat! for under 10 CAD!! I hope all of my Canadian and American readers are enjoying their crab-flavoured pollock at home.