Izakaya

After we explored Akihabara for awhile we decided to eat at an izakaya. Izakaya is a bit difficult to translate into English... but it is a bit like a bar/restaurant. Once again wikipedia saves the day! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya


The drinking age in Japan is 20, but unlike the States and Canada, the law isn't strictly enforced. So when we showed up at an Izakaya and they informed us we'd have to present our IDs, we were a bit surprised. Although I had my passport with me, some of the other exchange students didn't have any IDs on them.


So we headed back to the streets of Akihabara and soon found another izakaya.


We crowded into the elevator and headed to the floor with the izakaya. This time we made sure that the oldest looking people filed out of the elevator first, and the youngest looking stayed at the back.


And... we got a table!


Upon entering the izakaya we had to take off our shoes and around the corner there was a locker area where we could store our shoes. After I found an empty locker, I placed my shoes inside and removed the key.  At first we shown to a table in the corner near businessmen. Nearly all of the men were smoking and the air was filled with the stink of cigarettes. One of my friends had asthma, so we asked for another table. They lead us back to the entryway and we waited a bit longer.


Finally the server led us to a table in the far back of the restaurant.


Right away we were supplied with clothes to wipe our hands with and some kind of food in a small glass.  When I consulted a Japanese friend I was told it contained tofu, bamboo shoots, some kind of green pepper and I forget what else.  While we were marvelling at this strange jelly thing, our friend asked us what we wanted to eat and drink.  On the table there was an electronic touch pad (like an iPad, but thicker) that allowed us to choose what we wanted to order.


At an izakaya the dishes that are ordered are shared, not unlike tapas. I can't remember all of the things we ordered, but some of them were: dol sot bi bim bap, yakuniku, Cesear salad, fried pasta, gyoza, squid, chicken with cheese and potatoes, and fried breaded cartilage. Everything was delicious, so I wish I had taken more photos!


Unfortunately you will have to content yourselves with a photo of the strange jelly/tofu/bamboo/pepper starter we ate.

What is the jelly like substance made of? I have no idea.

But the night turned out to be a lot of fun! Our Japanese friends taught us a lot of vocabulary that we never would have picked up from textbooks. One word they taught us was ほろ酔い (pronounced "horoyoi") which means tipsy. We also learned a few swears, which were spoken more loudly and passionately as the night wore on and more drinks were consumed.