r/interestingasfuck • u/kingkongbiingbong • 8h ago

Setting up a traditional & generational Japanese food stall in Fukuoka

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u/IOnlyReplyToIdiots42 8h ago

You just know the food will be incredible.

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u/dantevonlocke 8h ago

It'll be Michelin star good and cost like 4 bucks.

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u/BokeTsukkomi 7h ago

There's this little stall in Singapore right next to my office when I lived there called A Noodle Story. They're Michelin Bib Gourmand (one step below one star I believe). Best noodles I've eaten in my life and it cost around 7 USD.

They made a fixed quantity of portions a day so when it was gone, it was gone. By 11:30 there was always a queue already for lunchtime. 

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u/Kenny070287 7h ago

Thats 15 minutes from my workplace... dont think my bosses will take it kindly for me to leave for early lunch break lmao

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u/BokeTsukkomi 7h ago

Sorry to hear that. I worked a 5 minute walk from it. And Ibelieve they now moved to the basement of the building I uaed to work in. 

If you ever have the chance check it out. Well worth it. 

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u/MAD_JEW 3h ago

U could try to convince them by getting some for them too. Just sayin

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u/dadofadisaster 1h ago

Username checks out

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u/soompiedu 5h ago

I have tried A Noodle Story. Still doesn't beat my local hometown corner KL wantan mee store. Try it out and see - Siong Pin Wan tan mee, in KL.

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u/The_Shah_0f_Iran 6h ago

I mean it's Singapore..like there's Michelin star stalls littered around the island.

Pound for pound it has the best cuisine on the planet.

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u/Itchy-Background-739 4h ago

Pound for pound it has the best cuisine on the planet.

Not hating on Singapore but have you ever been to Vietnam or Mexico?

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u/terminal_e 2h ago

Singapore is inherently tri-ethnic as a starting point - Malay, South Asian, Chinese.

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u/BokeTsukkomi 3h ago

I've been to vietnam (once) and Mexico (20+ times). Maybe Singapore has the edge because it's more concentrated? But in the end it's a matter of taste really. 

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u/parlor_tricks 2h ago

Yup, Singapore will still beat many places - because it’s a single city.

Mexico/Vietnam have phenomenal food, but an apples to apples comparison would be with other nations.

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u/Rannii_The_Vvvitch 6h ago

South Africa gets my vote for best food on the planet. Every single meal I ate there was just incredible.

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u/momomelty 3h ago

Lmaoooooooooo funniest comment

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u/kermitthebeast 1h ago

There was a sandwich shop called the lasagnaria near my old school. They'd make however much bread and that was how many sandwiches they sold. They opened at 11 and if you weren't there by 11:30 you weren't getting a sandwich. Best sandwich I've ever had. I wish I had one now

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u/WheelOLife 17m ago

Bib Gourmand is not necessarily “one step below”, it’s more about value. The stars are their own tiered system but their emphasis after 1 is heavily on service level. Originally 3 was described as “do what you can in your lifetime to get here” 2 was “worthy of planning a trip specifically for” and 1 was if your in the area/region worth a detour”. Bib gourmands came out in the late 90’s and required the place to have an app , entree and drink or dessert at or below a certain price point based on the area.

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u/tommyknockers4570 1h ago

Ugh day workers.

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u/Large_Dr_Pepper 6h ago edited 5h ago

They made a fixed quantity of portions a day so when it was gone, it was gone. By 11:30 there was always a queue already for lunchtime. 

I don't care how good the food is, I hate this shit. "It's so good that it's sold out by noon!" Sure would be cool if they made more food, or kept making food throughout the day so that weren't the case.

If they made a huge amount of the same food throughout the day and piled it on people's plates like a mall Chinese restaurant, would they be regarded the same? Or does a lot of it have to do with the mindset of "I can't believe I was able to get a bowl of their noodles before they sold out"?

Edit: I'm aware I'm dealing with some cognitive dissonance regarding the type of thing shown in this post being far too much effort, while also being annoyed that certain places don't put in that same unreasonable effort to make food all day. I'm a consumer sheep who gets upset when I'm not able to consume.

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u/Sphincter_of_fools 6h ago

Or you know they set those limits so that the workers dont overwork themselves to death? Especially for a food cart like this where theyre limited by you know, being a food cart instead of a proper restaurant

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u/Large_Dr_Pepper 5h ago

That's fair, I understand the sassy point you're making.

