Japanese restaurants in Japan;Noren, Fake food models, and Oshibori
In previous entry titled "Japanese restaurant in Japan;Teppan yaki and Yakitori ", I wrote that there are many Japanese restaurants that specialize in particular dishes, and wrote about differences of Japanese restaurants here in the states and the ones in Japan.
In previous entry titled "Japanese restaurant in Japan;Okonomiyaki ", I wrote about restaurants specialize in Japanese savory Pancake called "Okonomiyaki" and introduced the differences in Okonomiyaki made one region to the other.
In another entry titled " Ryotei restaurant ", I wrote that if you go to ryotei restaurant, you will get dishes made from local grown, seasonal fresh ingredients.
You can also find restaurants that serves only soba (you can read what soba is in previous entry titled "Noodles in Japan;Soba" here .), broiled eel, or pork cutlet. There are restaurants that serves variety of Japanese dishes as well.
Often times, at the Japanese restaurants, you will see "Noren" hung in front of restaurants' entrance when restaurants open and it is taken off when restaurants are closed. Noren is a kind of like a curtain for shop, and usually you will see the restaurants' logos or crest painted or name of the particular dishes they are specialized in.
You can see the picture of "noren" at wikipedia website here .
Also, you will find a showcase right next to the entrance. The outdoor showcase is made from glass, and you will find waxed/plastic food models in them. This is to show you what the food would look like along with price. So, it is very easy for those who visits Japan to understand what the food would look like, and how much it would cost. When you see menu are written only in Japanese and had no one that can read Japanese, all you need to do is to bring the server staff and point at the dishes you like to order.
You can see what the showcase food models would look like at wikipedia website here .
I am sure you will be surprised to see how much those fake food models looks like edible food.
I came across a couple of youtube videos on fake food models in Japan. If you were a blog subscriber or reading this entry from Facebook, please click here to watch the video.
Which ice cream is fake food??
The video is in Japanese so, I will explain what is going on in the video.
First, you will see the two ice cream cups. One of them is fake. Now, one guy and one lady each picked up one ice cream cup. You will see that you can scoop the ice cream with wooden ice cream spoon. Which of the two is fake ice cream cup??
Answer is the one the lady picked up. I think both looked real and if both could scoop up with spoon..that makes even more difficult to point out which one is fake. Did you get it right?
Second youtube video is the one that can tour you around food models factory. You can watch the video here.
Third youtube video is about how exactly the fake food models are made. This particular video was on fake crepe models. If you were a blog subscriber or reading this entry from Facebook, please click here to watch the video.
How fake crepe model is made..
First, staff put vinyl resin colored with yellow for crepe wrap to the mold, then mold is baked in the oven. 20 minutes later..take out the fake crepe wrap from the mold and roll a little and put brown color with air brush.
Next, make fake whipped cream with vinyl base with special powder,and color white. Then,put the fake whipped cream to piping bag and decorate the crepe wrap.Then, decorate the crepe with fake fruits models,drizzle fake chocolate sauce, and bake again and done.
Now, after entering Japanese restaurant, you will be lead to the table and menu book will be handed to you and also, they will serve "Oshibori" to wipe your hands. Oshibori is moist steamed hand towels.
You can see the picture of "Oshibori" at wikipedia website here.
After enjoying the meal, you will pick up the bill and bring it to the cashier and pay when you out. At restaurants in Japan, there is no tip system.
In the states, I always wish that especially BBQ restaurant where you eat ribs or seafood restaurant that you would eat crab legs etc could offer "Oshibori". They do have dry paper towel on the table and small packet of wet towel, but it is not enough to wipe the hands clean..
So far,I have not seen restaurants that display fake food models in the states. Displaying fake food models maybe Japanese things but do you prefer to find display like ours in Japan or a couple of pictures on menu book is enough for you to decide what you like to order?
In previous entry titled "Japanese restaurant in Japan;Okonomiyaki ", I wrote about restaurants specialize in Japanese savory Pancake called "Okonomiyaki" and introduced the differences in Okonomiyaki made one region to the other.
In another entry titled " Ryotei restaurant ", I wrote that if you go to ryotei restaurant, you will get dishes made from local grown, seasonal fresh ingredients.
You can also find restaurants that serves only soba (you can read what soba is in previous entry titled "Noodles in Japan;Soba" here .), broiled eel, or pork cutlet. There are restaurants that serves variety of Japanese dishes as well.
Often times, at the Japanese restaurants, you will see "Noren" hung in front of restaurants' entrance when restaurants open and it is taken off when restaurants are closed. Noren is a kind of like a curtain for shop, and usually you will see the restaurants' logos or crest painted or name of the particular dishes they are specialized in.
You can see the picture of "noren" at wikipedia website here .
Also, you will find a showcase right next to the entrance. The outdoor showcase is made from glass, and you will find waxed/plastic food models in them. This is to show you what the food would look like along with price. So, it is very easy for those who visits Japan to understand what the food would look like, and how much it would cost. When you see menu are written only in Japanese and had no one that can read Japanese, all you need to do is to bring the server staff and point at the dishes you like to order.
You can see what the showcase food models would look like at wikipedia website here .
I am sure you will be surprised to see how much those fake food models looks like edible food.
I came across a couple of youtube videos on fake food models in Japan. If you were a blog subscriber or reading this entry from Facebook, please click here to watch the video.
Which ice cream is fake food??
The video is in Japanese so, I will explain what is going on in the video.
First, you will see the two ice cream cups. One of them is fake. Now, one guy and one lady each picked up one ice cream cup. You will see that you can scoop the ice cream with wooden ice cream spoon. Which of the two is fake ice cream cup??
Answer is the one the lady picked up. I think both looked real and if both could scoop up with spoon..that makes even more difficult to point out which one is fake. Did you get it right?
Second youtube video is the one that can tour you around food models factory. You can watch the video here.
Third youtube video is about how exactly the fake food models are made. This particular video was on fake crepe models. If you were a blog subscriber or reading this entry from Facebook, please click here to watch the video.
How fake crepe model is made..
Here is what is going on in the video.
First, staff put vinyl resin colored with yellow for crepe wrap to the mold, then mold is baked in the oven. 20 minutes later..take out the fake crepe wrap from the mold and roll a little and put brown color with air brush.
Next, make fake whipped cream with vinyl base with special powder,and color white. Then,put the fake whipped cream to piping bag and decorate the crepe wrap.Then, decorate the crepe with fake fruits models,drizzle fake chocolate sauce, and bake again and done.
Now, after entering Japanese restaurant, you will be lead to the table and menu book will be handed to you and also, they will serve "Oshibori" to wipe your hands. Oshibori is moist steamed hand towels.
You can see the picture of "Oshibori" at wikipedia website here.
After enjoying the meal, you will pick up the bill and bring it to the cashier and pay when you out. At restaurants in Japan, there is no tip system.
In the states, I always wish that especially BBQ restaurant where you eat ribs or seafood restaurant that you would eat crab legs etc could offer "Oshibori". They do have dry paper towel on the table and small packet of wet towel, but it is not enough to wipe the hands clean..
So far,I have not seen restaurants that display fake food models in the states. Displaying fake food models maybe Japanese things but do you prefer to find display like ours in Japan or a couple of pictures on menu book is enough for you to decide what you like to order?
Posted by yassy at 8/5/2010 5:17 PM 
Categories: Japan
Tags: restaurant oshibori japan fake food models noren food
Categories: Japan
Tags: restaurant oshibori japan fake food models noren food
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