6 Things About Japanese Restaurants That New Hampshire Should Adopt

When you have an experience so out of your comfort zone, like the one I had in Japan, it's hard to put into words all that I learned about the Japanese people and their culture.

We went out to eat at many different restaurants, as you do when you're on vacation and here are some things, in no particular order, that New Hampshire restaurants should consider adopting from the Land of the Rising Sun.

When in Japan, you have to go to a sushi restaurant. It's where the best suhi in the world lives. After we sat down at this one particular restaurant, we were given an iPad to make our choices for food. Each dish, after it was ready, was delivered to the table on a conveyer belt. Your iPad would give you a happy little notification that your food has arrived.

If you grew up like me (in other words, with no money) you probably have had your share of ramen noodles and it was probably not the best food ever, to put it mildly.  That is not the case with real, Japanese ramen. This is a staple food for tourists and locals alike. The bowl has quality ingredients and will leave you feeling full and good about what you just put into your body.

Every place we made a visit to gave us hand towels so we could wash our hands before we ate.  Most of the time, the towels were disposable, but they were consistently in every place we went.  This is just one of the clean habits that Japan has embedded into their culture.

Most every restaurant we went into had a screen right as you walk in with the menu selections on it.  You picked what you wanted, pay for it, then you got seated and served. It's a very smart idea for restaurant owners.  That whole "chew and screw" thing does not happen in Japan.

We were served a salad or vegetables at every restaurant, no matter what time of day it was. Japan's average longevity is a much higher number than America, so I'm going to eat my veggies, even with my toast and eggs.

Yup, that's right.  In Japan, there is no tipping for anything, especially in restaurants.  I have to admit, I had to get used to that one.  The meals were always really good and even if you asked about giving a tip, the servers would decline. I'm assuming that they are paid well enough so they don't "need" the tips, maybe?  Also, service is their THING, so they don't expect a tip for a job well done.

To say that visiting Japan was an amazing experience is an understatement.  At some point, I'll have to tell you about the excellent service I experienced everywhere I went and the obsession with the toilets, but I'll save those for another day.