In the next class we are going to talk about different ways of eating including: vegetarianism, bin-diving, underground restaurants, street food, unusual recipes and much more!.
Watch this VIDEO about an illegal underground restuarant in London. Then answer ONE question below.
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1. What was something interesting you noticed about this "restaurant"?
2. Have you ever been to an alternative-style restaurant? Tell us about it!
3. Why do you think underground restaurants are popular recently?
4. Do you know of any interesting eating trends in Japan or abroad?
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I wanna answer quwstion1. What I thought from the video is that the underground restaurant is like home party. People are having a dinner and a party at the same time, and it looked nice. The interesting thing was that both of guests who got the interview did not know that the underground restaurant was illegal. They might think that they were enjoying dinner as they do in the regular restaurant.
ReplyDeleteRina T1
Q4
ReplyDeleteAn interesting restaurant I've heard of is a Ninja restaurant in Japan. It features a ninja castle. There are many tricks in the building and magicians in ninja outfit show you magic.
Kento T1
Q1
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that those guests were actually willing to pay 50 dollars each when they could have had a proper meal at a proper restaurant with that money.
Manabu T1
To Q2
ReplyDeleteI've been to an alternative-style izakaya or bar in Shinjyuku. They look like an old-type Japanese cyandy store. Each of the rooms has good-and-old-day posters on the wall so that we feel as if we were time-travelers in the Showa period (maybe the 1960s). That Showa concept is reflected also in their menu. There are drink and food which we hardly see nowadays. Moreover, the waiters walk around the rooms and give us candys, jelly and snacks for free! If you're interested, please ask me farther information.
Minami T1
I'd like to answer #1. Here are two interesting things. First the hostes invites people who have never met for a social and dinner party. Second hostes plans funny games and the gusets enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteT1 Akiko
I chose Q3; I think
ReplyDelete1)people are getting bored with today's "ordenary" style restaurants. Most of us can easily enjoy different kinds of cuisines or foods whenever&wherever we want.In such a rich society, people seek more exciting and interesting eating style.
2)people are trying to find an opportunity to get mixed with somebody else. Our society are losing face-to-face relationship as it develops.People feel lonely and want to keep in touch with others. So the reason for the popularlity of underground restaurants reflects how people feel empty in their real world.
Tomomi(s)T1
Question #1:
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that this restaurant acted as a social gathering of sorts. It wasn't something I expected from an "illegal" "underground" restaurant. Customers seemed to come for the sake of meeting new people, and the host is encouraging these chance meetings.
Asako T1
To #4 (and actually a bit about #3 too):
ReplyDeleteI just heard an interview on the radio with a guy in the UK running another supper club...
http://jamesramsden.wordpress.com/the-secret-larder/
Apparently the club is busy with full booked days, as you can see in the reservation list below. They also said in the show that there are many "underground restaurants" in the US and Argentina. But I remember I felt a bit strange about the interview itself because he's promoting his restaurant even though he fully recognizes its legal status.
I think people are always trying to be new, sometimes extreme, to be cool and fashionable in any case. Seems to me that this is one of such examples. It could be a good opportunity both for owners and guests to encounter and explore new food and people.
Kaori
My answer to #4.
ReplyDeleteI went on exchange to Canada last year and I found it very interesting that most of the restaurants had menu for vegans.
I don't think there are many restaurants that have vegan menu in Japan.
Also, I met some people who were vegetarians and most of the case, they were from Europe.
So, I thought vegetariansm is a trend in Western countries.
Yuri N. T1
My answer to #3.
ReplyDeleteI think people are just enjoying the funny time at the underground restaurant and do not care it is legal or not. They just like the place where they can mingle with others and have a enjoyable time.
And I think what make the restaurant attractive is that it is not ruled by the law and do not have to (actually, have to) obey it. So the underground restaurant can have much funnier contents than ordinaly restaurant.
Sorry, the comment above is mine.
ReplyDeleteMana T1
Q3
ReplyDeleteAs the lady in the video said, there are not many places where you can meet and mingle with strangers. and you cannot always set up a big party like this one by yourself just to do that. so underground restaurant is a easier way of meeting and getting to know new people.
Yurika
My answer to #3
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why underground restaurant is so popular is because it is more like a party rather than a restaurant. So people are enjoying interacting with other people. I guess these people never thought it is a illegal thing and their conception of the restaurant is where they can have fun and socialize themselves.
T1 Ayumi
I would like to choose Q1.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that the pourpose of going there is different from one of going to normal restaurants. People usually go to a restaurant in order to have nice food, but people who go to the underground restaurant wants to meet new people rather than have nice meal.
Satomi Yoneyama T1
I'll answer question #1.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that people who gather the restaurant not for food but for meeting new people. I thought it interesting because "restaurant" is originally the place for food.
Satomi.K T1
I'd like to answer Question#1. I think the dish serverd at the underground restaurant is interesting. It is a bit weird dish, but can work as a good topic of conversation between guests who meet for the first time. I also interested in the guests. Some of them wear a mask, and it makes me think that the restraunt is really "illegal."
ReplyDeleteI would like to answer Q2.
ReplyDeleteI have been to an alternative-style bar in Nagoya, my home town. The bar's image is a prison. If you enter the bar, first you are handcuffed and are taken to a room like a prison by a clerk disguised as a police officer. While also you are drinking, there are many entertainments. For example, a horrible escaped prisoner may come into your private room.
