Izakaya Evening

It was a trip organized by the school. The registration cost €35, which was quite a hefty amount. Of course, I thought twice about signing up, but for the experience, I said yes. However, only one other student signed up, another German. In total, there were three of us, along with a staff member from my school.

Initially Difficult

At first, I found it really difficult to join the conversation because the other German could already speak fluent Japanese, while I could only catch bits and pieces. Forming sentences still takes some time for me, but I embraced the evening and spoke more and more. Naturally, I spoke more English when I found out that the staff member understood simple English. Nevertheless, I tried to incorporate many Japanese vocabulary and phrases into my speech.

What is an Izakaya?

Roughly translated, "Izakaya" means "sitting in a sake shop." As the name suggests, drinking is the main focus here. Izakayas offer a wide variety of dishes. Some Izakayas specialize in fish or meat, while others offer regional specialties. Some dishes commonly available in most Izakayas are sashimi platters, karaage, yakisoba noodles, and edamame (green soybeans), which pair well with beer and sake.

Our Izakaya Restaurant

Our Izakaya visit was supposedly only all-you-can-drink, but then the waiter explained that we could not only drink as much as we wanted for two hours but also eat. And to start, there were three courses with lots of vegetables, beautifully presented. The first course was presented with dry ice in mist while we enjoyed our first drink. It was clearly a restaurant that valued presentation. But the taste was just as good. And so it began, and we ate a lot of meat, vegetables, fish, fruits, and other dishes. Within these two hours, the conversation became more fluid, and then our companion showed us that we were actually the only men in this place. We looked around, and indeed. We asked her why, to which she hinted that you could take great photos of the food and drinks for Instagram here. We laughed, drank another beer, and now I am here, sharing my food and drinks in an even more extravagant style than simply posting them on Instagram. My pictures come with a long text, or does my long text come with a few pictures? Anyway, the waiter informed us that we could place our last order soon. If we wanted to order anything else, now was the last moment.

The Beginning of the End

I know my limits (this paragraph starts interestingly), but I came to this restaurant with a big appetite and thirst. I had almost two weeks of calorie deficit behind me, mostly with healthy food. Now I wanted to reward myself. After all, the next day was a holiday, and I could sleep in. So, like my German friend, I ordered two more drinks and then three dishes meant for sharing. I asked the other two if they wanted to eat anything else, but they were full. I still had room. So, I ordered two pasta dishes, the only ones on the menu, and a dessert (sweet potatoes with cocoa powder and cream). Of course, I was skeptical if I could manage, but the pictures on the menu gave the impression that I could easily handle it. I nibbled on the leftovers from the first mass order for our table, fried chicken, and delicious salmon specialties, when two huge plates of pasta were placed on the table. My eyes grew small, the corners of the other two's mouths rose, and then we all laughed. Nevertheless, they insisted they weren't hungry, and I knew it was time to stand my ground. I started with the first pasta, a creamy cream-fish pasta, very delicious. I put the chopsticks aside and began rolling my pasta with a fork. Bite after bite went into my mouth, and after five minutes, the whole pasta was gone. Very delicious, very creamy, very rich.

This dish would have been the perfect ending, but of course, as if on cue, the dessert with the sweet potatoes arrived. I knew there was only one way to solve this situation: I had to eat my way through it. So, I took a deep breath, occasionally made some room in my stomach, and shoveled the second mega portion of pasta into me. Out of pity, my friend helped me with the sweet potatoes, which were really hard to get in. The cocoa powder and cream were a great finish; I could have eaten more of that. Sweets are known to go into their own stomach.

Full and Done

I managed it, maybe I overestimated myself a bit, but I was proud that I did it. We sat at the table for another half hour, finished our drinks (every sip felt dangerous, not because I had too much alcohol in me), and made our way home. Laughing hurt, but at least I had a 20-minute walk home to reflect on my decisions of the evening. Overall, it was a very successful evening, and even though I felt a bit sick at the end, I regret nothing! I would do it again! But not today and not tomorrow. Today will be a bit of fasting, maybe tomorrow too. A fun, albeit expensive evening.

Until then!