Japan Doesn't Understand "All-You-Can-Eat" Buffet's

Watch The Full Podcast here: • Japanese Festivals are...
Support The Podcast On Patreon!
/ trashtaste
Follow Trash Taste:
/ trashtastepod
/ trashtaste
Trash Taste Boiis:
Joey | / thean1meman
Connor | / cdawgva
Garnt | / gigguk
Follow Us On Twitter:
Joey | / thean1meman
Connor | / cdawgva
Garnt | / giggukaz
Edited By:
/ mudantv
/ mudantv

[@dimmujan9385]

Some Japanese colleagues took me to an all you can eat sushi restaurant during a business meeting. After a while the pile of plates kept getting bigger. So I asked why they weren’t taking them away. They said you have to pay per plate. Not the all you can eat I was used to😂

[@Zabomafooable]

By that logic, all restaurants are all you can eat.

[@kuroakikitsune]

That just sounds like a normal sushi train

[@Schunn]

That’s not “all you can eat”, that’s “all you can pay” 😂

[@leonguyen896]

Did they mean all you can eat because the company was paying for it?

[@FalafelTheBurner]

cant you just use one plate and put all the sushi there instead

[@Ash_Wen-li]

I can confirm. Speaking toddler Japanese with good pronunciation and confidence really impresses Japanese people

[@starwarsfamilyguy0]

nice

[@VcentChips]

Just pull "Arigatou Gozaimasu" card then you'll get guarantee "nihonggo jozu"

[@kenhiyoko941]

People do appreciate others' effort to learn their home language when it's not English.

[@BeardyBaldyBob]

Pffft! I'm Scottish and got "English jozu"-ed in America! 🤣

[@macmac277]

Any language you try to speak to native speakers will impress them. Cus they know you took the time and effort to understand not just their language, but at the same time their culture. Regardless if your skill in it is novice or professional. Not many people expect foreigners to even try and properly learn their native language. So seeing someone who even knows the basics is something to smile for them. Its like they want to close the gap to you, to show that youre more friendly than your typical foreigner tourist. Its in the same vien as a Star trek nerd being impressed by a jock looking guy who dishes out star trek trivia in front of him.

[@epicscoreCS2]

I was in a resturant in Northen part of japan; the cheff legit walked up to me started to speak japanese and shaking his head.. im like ah okey lett me pull me ace card ; OISHI The cheff laughed and looked at his coworker and screamed OISHI and every one started chanting OISHI in the kitchen... Even the guy behind the fire place drenched in sweat screamed out OISHI. Just accept the chaos

[@RobinTheBot]

And then they clapped

[@redSUPERMAN2]

@@RobinTheBot oh yeah, prove it

[@JackdotC]

And his name was Albert Einstein

[@niedas3426]

Honestly sounds like some japanese sushi restaurants I've been to. Dont know why people are dismissive. Some chefs and staff treat you like a cute dog doing tricks, delighted to see you do and say silly things but trying your hardest, thinking it's adorable.

[@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache]

And then everyone clapped and the sushi did a handstand. Totally one of the oishi moments of all time

[@Kairi-ou]

Sooooo… the only “All you can eat” place that I’ve been to is this “Japanese” chain called Okami, and they do charge you just the one price, but if you order way too much and don’t eat it (thus causing food waste), they weigh what you’ve left behind and charge you a flat fee for it. I think this is a pretty good system, as it prevents people from over ordering just for kicks While letting the people who can really go for it, go for it.

[@somederp8915]

Wait, was that in Germany? Cause we got Ozaki and Oishii here that have that same concept.

[@salter1630]

I think that's pretty common for buffet style places

[@Minato_Akiyama03]

It exists in Australia too!

[@jurb417]

So they're not allowed to go boxes?

[@user-kun2147]

I thought it was common for all you can eat restaurants to have that

[@chikasnotmadjustdisappoint6266]

I guess when Americans see "All you can eat", it's basically a "how much mileage can I get out of this?"

[@Toxic_Korgi]

A lot of it has to do with how many people treat eating out as a special occasion since a lot of families did it sparingly growing up. Same reason our meals are so big because people usually take leftovers home.

