Foodies traveling to Japan for the first time will want to download this nifty little ebook to their smartphones before traveling. Food & Drink in Japan is an essential glossary and phrasebook that includes over 600 food words and 100 phrases that any visitor is sure to encounter while dining out in Japan. Unlike other glossaries that lump all food words together and list them alphabetically, Food & Drink in Japan groups food words by themes which make it easier to refer to as you go through the sequence of eating at a restaurant (for instance, you will want to pull up words for asking about non-smoking seating before you will need the words about allergens in specific menu items). Vocabulary words are written in kanji, hiragana or katakana, whichever is the most common use for that word. You can point to these if you are too shy to use the romaji guide beside it.
Worth noting is the pretty extensive word list for fish and seafood, many of which I am unfamiliar with even after living in Japan for years.
If you would like to try the various attractive looking onigiri (rice balls or triangles) or appetizing oden (stewed items) commonly found in convenience stores, supermarkets and shopping streets, this ebook has got your covered. The onigiri section lists the various popular fillings/types and the oden section details what you would usually find sitting in the stew.
Vegans and vegetarians will appreciate the colored marks beside menu items that are most likely vegan or vegetarian but visitors are cautioned to confirm the absence of fish stock or meat garnishes as recipes may vary.
At 45 pages, Food & Drink in Japan packs in indispensable references on etiquette, table manners, restaurant culture, and tips on how to eat sushi and noodles.
This ebook traces its history back to the days before smartphones, when Japan's mobile phones used a content delivery system called i-mode. Tango Town was an i-mode project to help foreigners learn Japanese and included clever tools to help users with vocabulary, grammar, and culture. This ebook distills the best of Tango Town and has been updated and expanded to reflect the latest trends.
Food & Drink in Japan is available at select online retailers listed on this link.
