About food in Japan

English menu for more hospitality!

This is a good news for non-Japanese people who hesitate to enjoy eating at local restaurants in Toky because of language barrier to understand their menu lists...

This week Tokyo Metropolitan government launched a new tool on its website for restaurants owners. Tokyo, one of the biggest cities in the world, aiming to become a successful candidate for Summer Olympic 2016, is keen to increase reputations for citizen's hospitality to foreign tourirsts.

As one of the measurements to raise the service standard, the governement provides a tool on its official website for small or middle size local restaurant owners who are unlikely to have sufficient language skills to organize their menu lists in foreign languages.
According to the website, by selecting formats, food menu from over 2500 sample, the tool helps with creating menu lists in English, Korean and Chinese (Simplified and Complicated letters). It also allows adding some explanations about Japanese food for those who are not familier with it.

I hope that soon you will see English menu at more restaurants in Tokyo and that you will feel more comfortable to enjoy there!

To go to the news source Tokyo Tourism Info, click here.
The list of menu examples created by the translation tool is here.

Tea or free gift? what you buy...

We are not able to imagine how many kinds of ready-made drinks available in Japan, whether in can or in PET bottle. Beverage makers face severe competition to get space on the shelfs of convenience shops across this country.

To attract both consumers and convenience shop owners, major soft drink producers are likely to attach a packet of small gift to their bottled drink products.

You will find something like this on a shelf of PET bottle drinks. A small plastic bag is hang from a bottle-neck.

The free small gift depends on the target of the drink.

Recently launched the promotion by Lipton must keep attention of Japanese girls and sweets-lovers. It offers original mobile phone charms collaborated with Belgium high-end chocolate shop, Pierre Marcolini. The charmes are in shape of miniature sweets by the chocolate brand; tablet, colourfull ice cream or biscuit..

They really look like real sweets apart from the size.

Yes, the size, as they are to be "a charm for mobile-phone", they are so small to eat

At least they are enough attractive to entertain people who find it with your mobile phone.

 

Related website

Lipton Sweets Collection : http://www.lipton-sweets.jp/

 

Italian - Ristorante La Barrique Tokyo

La Barrique is inherited its name from a Michelin star restaurant in Torino, Italy.

The unit in Tokyo is behind a private house in a quite residential area of central Tokyo. We went through a parking space of the neighbor to access the restaurant. Without having a location map, it is hard to identify where the restaurant stands.

The fine dining is accommodated in a house-like building. According to the restaurant staff, the building is a former residence of the restaurant owner.  The house with nice traditional wood decotration inside is finely transformed into an Italian ristorante with warm, homey atmosphere.

The excellent points of the restaurant are not only the interior but also the food quality and wide selections of glass wine and bottled ones of course.

Fresh seasonal ingredient are selected for dishes and "La Barrique course" offers several choices for starter, pasta and main dish, enough to make dinners feel hard to select just one from all eaqually attractive plates.

It is worth to visiting the house with table reservation and to traveling to the tranquil town.

Restaurant name: Ristorante La Barrique Tokyo
Address: 2-12-2 Suido, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo
Website: http://www.labarrique.jp