[@theotherjared9824]

They are very popular with low income families, as they pay a flat entrance fee and are given access to a theoretically limitless food supply, which is much more economical that eating at a fancier restaurant or even buying food at a grocery store. Also, there is the challenge factor for particularly gluttonous individuals.

[@GoldenCroc]

@@sdrawkcabmiay 24 hours are easily doable, dont know if that is enough for you? For me, its pretty practical.

[@zunije.l2954]

Yup your right!!!😅

[@ffwast]

Well it's right in the name. All you *CAN* eat.

[@foomp]

I think for most people, it's not about trying to bankrupt the place or prove some point to others. It's more about getting the best bang for the buck.

[@Z0mbieAnt]

Yeah, but it's really the mindset of what "the best bang" is. Like is just the sheer largest amount of food to the point of wanting to throw up the "best bang"? Or is it a moderate amount where you feel statisfied, but can also continue the evening without being in stomach based agony?

[@fleasy4393]

The thing with most buffets I've seen is that you always end up having to eat more than you probably should in order for the price to actually be economical. If moderation is your goal, you should probably just order a la carte.

[@foomp]

@@Z0mbieAnt I mean it should be pretty self explanatory. It's what you feel the money spent can best offer you. If that's to eat till you puke, then that's the best bang. If it's till you're simply satisfied, then that's the best bang... though I think most of us would argue you're not doing it to over indulge (literally the reason buffets are a thing). This is why people actually have a plan of action when they go sometimes. They make sure not to eat pointless starches, go for high cost items, limit drinks, etc. Some might have a specific food or set of food items in mind to just go all in on (e.g. desserts).

[@aureateseigneur5317]

@@Z0mbieAnt Its different from person to person.

[@ZARDDRAM0N]

That's not the goal when I go to a buffet, but personally I would love to get kicked out for eating too much if it were to happen

[@d.b.scoville]

Americans going beast mode in a Japanese all you can eat restaurant should probably make me feel ashamed but it actually makes me very proud

[@captainskippy4560]

Same

[@cathat9622]

OH SAY CAN YOU SEEEEEEE

[@NrettG]

@@cathat9622 BY THE DAWNS EARLY LIGHT

[@kaleialeon8410]

@@NrettG WHAT SO PROUDLY WE HAILED

[@persephonehades7547]

@@kaleialeon8410 I'm so sorry, everyone else

[@Azninjazn]

nowadays, for me, buffets are just places to eat a variety of foods for one price, that's it

[@KenBladehart]

You can make up your own plate. Its really nice, feels like eating at home

[@ncp9095]

That’s Japanese way to go

[@madensmith7014]

They tend to have a lot of dishes so you still get bloated by the end.

[@ent1311]

That's how it should be. The extra "value" you get from eating more food for no added cost is offset by the damage you do to your body. You will piss out the nutrients your body can't absorb all at once so most of those calories will be empty calories. Most people aren't working physically intensive manual labor jobs and the ones that are (construction workers) aren't working nearly as hard as construction workers 30 years ago. Now construction workers have power tools. In the past they had to use hand tools for most jobs.

[@traplover6357]

Yep. I just eat the foods I usually don't eat regularly at home.

[@spiderdude2099]

I think Japanese people are just shocked to learn that a large portion of people would happily enjoy gorging themselves until full, and that there’s a business model in America that allows you to do that at a fixed flat rate. “All you can eat” TRULY DOES mean that in America, not just “you can get a lot of food, but obviously the price is not fixed”

[@tevinvezina1766]

Idk why Japanese people would be surprised people want to get full. The whole point of eating it to eat until you’re full.

[@spiderdude2099]

@@tevinvezina1766 that is a very NOT Japanese way of thinking. The idea is get moderately full but to avoid excess. Which is the exact opposite of a buffet

[@tevinvezina1766]

@@spiderdude2099 No such thing as "moderately full." Think about a glass of water, it's either full or it isn't. Saying "moderately full" is just another word for not full. So what you're saying is that in Japan the idea is to not get full from your meals...

[@spiderdude2099]

@@tevinvezina1766 there’s a difference between “full” and “stuffed”. Most Japanese people don’t do “stuffed”. They eat until they go “hmm, yeah I’m pretty satisfied, I ate a good amount and I don’t need more. I am comfortably full”. Like Connor said, he reaches that point and tries to shove in ~30% more food. Most Japanese people don’t do that. They reach that “full” level and then stop. They don’t try to push their limits, or squeeze in a few more bites.

