Sharing food in Japan

Hi,

My husband and I are travelling to Japan coming Tuesday. Just wanted clarity on a question- Both me and my husband have small appetite, and in our country we order one dish at a time so we don't waste food. Is sharing a dish ok in Japan? As we have seen in some travel videos that serving in Japan are large and we feel one of us would not be able to finish the entire dish.

TIA

Depends on restaurant. There is no hard and fast rule. Fast food outlets and street food will probably be okay with sharing. Sit down proper restaurants will probably not allow it. But again best to ask.

Ordering meals to suit your appetite though shouldn't be an issue. Not all meals in Japan are huge. So I don't think you'll need to worry and being able or not able to share.

Thank you Hakata14, it was helpful.

I share food in family restaurants like Gusto and Jonathanfs all the time. More upmarket places I would be hesitant to do so. BUT where are you coming from? Japanese portion sizes are not all that big compared to many European countries, and compared to the US they tend to be rather small.

Portions large in Japan? Quite the opposite in my opinion. You probably saw something like kaiseki, which is the exception.

Portions in Kaiseki are the smallest.

It depends on the dish rather than the restaurant or quality.

Words like "share" and "(want to) try" are used as is in Japanese language as well. Just pat your stomach to express that you don't want to eat much, and ask for menus to share.

You can also point at a specific dish on the menu and ask "how big" (again, translates well) a portion is by creating a dish with both of your hands. Sometimes restaurants can arrange portions suitable for your appetite, again depending on the dish.

You can also ask for "tori-zara", meaning a small empty plate(s).

If you already have specific dishes in mind, post again and perhaps someone can give you suggestions on how you could try them without ordering too much of it.

Well yes, portions in kaiseki are the smallest, but youfre going to get a hundred of them and be pushed out in a wheelbarrow. No need to get technical.