Different cuisine

[Meg 368]

I had an interesting dinner last night, trying a cuisine I hadn’t tried before.  I figured if I shared my experience, other people might too.

A cousin of mine was in town for a conference and wanted to go to a Brazilian Churrascaria steakhouse.  They do things a little differently.  The first thing I noticed was the table was set with a knife, fork, and tongs.  Along with a coaster that was red on one side and green on the other.  This turned out to be a very important item.

Dinner is all you can eat, fixed price (and given this restaurant was located between the White House and the Capitol, it wasn’t a cheap price.)  There is a salad bar that had some standard salad items and veggies along with a few I hadn’t had before. 

But the odd part is how they do the meat. A large number of waiters wander around, carrying plates, knives, and skewers of meat.  If your coaster is red, they walk past your table.  If it is green, they stop and offer you some of whatever they are carrying.  If you wish, they will carve off some.  The tongs are so you can move the meat onto your plate.

The filet mignon was excellent.  The filet mignon wrapped in bacon was seasoned differently.  The lamb chops were good.  The lamb roast was a bit odd.  The chicken wrapped in bacon was good.  The sausage was quite spicy.  Another guy floated around, making sure there were always mashed potatoes and fried plantains on your table.

Once my plate had something on it, I found it necessary to turn the coaster to red because they would literally come by, non-stop, each with something different.  Flipping the coaster back to green usually resulted in someone else bringing some new and different within a minute or two.  For some reason, the waiters all had different, unusual accents.

As my cousin said, this was a splurge.  Anyone who eats there regularly would be broke and die young.  But it was an interesting, different dinner.  And it was great seeing my cousin.  Haven’t seen him in years.

Has anyone else had an unusual food-related experience?

[Zelgadis 638]

When I was in Japan, I had several.

Once, the assistant Superintendent of the Atsumi School District took me out for sushi. He did all the ordering and whenever he ordered something for me, he would put it in front of me and shout out its name, apparently trying to impress me with his English "skill." "Tuna!" "Mackerel!" These were all fine and good. I've had them before. Then he put a plate of sashimi in front of me, the English name of which apparently escaped him at that moment. "Fugu!" he cried. Okay, fugu is "blowfish" in English and it is unbelievably poisonous if not prepared correctly. However, I knew that fugu costs a ton of money and he was looking at me with eager anticipation. So I tried it. Long story short, I'm still alive and it was delicious. I still remember Ishibashi-san with fondness. He was a great boss.

Another experience had to do with shrimp. At my "Welcome dinner" when I arrived in Atsumi, my boss took me to a restaurant and bought me a plate of shrimp. They were tiny little things and still bore the shells and heads. I wasn't sure how to eat them and my boss apparently picked up on that fact. He picked one up and shoved it in his mouth, shell, head and all. Well, I thought, I'll give it a go. I did. Terrible, but I think I faked it well enough.

But the time I was served chicken sashimi (raw chicken), was the only time I flatly refused to eat something I was presented with in Japan.

ISF

[Voar Tok 4]

Well, the food was traditional American stuff, but I did eat at a place once that was somewhat like that.

First off, on the menu, the only thing they had listed for your dinner was the main dish on it like a pork chop or something. Throughout the eating areas, waiters and waitresses would file up and down the rows every few minutes with stuff like fried okra and other stuff that I can't remember. This was how you got all of your sides, and you could have anything you wanted with your dinner, in whatever quantity you wanted. It wasn't an all you could eat place since only the sides were unlimited, but as my dad says, if you left there hungry, it's your own fault.

The real kicker though was the rolls. I'm sure most of us have heard of places where they serve thrown rolls. This was one of those places. The people they had doing that job had some killer accuracy, and it wasn't uncommon to see a roll go flying clear across the room. Surprisingly, very little bread appeared to get wasted this way, even though the air had a tendency to be littered with rolls.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: zelgadis

 He picked one up and shoved it in his mouth, shell, head and all. Well, I thought, I'll give it a go. I did. Terrible, but I think I faked it well enough.

quote>

This must be the same basic concept as soft shell crabs that, in certain stages of development, it's okay to eat the whole thing.