[@snarkylive]

@@spiderdude2099 They use rice as a filler, they understand the concept of full, and they serve ridiculous food quantities compared to what their typical client eats at many restaurants.

[@lyz0711]

My brother once ordered 80 servings of coffee pudding after the main all you can eat meal on a bet that if he finished it, another guy pays. The all you can eat place had to limit them at 50 servings lol and he finished it all. He literally has another stomach for desserts.

[@flowerdolphin5648]

Damn lol xD I would get sick if I had more than one pudding.

[@lyz0711]

@@flowerdolphin5648 Yah, still have no idea how he did it and is still perfectly fine.

[@XenonKirito]

@@lyz0711 what im surprised is the amount of coffee he had. did he fall asleep after reaching home or stayed awake the entire night? lol

[@lyz0711]

@@XenonKirito lol i forgot since this was like 7-8 years ago. but yah, lots of coffee, I didnt even think of that. It could have been just coffee flavoured tho.

[@maxque2841]

That happened

[@chop.sticks]

"it was never about the food, it was about sending a message".

[@GranMaj]

My style for eating buffer/all you can eat places was to try everything in a small portion, like really small portion around 1-2 tablespoon per item. After i found which items i like, i then take them again for the second round but with bigger portion until i am somewhat full.

[@konokiomomuro7632]

Max happiness run ftw

[@SomeRandomJackAss]

It's a great strategy to try new things, too. That's how I tried frog legs.

[@TheMocutMiester]

Then you hit some soup to make more space and finish off with 1 more plate

[@GranMaj]

@@TheMocutMiester Yep, i tend to avoid watery food at the start since it fills your belly really quick. Same as the more spicier option, since it increase you water intake.

[@homelessperson5455]

This is a prime stratagem.

[@itsaUSBline]

The confidence thing is real. A great reverse example is Chris's friend Natsuki for any Abroad in Japan viewers out there. His English is very broken, but he's so confident and just goes for it, and you can usually tell what he means.

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

Lol, sounds great. There was an entire episode of The Tatami Galaxy basically just on this principle, the one where Watashi joined the English language circle. Thankfully, English also absolutely works that way. Butcher the grammar, it makes no difference, as long as you get some portions of the idea correct, you can still get the point across very clearly

[@0Clewi0]

Is cute reading all of this when in spanish we're not always confident on how much we will be able to talk to each other in another spanish speaking country if we don't force to a slower neutral dialect.

[@HrHaakon]

​@@0Clewi0 I remember an ATM in Spain that had MULTIPLE SPANISH OPTIONS. AS IN SPAIN SPANISH. It may have been a joke or a promotion or something but it was the second most hilarious thing in Madrid. The most hilarious being that the Spanish word for "wait" was the same as the French word for "hope", so when I paid with a debet card, punched in my pin and hit OK, the machine just said... "HOPE"... And then, OK. Language is funny.

[@0Clewi0]

@@HrHaakon In spain it might've been that they were talking about the other languages of the countries like catalán. But even then it can just be tricky, multiple times I've heard stories in my country that don't undertand when asked to pay because we use the word that direct translates to cancel.

[@michaelmarsh1723]

It's absolutely amazing how much meaning tone and context can get across to make up for not knowing every last word. Believe it or not, there are times in human history where new populations have met each other for the first time and made friends basically ONLY through pantomime. Or guns. That too, >.>

[@jmalmsten]

Inglourious Basterds: Lt. Aldo Raine: Well, I speak the most Italian, so I'll be your escort. Donowitz speaks the second most, so he'll be your Italian cameraman. Omar speaks third most, so he'll be Donny's assistant. Pfc. Omar Ulmer: I don't speak Italian. Lt. Aldo Raine: Like I said, third best.

[@ADayintheLifeoftheTw]

I- talian

[@jmalmsten]

@@ADayintheLifeoftheTw Gourrlahmeeh!