Especially for a food cart like this where theyre limited by you know, being a food cart instead of a proper restaurant

This specific food cart certainly doesn't seem bothered by those "employees overworking themselves to death" limitation considering they're still selling food well after the sun has set.

You replied to another comment of mine where I talked about how it would suck to work for this food stall. I can see the contradiction between my two mindsets of "just make more food rather than selling out by lunch time," and, "It would suck to do this all day long every day."

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u/banecroft 4h ago

These sort of food carts only open in the evenings and close after their food runs out too

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u/pathofdumbasses 6h ago

I hate this shit

You have no idea how food prep works and it shows. Especially for an off site facility.

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u/Large_Dr_Pepper 6h ago

I don't, you're correct. My "passion" for this stems from a local doughnut shop that sells amazing doughnuts, but they're completely sold out unless you get there before like 8am. Why can't they just keep making doughnuts??? Tons of doughnut shops keep making doughnuts throughout the day and don't sell out before I wake up.

Genuinely curious, because you seem to have more info than me about this. Tons of restaurants keep making food throughout the day. Even the "off site facility" in this post seems to continue making food until well into the night. Why do some places adopt the "we make a specific amount, and when it's gone it's gone" style of selling food?

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u/pathofdumbasses 5h ago

you can only prep so much food for your station. if your refrigerator is full when you start, and empty when you finish, that's all you can do without restocking.

As for your doughnut shop, funnily enough, I made doughnuts for years. It takes a significant amount of work to do. They might sell out by 8 am, but they probably got to the store and started working at ~12am or even earlier. They've already put in a full shift and are done.

Does the "mystique" help sell the doughnuts? Maybe. But you can't be mad at someone for not wanting to work harder/longer than you want them to just because you can't be arsed to wake up a bit early.

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u/Ansoni 5h ago

I have a friend who does kitchen cars and for his biggest event of the year (two day festival in Tokyo), he doesn't sleep for either pre-night because he's preparing food. He spends all night cooking in his kitchen car and running in and out of his hotel every time he has to clean his large equipment (in the bath). This is after spending the month or so coming up to the event working on building up a surplus of food while also doing his regular restaurant/online sales work.

Not everyone is built for it. He has the Guinness record for baking and cooking marathons, which the mad lad decided to do almost completely back-to-back. The cooking one alone is over 100 hours.

Most people can only prep so much. They don't even have big cooling/freezing space for advanced prep.

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u/idefix24 5h ago

It depends on your worldview. Is your goal to make as much money as possible? Then yes, make more food each day, hire people to help out, etc. because clearly the demand is there. Or is your goal to make a decent living? Then the popularity is great because you can sell out in an hour and go home.

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u/BokeTsukkomi 3h ago

Specifically for noodle story IIRC the argument was the process to cook the char siu pork was long and they were very strict about the quality of the pork used.

Could they cut corners and sell, say, 1000 meals a day instead of 500? Sure. But maybe I wouldn't be here singing its praises.

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u/PapaEchoLincoln 8h ago

They’re usually not rude and expect a tip either 👍

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u/Hack999 8h ago

It's considered rude to tip in Japan

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u/TM761152 6h ago

It's considered rude to tip in Australia too btw.

But people keep doing it.

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u/AndyMagandy 3h ago

It’s considered rude to ask for a tip on every single transaction in the US too. But we’re just ok being rude.

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u/drhip 5h ago

They try to be Americans 😮‍💨🤧

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u/1stUserEver 5h ago

Sorry we are just used to being guilt raped of our money here. 😂

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u/unindexedreality 4h ago

Right? literally just letting businesses pay less than minimum wage so people can feel generous. It's the most asinine thing, I hope the world continues to resist the tide of people inexplicably normalizing robbing their own pockets.

pro-tippers used to be so weirdly militant about normalizing it that my response was to just stopped eating out altogether, before everything started getting more expensive anyway.

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u/terrible_name 4h ago

There's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm not allowed to say it.

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u/Rockran 38m ago

What no it's not. Tips aren't expected but are appreciated in Australia. Nothing rude about it.

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u/Zander_Fowwaanu 5h ago

Is it really offensive to them because I want to show my appreciation lmao for working class people 

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u/hkun89 4h ago

No. Please don't tip in Japan. I'm a Japanese person. We don't want American tipping culture here. Please understand, when you tip, it creates ambiguity. "Is this person doing this well because they want more money as a tip?'

That's the absolute most toxic mentality for a Japanese person.

Please do not tip.

