I often have lunch with foreign visitors, and I’ve noticed some points. At a Japanese meal shop, they primarily serve a fixed meal which includes rice, miso soup, fish or meat, and vegetables. The chef set up the menu based on the popular food and price. The set menu enables the restaurant to serve meals efficiently and quickly.

However, some foreign guests feel uncomfortable about the way all meals come at the same time. They complain about the set menu because they usually order food by the way it is cooked, choosing from several options, and specifying how they are seasoned and flavored.

For example, it is not acceptable to replace rice with soba noodles, or miso soup with potage, the meat should be cooked medium-rare.  They have no choice of salad dressing.  They seem to feel that they were forced to eat the menu they had not ordered.

A fixed meal is a part of Japanese food culture. It is well-balanced in terms of nutrition, featuring a main meal (fish or meat), vegetables, rice, and soup. For the restaurant, they need to accommodate a large number of guests at lunchtime and serve them efficiently. Also, a beef steak has a way of cooking, such as rare, medium-rare, or well done, but a fish is cooked the same. They believe that Japanese-style dressing using sesame or soy sauce is the best for Japanese cuisine.

Having said that, “once in Rome, Romans do as Romans, many Japanese restaurants do not meet the increasing demand of vegetarian and vegan tourists. They do not prepare the English or other-language menu, and some just list “side dishes” without providing detailed information. Japanese restaurants may need to understand how foreign visitors perceive the fixed-meal culture.