Japanese breakfast: English for weird food.

When we checked into the Yuzuya ryokan, they carefully scheduled our dinner and then asked if we wanted the Japanese or continental breakfast.  We chose Japanese to get the full ryokan experience.  Here's the translation of that request.

The first plate was this:

On the right is a bowl of rice covered with a sticky, gooey substance called grated taro.  With your rice you could enjoy all kinds of little samplings.  I'll try and remember what they were starting in the upper left and working my way across and down the grid.  First was baby eel with chopped peppers.  After the previous night's eel, I was terrified to taste this dish.  But I actually liked it.

Next was a bowl of tiny shell fish in a salty sauce.  It was delicious.  Then there was a sweet potato that was delicious.  Next bowl, I don't remember what it was but there were pickles and I like the Japanese pickles. 

Next was shaved soba and some sort of vegetable.  It was pretty good.  Then there was "deep-fried" tofu.  I don't know how they deep fry things in Japan but it's completely different that they way we do it in the US.  Once again, "deep fried" meant soggy.

The bottom row starts with pickled tiny cucumbers.  I could eat these all day.  Then came sea weed; I didn't like this.  Finally, something else pickled.  Did I already say this, I love Japanese pickles.

Here's the second plate:

This plate featured a grilled fish (I can't remember exactly what type).  Then in the top bowl was an eggplant dish that I didn't like at all.  It was totally slimy.  Lower left is "rolled egg" with grated radish on top.  I liked this a lot although it's strange how differently eggs can be cooked.  The final dish was miso soup.  Can I just say, miso soup is so much better in Japan than it is in the US.  I normally hate it, but here it is consistently good.

A big thanks to the Yuzuya staff for creating a memorable meal.  Just as memorable as the entire stay.