Yusuke T1
Q3
ReplyDeleteThe video defied my prediction about underground restaurant. I thought underground restaurants is gloomy, dismal, and the guests are willing to violate the law. As already stated above, however, people in the dinner party are laughing, smiling, chatting happily with others, and don't know that they violate the law. What surprised me most is that they don't hesitate their face to be in the video dispite the illegality.
Ayano
Q3
ReplyDeleteI think underground restaurants are gaining popularity because they provide guests with chances to get to know with new people and spend a good time. Nowadays, our society is what is called Internet society, where people socialize with others online most of the time. As human relationship is becoming virtual and less intimate in such a society, people look for more opportunities for face-to-face communication. I feel that this kind of restaurants are far better and healthier than bars or clubs, where many young people just get drunk and crazy.
Mika.K T1
#3
ReplyDeleteWhy underground restaurants are getting popular is that they help guests meet new people in more relaxed atomosphere. Nobody knows who these guests are therefore people have less pressure to make themselves look better. In my opinion these restaurants are becoming sanctuary for people who always have to care what other people think about them because they let guests enjoy silly games, conversations and foods without caring for their social status.
Megumi T1
My answer to Q1: A word "restaurant" reminds me of a place where we eat delicious food. But what I watched in this video is different from usual restaurants. The guests seem to be enjoying games rather than dishes. (I was suprised that one lady changed the pitch of her voice by inhaling a gas!)
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, my hometown doesn't have a funny resturant like this one.
Takashi Ueno T1
Q1
ReplyDeleteThe style of the restaurant is different from my image of illegal underground restaurant. It is interesting that customers themselves don't know the restaurant is illegal. It's only the place for meeting new friends and enjoying party together. I wonder what point is illegal about this kind of restaurants.
Yumi T1
My answer to Q1
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that people don't come to the "restaurant" for food and they pay fifty dollars. I think the illegal restaurant should be kept illegal because people love it for its homey and relaxed atmosphere so that they can get to know each other.
Haruka T1
Q4
ReplyDeleteI watched an interesting restaurant on TV. It's like normal pub in appearance, but it serves only place to cook, eat and drink. The guests have to make their dishes and drinks. All the implement that is required for cooking ,including food stuff, is prepared. So they just cook there.
It's getting popular recently, used for a party what's called Gokon.
T1 Yuri mitata
my answer to Q1
ReplyDeleteI had a weird feeling after watching this video because I couldn't understand why these guests paid 50 dollars for the party. Eating the 'with tapioca masquerading as frog spawn' can be a special experience, but apparently it doesn't deserve 50 dollars, playing games does't either.
That means people coming to this party pay their money for being ahead of the trend. That's really interesting.
Takako, T1
Q4
ReplyDeleteI heard about a goast restaurant in Tokyo. The restaurant is dim and looks like a hauted house. Waitresses are dressed like goasts, wearing white clothes.
T1 Tomomi.A
Q2
ReplyDeleteI guess it's the same as the one stated above, but I've also been to an alternative-style restaurant which was entirely designed under the concept of prison. I went to the one in Shinjuku and the name of the restaurant was The Lock Up. As far as I am concerned, it's a nationwide chain. It was definitely an odd experience to go there because, as soon as my name was called, the waitress dressed up like a police officer said something like "We're sorry, but you're sentenced to life in prison" and I was taken to jail (or something like it) in handcuffs. All the things on menu were given weird names, for instance, there was a cocktail called "time bomb" and it even came in a beaker like the ones used in scientific experiments. Craziness. I really enjoyed it, though.
Masaru T1
I will answer #1 question. Most of the people in this restaurant wear masks or face paintings like a Halloween. And they use leaves and mechanical tools rather than plates and forks.
ReplyDeleteSatomi YOSHI T1
My answer to #3:
ReplyDeleteI think underground restaurants are popular recently because people want to meet new people. People have less and less chances to get new friendship, and sometimes feel lonely. I feel the same thing when I see the customers of my parent's cafe(it's perfectly legal though) everyday. They are all friends now, but they didn't know each other before they started to haunt there.
Natsuki T1
My answer to Q4;
ReplyDeleteWhat I know is not exactly eating trend but new product named ai-to(I eat). This looks and tastes real dishes like Sukiyaki or grilled fish, but melts in the mouth quickly. This is for hospital patients.
I thought it was interesting and wonderful because even people have difficulties in eating can enjoy ordinal meals.
Ayako T1
My answer to Question 3:
ReplyDeleteUnderground restaurants are popular recently just because people of modern life feel satiated with food, and what they need in a meal may not be good food but special atmosphere with special, even odd friends that can make them know that they are still existing and there are still things to help them laugh.
Van T1
Q4,
ReplyDeleteThere's a Yurei Izakaya in Kichijouji, where the clerks are dressed up like ghosts and the interiors of the restaurant reminds of a cemetery. Plus, the name f the dishes are unique, such as 'hell grilled chiken'
I'd answer question four.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I think, Japanese people became more interested in local food. For example, B-1 grand prix, contest for famous regional foods in Japan. Nowadays, many towns try to attract visitors by appealing its unique local cuisine.
NodokaT1
Q1,
ReplyDeleteI can't understand British accent well but I see they eating frog-looking creatures on a leaf with screw drivers. I demand an explanation.
Tatshiro T1