The name of the restaurant we went to was Wakiaiai (prounced Wah - key - aye - aye). If you ask a Japanese person what that means, they get confused and then try to explain that it doesn't translate well to English, but it means something along the lines of "friendly," "cozy," and "togetherness".
It is an apt name for a place that specializes in all you can eat and drink specials, as everyone feels friendly and cozy at the end of the night!
The deal is for 3700 Yen (which roughly translates into $40), each person could eat and drink anything on the menu for 3 hours straight. Not a bad deal once you hear what we had at the table.
Upon arriving, the first thing we had to do was take our shoes off to enter the restaurant. Unlike most places, we were given the choice of putting our shoes in plastic bags and carrying them to the table (which most of us opted to do).
There were ten of us total, and we were placed in a room with six of these tables. Ten of us fit comfortably at one table, and with cushions for our butts and a recessed area for our feet to hang (rather than being forced to sit cross-legged), it was actually pretty comfortable.
Three of our party had arrived before us, and had kindly ordered edamame (boiled soybeans), meatballs and fried gyoza (dumplings). Also waiting at each seat was an appetizer plate, a glass for drinks (it looked like it held around 4 - 6 oz) and a wet towel to wipe our hands (one of my favorite Asian customs, you get them on flights overseas as well).
I was pleased to see Yakisoba was also on the menu, as this is a favorite noodle dish that most Americans enjoy.
I didn't take pictures of all the food but this is a rough summary of what we ordered for food:
- Gyoza
- Meatballs
- Edamame
- Yakisoba
- Beef Teriyaki
- Garlic Pizza
- Shrimp
- Smelt
- Fried Rice
- Fried Cheese with cheese topping
- Shrimp and tomatoes in some sort of red sauce
- Salad
- Salad with sashimi (raw tuna)
- Dessert
When the restaurant says all you can drink, they mean it! This was my own personal pitcher of Gin and Tonics. I wisely limited myself to a few glasses and stuck with ginger ale for the rest of the night.
I was pleased to learn that desserts were also on the menu. I went with a strawberry cheesecake ice cream, which was very yummy.
Mochi (traditional Japanese rice cakes) were also on the menu, but I skipped them.
This was the aftermath after our three hours was up.
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