Question 1

The last time I ate in a restaurant was a few days ago. Every Tuesday, I get home at 11pm and would be too tired to cook dinner, so my husband and I always eat out. This week we ate at the usualy ramen restaurante we like to eat in near our home. They had a new item on the menu called mazesoba, it was SO GOOD! It cost around 800 yen. It was a great exeprience because the food was good as usual.

Question 2

Yes, I do. My husband and I get home quite late during the weekdays and sometimes I'm just too tired to cook anything so it's easier to eat out.

Question 3

I've never worked in a restaurant and I would probably never want to. It seems too stressful, having to deal with demanding customers.

Question 4

I live in Yao. I only moved there last year and haven't gotten to know the place too well yet. But, there's a place I recently discovered that has a wonderful atmosphere and serves fantastic steak! I think the price is resonable for the quality of the food they serve. I ate there while my husband was in a party because I didn't need to cook at home and wanted to treat myself to a good meal, I had a great time even if I was alone!

Question 5

I have only had good experiences when eating out in Japan, but there is one place in Osaka Namba that terribly disappointed me. The restaurant was called American (純喫茶 アメリカン). The food on the displays looked really appetizing but when we went in the place was full of smokers. I have asthma and cigarette smoke is really bad for me, I instantly regretted coming in but I was embarassed to leave suddenly. My husband ordered strawberry kakigori and I ordered strawberry cake. The food was the worst food I have ever eaten in Japan and was so expensive! The kakigori cost 800 yen and had really cheap strawberry syrup on it that tasted like medicine, and the cake slice was so thin, it was smaller than a business card but cost 600 yen! I'll never come back there again and I made a bad review about it on Google, I never make reviews for restaurants, but I was so upset about eating in that restaurant that I had to make one!

Question 6

I don't want to open a restaurant, but I would open a cake shop that specifically served ube (philippine purple yams) cake rolls. I think it will be a big hit in Japan!

Tough Vocabulary

Question 1

My family and I went to a steak and hamburger restaurant last month. We went to Studio Alice for my daughter's third birthday and then we went out for lunch. I had a steak and an extra plate of french fries. It was reasonably priced, costing about ¥4,000 for three people. The meal was a little disappointing though, to be honest. I wouldn't go there again.

Question 2

I don't eat out at restaurants very often, not since my daughter was born. I'm looking forward to the day when my family and I can go to a restaurant and enjoy the meal like normal people. No telling my daughter to sit still, to be quiet, to stop playing with her food. I love my daughter but I hope that day comes soon.

Question 3

Yes, I have. Kind of, anyway. I enrolled in a course in restaurant service and hotel management – a "Certificate II in Hospitality" – between high school and university. As part of our training, we ran a restaurant for a week in conjunction with the people training to be cooks. We worked front of house, they worked back of house. It was a fun experience but it was a lot of hard work. I don't want to work in a restaurant again.

Question 4

I live in Yao City. There are so many restaurants nearby though I'm not sure any of them are especially well-known. Diagonally across the street from my apartment building is a shabu-shabu restaurant called "Kagonoya". I've never eaten there but it looks nice inside. It also looks quite expensive.

Question 5

I ate at a place in China Town in Yokohama once. The waiting staff weren't friendly at all and the chefs were smoking in the kitchen as they cooked. There was a long wait time to be seated and the dining area was far too narrow. It was quite expensive, as it was "real" Chinese food, but I remember it being quite disappointing.

Question 6

I read about something called a "ghost restaurant" on the Internet. These are food service places that service customers exclusively by online orders so they have no dining area. They are a lot cheaper to run as you don't need to hire a waiting staff or pay rent on a large space.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
french fries	フライドポテト
to be honest	正直に言うと
looking forward to	楽しみにして
run a restaurant	レストランを経営する
front of house	レストランダイニングエリア
back of house	レストランの台所
diagonally across	斜めに
exclusively	独占的に
pay rent	家賃を払う

Question 1

I ate lunch last Friday with my wife Chihiro. We had shio ramen, at a restaurant near our house in Ikaruga. The name of the restaurant is Shio Genji. I think there are many other locations in Nara, and around Japan. The shio ramen is delicious, and they have homemade kimchi. It is relatively cheap.

Question 2

We don't eat out at restaurants very often. My wife and I enjoy cooking. My mother-in-law often cooks on the weekends. We sometimes go out to lunch, as there are many excellent restaurants in our area. It's the only time that we can go out without our children!!

Question 3

I have worked at many restaurants over the years. I have done almost every job that is required in a restaurant, for over twenty years. In America working in service(waiter or bartender) at a restaurant is very good money, because of the tipping culture. My favorite job in the restaurant was bartender. I loved mixing cocktails, and chatting with people.

Question 4

We live in Ikaruga. There are many excellent restaurants in my area. Oji, and Hyoruji have many tourists who visit, so the restaurant scene is quite good. There is an Indian restaurant called Pusa. They have excellent curry, tandoori chicken and naan bread. If yo would like to try it, they have a location in Kashihara. A lunch set is about 1000¥.

Question 5

The night of my wedding in America. My wife and I had a private dinner at a five star French restaurant in Boston called "L'espallier". The chef is my friend. He cooked us a five course dinner that was incredibly delicious. We had seared sea scallops, bouillabaisse soup, roasted duck, wine pairings for every course, and a cheese and fruit plate to finish the dinner. I don't know how much it cost, because he didn't charge us anything for the food or wine. My guess was around 1,000$ (100,000¥). We tipped the server and staff 300$

Question 6

If I were given ¥10 million I would probably open a Tachinomiya. I like the idea of socializing, and having a drink while standing. I would probably have a more varied drink menu compared to other Japanese bars, as I know hundreds of cocktail recipes. I would use local ingredients like yuzu to try and create fun new cocktails. For food, I'm not sure. Izakaya style food that is cheap and salty, so my guests drink a lot.

Tough Vocabulary