I love crab but have always avoided the soft shell ones.  and I think I'd avoid a shrimp with everything still intact.  I guess I'm too conditioned to removing the inedible parts.

They say that people who grow up in Maryland like I did don't remember opening their first crab.  Oddly, I don't remember learning how to do it although I do remember teaching my Pennsylvania-born parents.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

In the dear old days when I worked for the General Electric Company, we often found ourselves at the benchmark center at Phoenix, AZ.  That fine city used to have (still has, after 30 years?) a restaurant called Don Lee's Asia House.  I think it was on Thomas Road.

The Asia House offered two compris menus, one Japanese, one Mongolian, and a full Chinese restaurant with white table cloths, etc.

In the Japanese section, you got a Japanese meal that was basically Sukiyaki with some trimmings.  This was served in one of the several tatami rooms that were rigged for western clients.  The low table had a well for your legs and feet so that you were effectively sitting on a bench with the table at standard Japanese height.  Warm sake was served throughout the meal.  The server, dressed in traditional kimono, made the meal on a habachi in the room using thinly sliced beef, chrysanthemum stalks, and whatever.  Wasabi was served with the main course.  Of course tea was served afterwards.  Enchanting.

The Mongolian section was a large room fitted out like a big yurt.  Noodles were served with toppings of various beef stews.  All in all, an interesting experience.

The Chinese room served dishes one by one until something was left in the serving dish.  At that point a dish of pineapple chicken announced the end of the meal.  Green tea thoughout the meal, with drinks a la carte.  Almond cookies for dessert with more tea.  One of the better Chinese presentations I have seen.

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

This must be the same basic concept as soft shell crabs that, in certain stages of development, it's okay to eat the whole thing.

I love crab but have always avoided the soft shell ones.  and I think I'd avoid a shrimp with everything still intact.  I guess I'm too conditioned to removing the inedible parts.

They say that people who grow up in Maryland like I did don't remember opening their first crab.  Oddly, I don't remember learning how to do it although I do remember teaching my Pennsylvania-born parents.quote>

 

I prefer my crab in cake form and my shrimp hot and shell-free.  I tend to avoid seafood with shells, especially lobster...simply don't like it.  So when I go to Maine every two or three years, I'm the awkward guy who doesn't like lobster.  They like it so much, this place in Bar Harbor actually makes lobster ice cream... needless to say, I didn't try it.

[Easy Bakes 253]

They have a place like that in Dallas called Fogo De Chao

There's another place Call Babes Chicken Dinner House.

Thats all the on the menu ( at least it used to be)

Unlimited sides  great chicken.

http://www.babeschicken.com/Babes-Chicken-Dinner-House-Roanoke.html

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

They have a place like that in Dallas called Fogo De Chao  quote>

Same as the one in DC.  Probably part of the same chain.

[MayorVieira 1]

Nice. Just went to the local Fogo de Ch

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

I believe the name for this type of restaurant is Rodizzio. I have eaten at one in Germany before, and for people who like meat, it's a heaven!

[___idiotbox 0]

During my freshman year I took a World History course and every quarter the class would take a field trip to DC to visit a museum and go to a restaurant.

The first quarter we learned about India and China. So we went to one of the various museums in DC and headed over to a Indian Cuisine restaurant. I fell in love. It was sooo good. I love spicy food and I can eat all the time. The other people in my class were not to happy with the way it tasted.

Second quarter we learned about Africa! My favorite! So we headed down to DC to (my personal favorite) museum. It was awesome because some of the artwork was made out of gallon bottles or random metal pieces. Anyway, we went to an ethopian restaurant which was really cool! You sat on these little stools around a table that seated 6 or so. Everyone got bread that you dipped into whatever pile of food you wanted. The food was colorful and looked delicious but I didn't like the bread so I didn't eat much.

