The Japanese Encounter

Yesterday was one of those rare days when I had all the time in the world for lunch. So I thought I'd use the time to rented a few DVDs too. As I headed out of the the video library I saw an old neon sign for a japanese restaurant in the same complex. Now this was an old and derelict building, with hardly more than one or two commercial establishments in it. I was surprised to see an 'Authentic' Japanese restuarant in it too. As I made my way through the dark and dingy corridor I was a bit apprehensive because I didn't quite know what kind of a joint this was.

I opened the door to the restaurant and I stepped in. I was immediately taken aback because of a total transformation I just witnessed. I had entered a brightly lit restaurant, filled with japanese people. To think that a second back I was in a dark corridor, wondering if there would be anyone beyond that dark door, I was stunned. I don't think, they expected any indian guy to walk in too for they all looked surprised. Everyone was looking at me as if they were wondering what the heck I was doing there. I hesistantly asked the gentleman at the counter for a table. I was politely directed to the one free table in the room. As I sat I looked around, It was as if I had stepped into a transportation warp which had carried me from chennai to japan.

There were rows of books, which I found out after craning my neck were in japanese, the television was showing a japanese language programme and the people in the restaurant were talking in japanese ofcourse. The manager of the restaurant, walked over to me with a menu and handed it to me with half a bow. I flipped it open and scanned it intently, there were nice pictures of all the dishes they served. I pointed to a picture and looked at the manager questioningly. He stonily pointed to the words 'Grilled Fish' written in English(along with it's Japanese version) right next to the picture . I nodded wisely, I was on to their system now. I flipped through the pages again as he stood silently, eventually I looked up and asked him for the day's specials. He sneezed. I 'bless you'd' him and asked him again, for which he sneezed again. Doubts about the hygene levels were beginning to worry me now. I looked on, waiting, he looked at me, took a deep breath and slowly mouthed the word 'S U S H I' and then said it again fast. I realised that he hadn't really been sneezing in the first place, he had just being saying sushi very fast and half nodding everytime he said that. A genunine misunderstanding there.

I shook my head and told him sternly that dead raw fish was out. I flipped the pages of the menu again. I saw an appealing dish and pointed it out to him. It turned out to be meat and vegetables. He nodded and asked me in a slow voice if I wanted to make that a meal or I wanted just the dish. I couldn't understand it, but it was 2 PM and hunger was making me half crazy, anything that wasn't a full meal would have been a disaster. So I said ok to the meal, which cost about double of what just that dish cost. As he left, a waitress came over and placed a wet napkin and a bowl of brown liquid. Not knowing if I should wash my hands with the liquid like a finger bowl or drink it, I decided to give it a miss. Better safe than sorry, right?

The meal arrived. The laugh was on me, the difference between just the dish and the meal which was double the price was a small bowl of rice and another small bowl of soup. If the japanese manager didn't have to look so distinguished all the time, he would have pointed at me, slapped his thighs and giggled. Anyway, the meat and vegetables did look very good and my mind suddenly realised that there was another large issue, chopsticks. I'd never used one before, I sure as hell couldn't improvise, how do you eat with sticks anyway? The hunger was there and so was the food but the 3 feet between the food and my mouth seem to be a big trip now. The waitress sensing trouble handed me a fork, the angel!

I dug into the food with a relish which I assume was seldom seen in those parts. Every mouthful was pure delight. I looked at the fresh bowl of brown liquid that had been a part of my meal, thankfully it had a spoon in it so it was the food variety not the finger bowl variety. I took a sip it was pure, unadultrated, undiluted varnish. I made a mental note never to trust brown liquids in japanese restuarants.

I finished the meal in no time and paid the bill. Contented, I slowly got up and walked out of the door of the restaurant. As I stepped through the door and into the darkness of the corridor, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned back to see the manager of the restaurant, I wondered if I had missed out on some japanese post dinner tradition. He stonily handed me my cellphone which I had left it in the table.

He bowed stiffly and I bowed back clumsily and both of us parted company.