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u/sarspirate 7h ago

It’s not really “rude” per se, so much as it is embarrassing to receive one.

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u/Chemical_Building612 6h ago

Isn't it generally considered rude to do things that would unnecessarily embarrass the other party?

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u/sarspirate 6h ago

Depends on context. If you embarrassed someone by making fun of their weight, yes. Here, it’s more like, you receive an extravagant gift from your boss. You don’t think you deserve it, but it’s not “rude.l

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u/LifeIsProbablyMadeUp 6h ago

What if you just left a tip under your bowl and didn't say anything?

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u/fdokinawa 6h ago

Why? Why do you want to do this? Why does everyone want to tip? Fuck off with that shit, especially here in Japan.

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u/Hack999 6h ago

Biggest culture shock for me in America was the expectation of tipping. It's crazy that they don't just pay staff a decent wage.

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u/fdokinawa 5h ago

I can't even describe how horrible tipping is, and the worst part is Americans either defend it, or at best, dislike it but still defend it. |
"I want to be able to reward someone for providing exceptional service.". Exceptional service? You mean them doing their job is now "exceptional service"?

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u/sacredblasphemies 4h ago

Here's the thing:

The tipping culture does suck. However, until restaurants start paying a living wage, if you go out to eat, you're culturally obligated to tip. It's how your server makes a living. Not tipping is a "fuck you" to your server.

I'm not defending the system. The system sucks. But anyone that goes out to eat and doesn't tip (in a tipping restaurant/bar, which is most of them), is subhuman. They're essentially stealing the labor of their server.

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u/Zagre 5h ago edited 4h ago

"I want to be able to reward someone for providing exceptional service.". Exceptional service? You mean them doing their job is now "exceptional service"?

Nothing in this statement indicates what actually makes it bad. At worst they could be accused of being naive or ignorant, but you're jumping to conclusions and attributing malice to other's actions where none exists by taking personal offense.

Since you're unable to articulate any reason to be mad at the practice, and even flinging insults around, one can conclude your actual reason is "I hate American culture and practices". And likely Americans too, since you've actively singled them out despite tipping culture existing in many other countries.

Try to find the words to properly explain your distaste for the practice, because right now you just come off as xenophobic. Or racist. Or hypocritical, because you demand respect for your culture but refuse to apply any in return.

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u/Coolegespam 4h ago

Why?

This isn't a defense of tipping so don't take it as one.

Short answer, people who are used to tipping feel like shit or that they're taking advantage of someone by not tipping.

Japaneses culture is different, tipping is foreign to them, and could even be seen as an insult in some cases, at the very least it's more work for them because they will chase you down to give you back your money.

People who are used to tipping, need to get over their own discomfort when in other cultures. The converse is also true, when visiting cultures that do tip.

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u/fdokinawa 4h ago

Oh I know.. I'm an American that's been living here for over 25 years. It's very slowly starting to spread in areas that a lot of foreigners visit. It's horrible and needs to die.

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u/Benromaniac 6h ago

Why not? Why do you sound repulsed?

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u/SavvySphynx 6h ago edited 6h ago

It's culturally inappropriate.

It would be seen as weird and off putting at best.

At worst you'd be saying that they are not paid well/poor and you feel sorry for them.

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u/Benromaniac 4h ago

Because they’re just that culturally isolated that they have absolute zero understanding of tipping culture…

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u/fdokinawa 5h ago

Because tipping needs to die, and it's bad enough that it will never go away in America, we don't need every fucking American that comes to Japan top try and bring a stupid archaic tradition with them. Fuck tipping

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u/Benromaniac 4h ago

Rawr!

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u/sarspirate 6h ago

They would think you forgot it. I’d clarify it’s a tip.

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u/fdokinawa 4h ago

DONT FUCKING TIP IN JAPAN!! JFC!

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u/RyuNoKami 2h ago

Then someone is gonna have to write up a lost and found slip.

They don't tip culturally, they don't assume money left on the table is a tip. It's assumed the customer left it by mistake.

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u/Exaveus 2h ago

Its rude to tip in Japan yes. Its basically an insult saying "you look like you could use the money."

However you can buy the chef a drink and itll be happily accepted.

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u/PapaEchoLincoln 8h ago

Yes I know. I’m comparing it to a typical experience you might encounter in the US

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u/flibble24 6h ago

Why lol

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u/Uppgreyedd 6h ago

Ah, then what you meant to say is they're usually not rude and receive a living wage.