My dad works with two guys from India and they came over for six weeks in the winter. The would cook the most amazing soup. It will a little too spicy for the rest of the family but I was all over it! And I ate left overs the next day

The third quarter we learned about the Middle East. We went to a Pakistan Cuisine restaurant and I loved it. It tasted a lot like the Indian food because they use a lot of the same spices. I ate this absolutely amazing rice with raisons in it. I ate it then I figured out there was lamb tucked in it That's okay, it was yummy!

Fourth quarter we learned about the Caribbean and South America. Sadly we did not have a field trip but we did have a guest speaker who brought us yummy tea from Peru

I really enjoy trying new foods and I'm pretty much up for anything!

-Ellie

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

Originally posted by: ___idiotbox  Sadly we did not have a field trip but we did have a guest speaker who brought us yummy tea from Peru quote>

 

What you don't know is that what he called it actually translates to "Roasted Guinea Pig" in English.

[Odainsaker 2,133]

My best friend's family owns a restaurant in Otaru in Hokkaido. One of the more "exotic" ways of presenting a dish of fish sashimi or sushi is to artistically arrange them around the displayed cut head of the fish used to make them. The "surprise" was that the severed fish head was still gasping, its mouth and gills struggling in the open air, its eyeballs flicking back and forth at the different servings of itself, thus showing off to everyone just how the truly fresh the sashimi really was. Being hopelessly weak, I stick to the less disturbing cucumber-filled sushi.

But then I can't eat lobster or intact non-tempura shrimp either. Any dish that looks like a giant ugly c0ckroach complete with antennae is staying away from my mouth.

For humor, I always loved the absurdity of the old Round Table Pizza in Honolulu. Round shaped pizza pies obviously suggests a round table, and then this idea of a round table ultimately evokes the Arthurian legend of the Knights of the Round Table, which so inspires the restaurant's medieval theme. Imagine Hawaiian Asian-Americans with a good local Hawaiian pidgin accent all dressed in Renaissance Festival costumes and serving an Italian-derived pizza dish to Japanese tourists in a shop stylized to resemble a half-timbered Old English tavern. Pizza Hut was just boring...Round Table Pizza was THE place to go.

Speaking of eating in Hawaii...the infamous Monkey Bar of the old popular Pearl City Tavern comes to mind...yes, dining before a giant glass display with crazy live monkeys frolicking and throwing their poop at the windows. Us kids got to eat there every other night, though I wonder what my parents might have been implying. The Oceania Floating Restaurant was always cool too. Much like the famous floating restaurants of Hong Kong, it combined rich Chinese cuisine, exuberantly garish decor, and seasickness all in one floating package. One of the most exotic overlit sights on the nighttime waterfront. Perhaps the fun settings were more important than the food, which may of may not apply to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, which at its height served mesmerizing ice cream wonder-dishes with restaurant-style service in a silly turn-of-the-century Victorian setting. For any kid, the chocolate fudge and banana Fudgeana was haute cuisine!

Decor and theme setting was never the issue at Shiro's Saimin Haven, our family favorite restaurant, which like most ramen soup shops looks pretty dirt cheap, but in the day it had the best restaurant saimin on the island. Mmmmm, big bowl of Wun Tun Min with side order crispy pork wonton and french fries! So good I can overlook the sight into the dark and steamy back kitchen with the burly sweaty Japanese guys with ugly stained shirt armpits stretching the noodles.

But for all the odd Hawaiian eats (who needs potato chips when you have dried cuttlefish snacks, chewy tentacles, and squid jerky), I never could develop the taste for the mashed taro root staple poi. Poi could sorta be described like grey milky mashed sweet potatos, but to me, the texture always made it seem like grey alien xenomorph slime. Somehow the texture alone kicks in my gag reflex.