Week 6: All you can Drink?!
I'm sure anyone reading this has heard of an "all-you-can-eat" restaurant. The premise is simple yet effective; for a set price, you can eat as much as you want. In America, these places are usually set up buffet-style restaurants, which lets you take exactly as much as you want of a certain food. In Japan, all you can eat places are actually more common than in the US, but there exists something else that I have yet to really hear of in the States: all you can drink.
Called 飲み放題 (nomihoudai) in Japanese, these are typically restaurants that also serve food but offer unlimited drinks for a certain price. Given the fact that I haven't had much time to actually go out and drink in America, that might be why I haven't heard of these before, but my gut feeling is that they just don't really exist overseas. Which is a complete shame, because for what is offers, a 飲み放題 is, in my mind, absolutely worth it.
Over the past weekend (at this point a few weekends ago cause I'm late as usual posting this), I was invited to once such establishment with a number of the other international students here, and I can definitively say that it was a wonderful experience. At the place we went to, the price was about 1100 yen, which got us 2 hours of unlimited drinks, alcoholic or otherwise. This amount is equal to roughly $10, which in Boston at least is enough for maybe one drink, two if you order a pretty bad beer. So already Japan is off to a great start here! While the 2 hour limit may seem a bit unfortunate, it's more than enough time to try most of the drinks you realistically want to, and it also ensures the staff at such establishments that people won't get too drunk and start causing problems.
And what a variety of drinks there are! While the selection of a certain type of drink might be limited (i.e. there were only three or four different kinds of sake), the variety ranged from plum wine to mixed cocktails and everything in-between. One of my favorites was a drink that tasted exactly like a jolly rancher but apparently was also an alcoholic drink! Another plus of going to such a place was that we were able to try different drinks together; when one person saw something that was interesting, there were usually a few others who would order the same thing, simply because they could.
My only complaint at the place we went to was that it was not also 食べ放題 (tabehoudai), or all you can eat. Some places do combine both, and for usually around $30 you get unlimited food and drink. Unfortunately, this place only had unlimited drinks available, and the food was a bit more expensive than what I would've liked considering the small portion sizes. That being said, I did have some sort of fried cheese ball that was incredible and also vaguely American, and is probably one of the best things I've eaten over here so far (I'm not kidding, it really was that good).
Overall, this was a nice experience and something I was overall really impressed with. Such places are pretty common in Japan because in Japanese culture, it is almost expected that サラリーマン (salarymen) and businessmen go out and drink with each other after work. Having lots of 飲み放題 available gives them plenty of options to choose from, and oftentimes these are where Japanese workers bond the most, given that the culture at work itself is often rigid and makes little allowances for friendship/personal connection. Also, it's nice as a young twenty-something to have lots of opportunities to drink with friends on the weekends. If you are ever in Japan, make sure to try at least one 飲み放題, because for the dirt-cheap price there isn't a downside to at least experiencing this once.
And that's it for this week! Or, that would be it if I'd posted this on time. As I mentioned above, I'm pretty late with this post, and so there'll be another one for weeks 7/8 up later this evening or tomorrow. What can I say, sometimes sleeping and schoolwork takes up all my time!
Regardless, be on the lookout for that post soon, and thanks for reading! Until next time, さよなら!
Called 飲み放題 (nomihoudai) in Japanese, these are typically restaurants that also serve food but offer unlimited drinks for a certain price. Given the fact that I haven't had much time to actually go out and drink in America, that might be why I haven't heard of these before, but my gut feeling is that they just don't really exist overseas. Which is a complete shame, because for what is offers, a 飲み放題 is, in my mind, absolutely worth it.
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| The view from my end of one of our two tables |
Over the past weekend (at this point a few weekends ago cause I'm late as usual posting this), I was invited to once such establishment with a number of the other international students here, and I can definitively say that it was a wonderful experience. At the place we went to, the price was about 1100 yen, which got us 2 hours of unlimited drinks, alcoholic or otherwise. This amount is equal to roughly $10, which in Boston at least is enough for maybe one drink, two if you order a pretty bad beer. So already Japan is off to a great start here! While the 2 hour limit may seem a bit unfortunate, it's more than enough time to try most of the drinks you realistically want to, and it also ensures the staff at such establishments that people won't get too drunk and start causing problems.
And what a variety of drinks there are! While the selection of a certain type of drink might be limited (i.e. there were only three or four different kinds of sake), the variety ranged from plum wine to mixed cocktails and everything in-between. One of my favorites was a drink that tasted exactly like a jolly rancher but apparently was also an alcoholic drink! Another plus of going to such a place was that we were able to try different drinks together; when one person saw something that was interesting, there were usually a few others who would order the same thing, simply because they could.
 |
| Clearly the food wasn't any good, either (ha) |
My only complaint at the place we went to was that it was not also 食べ放題 (tabehoudai), or all you can eat. Some places do combine both, and for usually around $30 you get unlimited food and drink. Unfortunately, this place only had unlimited drinks available, and the food was a bit more expensive than what I would've liked considering the small portion sizes. That being said, I did have some sort of fried cheese ball that was incredible and also vaguely American, and is probably one of the best things I've eaten over here so far (I'm not kidding, it really was that good).
Overall, this was a nice experience and something I was overall really impressed with. Such places are pretty common in Japan because in Japanese culture, it is almost expected that サラリーマン (salarymen) and businessmen go out and drink with each other after work. Having lots of 飲み放題 available gives them plenty of options to choose from, and oftentimes these are where Japanese workers bond the most, given that the culture at work itself is often rigid and makes little allowances for friendship/personal connection. Also, it's nice as a young twenty-something to have lots of opportunities to drink with friends on the weekends. If you are ever in Japan, make sure to try at least one 飲み放題, because for the dirt-cheap price there isn't a downside to at least experiencing this once.
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| Also don't we look like we're having fun? Shout out to Jonas for ordering me more beers than necessary and Stephanie for taking this picture after my attempt failed |
And that's it for this week! Or, that would be it if I'd posted this on time. As I mentioned above, I'm pretty late with this post, and so there'll be another one for weeks 7/8 up later this evening or tomorrow. What can I say, sometimes sleeping and schoolwork takes up all my time!
Regardless, be on the lookout for that post soon, and thanks for reading! Until next time, さよなら!
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