I am allergic to shellfish so I am always concerned when a hotel package includes meals with set menus. This is our Japanese dinner in the hotel, seated on mats on the floor, shoes left outside the door and all very nice, but a Fear Factor experience for someone allergic to shellfish.This long meal began with miso soup and the opportunity to buy wine and saki. Alcohol was not included in the cost of our meal. My husband made a blind stab at ordering a bottle of red wine and came out OK on the cost, about $30. After the soup came several sorts of sushi. Now I can (and do) eat raw fish, but we were very careful to try to determine which items had shellfish. Included was also a taste of absolutely raw beef. Fine, but I prefer a little fire under mine. We then had a roasted fish, served whole. A local speciality, it was fresh from Lake Ashi. Very fresh.
Our main course, cooked in front of us was beef cooked in a large pot with onions and other vegetables. I was absolutely itching to trim the fat off the meat prior to cooking, but had no chance. The quanity of fat on the beef made it very hard for us to eat. You can't trim meat when you only have chop sticks. Rather quickly we grew tired of sitting on the floor, backs ached and legs fell asleep. We aren't good at this! The wine made us warm and the smells of the cooking meat made us hungry.
A small serving of custard was presented to us. OK, so I thought. I can eat that. Husband (my official food taster) found a large shrimp in the custard. No custard for me!
We each had a small pot of white rice. I knew better than to put any sauce on it at all. Nothing! Other Americans were hunting for soy sauce and asking for it. Doctoring up your rice is not done in Japan and is considered quite an insult to your hosts.
Finally cooked, if briefly, the meal and onions were served. It wasn't cut up at all. We each were given a sizeable hunk. A luxury in Japan. My technique was far from skilled or beautiful as I tried to separate the meat from fat. Likely a Japanese 3 year old could do better! Some of the guests (all non-Japanese) went at the task bare handed.
There was a sweet for dessert. Frankly we nearly fled the dining room when the meal was over. Tired we were of sitting so and not eating much of what was served to us. I was disappointed in myself for not doing better with the food. It takes practice and patience. My advice is to avoid set menu meals that are done for tourists.