Counterattack of the Dreamer

I haven’t put much effort at all into describing my favorite Japanese foods yet, in this blog or my previous one, so here’s a small step in that direction.  I snapped a shot of my lunch at Sukiya, a fast food joint, the other day:

meatloaf curry set meal

Japanese curry is food that sticks to your ribs.  It’s delicious, and with this particular dish of meatloaf curry I ordered the optional cheese on top to give it some extra pizazz.  On the back left is hiyayakko, my favorite tofu dish, which is just soft, raw tofu served cold with fresh ginger, green onions, and soy sauce.  On the back right is the ubiquitous miso soup, beside which is a glass of barley tea.

Not bad for 6 bucks, especially considering it’d normally be 5 if not for the lousy exchange rate.  And one mustn’t forget that the staff at fast food restaurants around here are exceedingly friendly and cordial, which stands in stark contrast to the approach of many fast food workers in St Louis, who are not unusually disinterested or overtly hostile.  Even the antics of St Louis service workers are starting to get a bit nostalgic now, though, kind of like the rain in Portland will always be for me.