My family and I decided to get off at Okayama Station and eat near the station.
However, since it was the middle of the Golden Week holiday, the whole city was crowded with people. It seemed that if we tried to go to a well-known restaurant, we would have to wait in line outside the restaurant.
If it were just adults, that would be fine, but we have a two-year-old, and when it came to finding a restaurant that was easy for a two-year-old to get into (i.e., not too crowded or with a lot of space between the seats), there were no restaurants that came to mind.
One interesting thing about Okayama is that there is an Aeon Mall next to the station. Aeon malls are usually located in the suburbs, but Okayama’s is right in front of the station. We find it convenient to eat at the food court there. However, there are a lot of other people who feel the same way, and the place is very crowded. So we did not dare to go there.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
I walked along the north exit side of Okayama Station, where relatively few people come and go. Just in front of the station, across the traffic circle, I found a Korean chicken shop.
I was a bit surprised to find a Korean chicken place with a strong casual element in a prime location in front of a terminal station where the Shinkansen bullet train stops. But what was more surprising was the sign that said, “All you can eat and drink for 30 minutes for 1,500 yen. What? This restaurant offers an all-you-can-eat buffet?
The timing of “30 minutes” is interesting. It is perfect for families like ours who plan to stop and then go somewhere else. If it was “all-you-can-eat for 60 minutes,” I would have found it too much of a hassle and would not have thought of entering the restaurant.
The interior of the restaurant is very casual. At night, it seems to be a place where you can casually have a drink alone.
When we used the restaurant for lunch, we did not want to relax as it was a short 30-minute fight. Rather, we prefer this environment where we can concentrate on eating.
The restaurant opens at 12:00. We entered the restaurant just after it opened, so there were no other customers.
Even with the 30-minute all-you-can-eat Korean chicken, the price of 1,500 yen is a tricky number, both high and low.
For example, if you were to buy fried chicken at a supermarket deli, how much could you buy with 1,500 yen per person? You could probably buy more than you could eat.
The reason this restaurant’s price is so reasonable is that it includes all-you-can-drink soft drinks.
If the all-you-can-drink is included, I would be satisfied with this price.I would like to see the all-you-can-eat price reduced to 1,000 yen, just for tap water.But that would not be good for the restaurant’s business.
The following eight types of Korean chicken are eligible for the all-you-can-eat program.
Crispy Chicken, Yangyom Chicken, Gochu Mayo Chicken, Snow Cheese Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken, Honey Garlic Butter Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, and Terimayo Chicken.
The waitress explained that each person was served one plate at a time, and that each plate had two pieces of Korean chicken on it, and that each piece could be a different flavor.
In other words, if my wife and I ordered, we would get two plates with four pieces of four flavors of fried chicken.
If two people order different flavors of fried food, the fried food will arrive late. We only have 30 minutes, so we have to order in the most efficient way for the restaurant or we will run out of time.
We discussed this together, but as soon as we placed our first order, we both fell behind and used up the entire 30 minutes without placing our order together.
Unlike me, Ishi is the kind of person who rushes into things like this without trying to make a plan. And he has no “all-you-can-eat restaurant reservations” at all. I am more of a picky eater and wonder if I will bother the waiter if I order refills too often. I am more concerned about this and that, and I wonder if I will bother the waiter if I refill my food too often. So I am not good at eating as many second helpings as I can.
Lately I have begun to feel embarrassed that it is not respectable for a fat old man to keep getting second helpings in an all-you-can-eat restaurant. If you are young, you can enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet whether you are skinny or fat, but if you are old and eat as much as you can, you look kind of uncool.
It took more than five minutes from the time we first ordered for two pieces of fried chicken to be served to our table. Looking at the cooking area, I saw that they deep fried the karaage, then heated up a pan and cooked something. What? Isn’t the sauce quickly poured over the fried food and then it’s ready to be served?
Seeing this scene, we involuntarily checked our watches and looked at each other’s faces. We thought, “Oh no, if it takes more than five minutes per order, we won’t be able to eat until we’re full.
But it was only the first time that they prepared our food carefully, and from the second order on, the food was served immediately by seasoning the fried food that had been left to fry. Oh, I was surprised. Also, the restaurant is very conscientious, as the 30-minute timer started after the first dish arrived on the table.
Even though it is fried, the temperature is well controlled and the karaage is hot and each piece is large and satisfying. If you like fried food, you will be happy to know that you can eat a whole meal of it! If you like fried food, you will be happy to know that you can eat a whole plate of it. After all, it is so much easier to eat as much as you can without worrying about the cost than it is to pay for each plate.
In the end, we both ate everything, ordered more of what we liked, and thought “I’m almost satisfied” when our 30 minutes was up. It was the perfect size for us, and we were very happy with the all-you-can-eat experience.
However, the all-you-can-eat effect lasted until the end of Golden Week for my wife and I. The Korean chicken was quite tasty and we had a lot of fun with it. Korean chicken is quite tasty and fried, so it fills you up. For several days after eating it, we were not “hungry” for a long time. Ishi said he had an “upset stomach”. That’s good, because I could eat Korean chicken until I was full.
We discussed this together, but as soon as we placed our first order, we both fell behind and used up the entire 30 minutes without placing our orders together.
Unlike me, Ishi is the kind of person who rushes into things like this without trying to make a plan. And he has no “all-you-can-eat restaurant reservations” at all. I am more of a picky eater and wonder if I will bother the waiter if I order refills too often. I am more concerned about this and that, and I wonder if I will bother the waiter if I refill my food too often. So I am not good at eating as many second helpings as I can.
Lately I have begun to feel embarrassed that it is not respectable for a fat old man to keep getting second helpings in an all-you-can-eat restaurant. If you are young, you can enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet whether you are skinny or fat, but if you are old and eat as much as you can, you look kind of uncool.
(2023.05.03)
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