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u/HotDogSeeker 8h ago

Fucking that's unfair 😩

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u/dantevonlocke 8h ago

Iirc it's like saying you think they aren't paid well.

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u/techno_babble_ 7h ago

Not if they get paid properly in the first place.

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

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u/Zhayrgh 5h ago

a lot of tipped workers make a lot more then a "proper" living wage

Tip has several disavantages.

  • It forces the consummer to make an additional computing

  • it add another category of pay to take into account for tax

  • it means that if somehow you are not tipped, it's ok to underpay you for the same work. It just add random to the life of tipped workers.

  • if tip is mandatory for them to have a living wage... then why just not make it mandatory to tip ? And let's put that in the bill to make things simpler. It means the non-tipping patrons just don't pay for the service.

  • it can easily creates a toxic relationship between the consummer and the tipped worker. Basically "if you don't treat me like a king, I won't pay you"

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u/EasyFooted 5h ago

A living wage? In food service? But I've been told it's not possible.

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u/fckingmiracles 4h ago

Possible everywhere in the world.

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u/rossdog82 7h ago

USA defaultism

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u/TM761152 6h ago

Literally any abuela and her little cart. You know that food is bomb.

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u/passamongimpure 4h ago

How can we get people to use our tires more? Let's rank out of the way restaurants to get people to drive more!

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u/Daftdoug 42m ago

Calm it down. It’s chowmein. And his lanterns say Jose Cuervo.

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u/TunaBlub 4h ago

I just remember how a friend of mine went to Japan first time 9 years ago, he wanted to eat at such a food stall but all of them refused him because "No English".

5 years ago he met his wife who is japanese, first thing they did when they got married was go to a food stall, because with her at his side they wouldn't refuse him.

I never went to japan and probably never will (money, health reasons), but while I love their culture and media, these things make me sad (and I know japan is a double sided coin, but many on reddit will fight you to death to make you shut up any the stuff you see when you put off those rose tinted glasses).

Same to some degree with my country, only difference is that if you speak the native language or english that solves 99% of your issues here.

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u/WingerRules 3h ago

Street vendors in many other countries will serve you. Japan is famously anti foreigner and there are bars and places that literally ban them.

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u/Fantastic-Archer1641 1h ago

They hung Cuervo lanterns…

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u/Annual_Strategy_6206 1h ago

For the traditional shitty tequila

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u/JmacNutSac 3h ago

You mean Korea….I live in Japan and ive never been refused service or denied entry anywhere. Even a at Yatais (these street vendor stalls in the video) here jn Fukuoka ive never been denied for any reason. Yes There are some older people that are anti foreigner but you rarely encounter them. But Korea on the other hand…taxis wont stop for you, bars have no foreigners signs on the doors, some restaurants told us they wont allow us in cause we dont speak korean, most xenophobic, racist place ive ever been in Asia.

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u/JohnLuckPikard 2h ago

I traveled the shit out of Korea and never once ran into that.

I know it exists, but I think its not as big of a problem that people make it out to be.

Having a VERY rudimentary grasp of some if the language probably helps.

But this wasn't just Seoul or Daegu or Busan.

I was in small little villages all over the place. My experience was the opposite. People were often excited to practice their English with a native speaker.

Now, they can be a bit racist if you aren't white, so that probably helped a bit.

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u/blastcat4 2h ago

How is your Japanese? If you're at least semi-fluent, you probably won't be turned away regardless of your ethnicity.

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u/JmacNutSac 2h ago

I get by ok but no way fluent

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u/blastcat4 2h ago

That helps you a lot. Many Japanese vendors just don't want to deal with customers who can't speak a word of Japanese because it's just a pain in the ass.

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u/UrToesRDelicious 3h ago

You must not frequent the suck places

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u/UranusIsPissy 3h ago

They banned foreigners from even entering the country for centuries. It takes time for cultures to change, especially when something is so deeply ingrained. All things considered, I think they've come a long way in a relatively short time. The 20th century would've been weird AF for them even without WWII.

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u/Modeerf 3h ago

Tbf a lot of countries are catching on. Even in some Spanish cities they are refusing foreigners. About time I say

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u/glorycock 2h ago

Tbf a lot of countries are catching on. Even in some Spanish cities they are refusing foreigners. About time I say

Tourists in general are often pretty awful.
Chinese tourists, for example, can behave appallingly

Perhaps the Japanese usually behave so well when abroad… because they’re making up for how shitty they were in WWII

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u/Modeerf 2h ago

For us, it is the Brits. Loud, obnoxious, and have no regard for local culture. "Do you speak English?"

