Episode 127 - Food, Inns and Tradition

This photo shows part of a full Japanese traditional dinner set my family had during our 2003 Hokkaido journey.

Japanese hotels or ryokans usually provide dinners to their guests. At the time a reservation is made, a guest will be asked whether he wishes to have 1. "pure staying" - means a guest room only; or 2. "one stay one eating" - means a guest room plus dinner; or 3. "one stay two eatings" - means a guest room plus dinner and breakfast.

In western style hotels, dinners or breakfasts are usually served, in the form of buffets, in the main restaurants of the hotels. However, in traditional Japanese ryokans or hotels with Japanese style rooms, the dinners as provided can be very special.

1. The dinner time is decided by the guest;
2. It is served inside the room of the guest.
3. As you can see from the photo, a traditional dinner set is really great and you can enjoy the best food of the season in one go.

A dinner set like this is quite expensive but it is worth trying if you have not had one before.

Traditional Japanese breakfast is, however, not very much impressive, unless you love to have rice in the morning.