Ordering food

Hi all

As much as i love japanese food, i have to restrain myself from over-eating, hence need some kind of portion control.

Would you guys be so kind to help me out here. How to i ask for less rice / less ramen ( smallest size ) at a restaurant and at a ramen stall.

Less rice = sukuname ?
Less ramen = ramen sukuname?

And also if at a restaurant and i do not want any mayo/ sauce on my salad do i say ,

Sauce nuki?

Lastly, could you please advise the difference betweeen these :

Smokeチャーシュ
Smokeチャーシュ
Smokeチャーシュー切り落とし

Thank you guys so much for your help. Really appreciate it

Basically you should notice that in Japan, "small portion" request is sometimes refused. Sometimes it's OK, like if you request "small portion of rice". This is quite usual so most restaurants will accept it. In that case you should say "small rice, please." No Japanese required. You might better say "Sumimasen, small rice de." Of course you can say "Gohan sukunamede onegai shimasu.", but isn't it too complex?

Some ramen shops offer "small portion ramen" or "Ramen shou", but others not. If you go to the ramen shop which does not have small portion system, it would be considered to be rude to ask for "small portion ramen" I think. Of course you don't need to empty the ramen bowl.

As for donburi or rice bowl, you can ask "small rice" (usually with no discount). Some restaurants provide "small portion" donburi which is somewhat cheaper than the normal donburi.

"Sukuname" means "less", so for example, if you want rice less than the usual amount, you can say "rice sukuname de".

It's not "rude" to ask for small portions of ramen, but since uncooked ramen noodles are prepared in bundles, it would simply be difficult to create a smaller portion of that bundle unless "small portion bowls" are already on their regular menu. Look for "mini" ramen instead.

You can say "mayo nuki", but "sauce" isn't usually used in salads. Are you talking about the Worcester Sauce on shredded cabbages? If so, that makes sense.

Lastly, 切り落とし means randomly cut. So while an ordinary チャーシュ would be neatly sliced, 切り落とし are bits of smaller pieces in various size.

Quick question: are you in Japan now or have you been before? The portion sizes are generally smaller than in western countries, especially America.

Also, for weight control you should probably avoid ramen altogether......

I've been thinking about saying it, but the person above best me to it. Aside from kaiseki at fancy places, I've never been served what I would ever consider "too much food." Usually the concern is whether I've ordered *enough*, since in many cases a Japanese "Large" is our "Small."