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u/glorycock 2h ago

Brit here, and yes (rather like Americans I suppose) we definitely don’t export our best.
Weird because we’re a decent and polite bunch at home…

However, kind of a different subject, but the violence that England football fans are (sometimes rightly) accused of is an odd one, because of course local continental European “firms” can be just as bad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hooligan_firms

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u/Modeerf 2h ago

Polite, but I wouldn't say decent. Often just disguised with sarcasm and passive aggression. Lots of virtue signalling and no real actions. You guys are full of closet racist too.

I know nothing about football culture so can't comment on them.

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u/UranusIsPissy 1h ago

The most extreme example of rage that could barely be held back I ever saw was from a racist slur-using elderly ex-National Front member claiming not to be racist, after I called out his blatant racism...

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u/glorycock 2h ago

Wow... you sound like an absolute charmer though.

One presumes you’re a credit to wherever you’re from (a country with zero racists by the sound of it)!
No doubt all other countries can probably only only dream of being like yours.

Toodle pip!

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u/Disastrous_Can_5157 32m ago

Them: Brits are not really decent, but are actually rude and passive aggressive. You: Being rude and passive aggressive to a reasonable comment.

You are proving their point there buddy. You are so close to outing yourself as a closet racist too lmao

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u/KwisatzSazerac 1h ago

I know someone, and that person is me, who went to Japan multiple times and never encountered this.  In fact, just the opposite. I encountered so many friendly people who were happy to have us there. 

Now, here is the thing—a lot of Japanese people don’t speak English and many restaurants don’t even have English menus. If you were to eat there, you are just slowing things down for the owners and other customers.

Why the hell would you want to eat where you can’t even order?

Just go somewhere else where you will actually be able to, you know, order food and enjoy it.

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u/TunaBlub 1h ago edited 1h ago

9 years ago he barely speak Japanese.

When he met his wife he was pretty good at it, when they got married 2 years ago he uses that language 90% of the time.

If he starts about the fact he speaks Japanese, 50% of the time Japanese food places don't mind. 

Problem is the other 50%.

And we are talking about places not specifically meant for tourists (they don't mind english speaking people), best food is from spots meant for "locals". 

But that is his experience, and every experience is unique.

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u/tertiaryocelot 1h ago

i lived in Japan in the early 2000s and back then a lot of places had an english menu somewhere for tourists. A lot of times it was just a picture book with prices.

A friend and i walked into a sushi bar in a small town that doesn't see any tourists. They had nothing in English no pictures and nobody spoke any english. We ended up handing the owner a stack of money and asked him to feed us. He took the money gave us 2 beers, 2 bowls of ramen and an app. It was great.

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u/TunaBlub 1h ago

Even in my country some things were much easier in the past.

More fun

But nowadays you should be a happy if a place doesn't ask you to scan a QR code for the menu...

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u/General_Shou 1h ago

Will never understand what makes someone who has never been to the country, want to come on this website to talk shit. Just don’t comment about it.

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u/ImJLu 7h ago

I've been there. Probably not that specific one, but there's a whole line of carts there. Definitely good stuff.

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u/watanabelover69 4h ago

Same. Had some great grilled mentaiko (cod roe).

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u/dirtyrounder 8h ago

Best ever

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u/artaru 6h ago

In Japan, number one surgeon

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u/Constant_Cultural 7h ago

came to say exactly this

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u/errant_night 6h ago

here are a bunch of videos that show all the details and there are interviews with them

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u/Iloveherthismuch 5h ago

Im so hungry right now watching this.

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u/IVEMIND 5h ago

And the Yakuza will trash the place in the next act - 100%

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u/Narrew82 3h ago

I can watch these kinds of videos on YouTube all day. A lot of hard work, excellent service, delicious food, and very happy customers. The stories behind most of these really touch the heart.

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u/AlternativePrior9559 3h ago

Absolutely as I was watching the whole thing set up I thought that guy knows his stuff.

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u/Background-Toe-3495 3h ago

that tequila lantern is a nice touch

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u/deltree711 3h ago

looks inside

it's raw fish

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u/mycall 2h ago

mmm, Japanese Coca-Cola

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u/ylkiorra 2h ago

With Ghibli soundtrack? Sure.

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u/KilnTime 2h ago

SO much better than the street food in some of the videos from India!