Saizeriya

The best restaurant for me is Saizeriya. I know that Saizeriya is regarded as either a great place or a terrible place depending on whom you ask. For a long time, I was quite satisfied with only eating Saizeriya and only recently have I truly started finding value in going to various kinds of restaurants in order to enjoy the overall experience. I have been able to start going down this road of culinary discovery with the help of my friends who are far more obsessed with food, and I’m grateful for it. However, there are times when I am alone and seek some comfort food for a low price and this is where Saizeriya comes into play.

The first point that everyone focuses on with regards to Saizeriya is the price. Virtually all of the items that I’ve come across on the menu are under 1,000 yen. This is key for a lot of people. There is a drink bar available as well. This is important, because, although it is common at many other family restaurants, it flows very well to another aspect of Saizeriya that is extremely key and that is the portion size.

Saizeriya offers a decent portion size with most of their food. The dishes that are available are quite filling just on their own for a normal person in Japan. Of course, they are not enough for someone like me but I can see that many people simply order one dish and seem to be quite happy with it. As an American, one thing that I find lacking is the smaller portion sizes in a lot of restaurants. Of course the solution is to just buy more food and certainly not anything to do with moderation, however most restaurants’ prices don’t allow you to simply just buy more food without feeling a bit of guilt. Most restaurants that are not Saizeriya, that is.

Saizeriya has good portion sizes at a good price but that is not actually its only strength. Let’s talk about the most important aspect of a restaurant and that is the food. The food is not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, however it is usually very satisfying and has ingredients that are at least meant to resemble those which might be available at a much more expensive restaurant. There are a good amount of variations found within each type of dish and these variations often involve different types of interesting and seemingly fresh toppings. There is a good selection of both pasta and meat based dishes and there are plenty of side dishes and appetizer size dishes for those who are not so hungry. There is even a decent selection of very inexpensive wine. The wine is, of course, not of a great quality but not everyone drinks in order to taste something fine and high class.

What really sold Saizeriya to me was the access to Tabasco. I love spicy food but the truth is in Japan I have not been able to easily access spicy food. I have gone to many restaurants that are touted as being spicy such as Nakamoto Ramen or Coco Ichiban but they are not spicy to me. However, having access to two or three Tabasco bottles does satisfy me a bit. Before you ask, yes I can in fact still taste the food after I cover it with one bottle of Tabasco. It’s only more delicious. Saizeriya is also a good place to practice increasing your tolerance for spice. I recommend it!

Ivan

Vocabulary

comfort food (n) - food that is satisfying because it is prepared in a simple or traditional way and reminds you of home, family, or friends
portion size (n) - the amount of a food or drink that is generally served
lacking (adj.) - not having any or enough of something that is needed or wanted
fine (adj.) - expensive and of high quality
tout (v) - to talk about (something or someone) as being very good, effective, skillful, etc.