[@yashasvirallabandi9070]

Ironic that, if my memory serves me correctly, Omar was the only one who knew how to pronounce his Italian alias correctly XD

[@countertony]

I played my part in driving an AYCE conveyor-belt sushi place in London out of business back in the mid-2000s, by taking some of my other large mammal friends there once I'd been a couple of times. Full-on 'March of the Penguins' as we came through the door. In fairness to them, the time limit was 75 minutes, but even that is too long for conveyor-belt [TYPO: originally read "conveyor-belly"] sushi where you're starting the clocks and getting down to work like it's the Crystal Maze.

[@floofzykitty5072]

Crystal Maze sent me I'm gonna think of this in a week during a random social setting and start laughing

[@Infinite_exhilaration]

I’ve been to a gourmet all you can eat buffet in Vegas and I was ashamed I didn’t eat more. I paid like $60 and they had lobster claws, bacon wrapped scallops, and it was all you can eat!

[@Vesondor]

Note to not take you to another buffet 😂

[@ryankriller1931]

@@Vesondor i mean it was probably a flat fee and they’re paying for it, i dont see anything wrong here

[@Vesondor]

@@ryankriller1931 Ye fair.

[@Delaney-and-the-Starlight]

Baccanal?

[@jpachu16]

When I studied abroad I’m Japan, everyone I hung out with was fluent or native so I relied on them a lot to get around and get served. But when I went back to japan for vacation with my mom after returning back home, I had to be the translator and navigator. I basically only knew enough Japanese to say “I want one of this” at restaurants lol. We survived but the stress was so much higher lol

[@HPLikecraft]

It was the same with me after being away from Japan for so long coming back with friends and forgetting everything I learned except elementary school basics. Didn't help that my reading comprehension wasn't as good as my conversational skills. Imagine standing for a minute looking at signs trying to figure out what certain things mean.

[@DatBoiJrSan408]

Living in Japan for the past 3 years. I was the only Marine who spoke Japanese. So I feel you guy's lol

[@NINJADRUMMER_]

Got asked to stop taking food at an all you can eat sushi buffet , skinny guy with a fast metabolism so I eat alot so they didn't expect me to go to town like that

[@tevinvezina1766]

Lol depending on how they asked I’d either refuse or I’d agree but only if they refunded me the entire price.

[@NINJADRUMMER_]

@@tevinvezina1766 they were pretty polite, but honestly i thought the whole thing was hilarious so i didn't mind too much

[@doggypi1532]

That's terrible... I pretty much like that... If I knew it was an extra all you can eat I'd probably eat as much as I could~

[@Reaperherpderp]

The thing is with all you can't eat buffets is they price it on the higher side because 95% of people will eat under or up to what the actual cost would be

[@FieryFire0218]

no shit, thats how they make money

[@Reaperherpderp]

@@FieryFire0218 HEY SMART ASS... i made the comment in regards to Joey saying thats why they go out of business which isnt the case

[@ADayintheLifeoftheTw]

Unless you watched fatty-chans game plan on how to attack a chinese buffet. 😉 Ain't no wasted calories being paid for there. But when in doubt- look to what the locals (chinese in our case) are eating. They aren't going to leave without getting their money's worth.

[@doggypi1532]

That's why it's best to eat a lot and make the most of it~ ... I sure do though lol~

[@kosbebot6360]

All you can eat buffets are "How many kilos of meat do I need to eat to break even at this price" type of places.

[@existentiall_]

i concur!!! went to japan on a school trip years back and i managed to ask a security guard in japanese with as much confidence i could muster for directions to the nearest 7-11 store, 100% knowing i got some of the grammar and sentence structure wrong. the elderly man did not hesitate and gave me the directions entirely in his native language. i was able to pick up some words and was about to attempt to locate the store with what i could understand, but he thankfully brought up a map to give my friends and i a visual afterwards - going as far as to walk out to the streets with us and point us in the right direction!

[@SollowP]

I honestly have a story about an "all you can eat" place here in Sweden. It's in Stockholm and there's a menu item with an all you can eat ribs package. Once you finish your plate, you get a server and you order more, so quite simple. Issue being that the menu item was only like 300 sek (about 27 euro) and there really was no limit on how many pieces of ribs you could get. The restaurant are probably used to the "Ohhh, I'll order one more and some fries with that" kind of customers. But here comes me and my brother in law, both of us eat about 3 times as much as my mom and my sister and we order this All you can eat ribs package. After the 4th serving, the personnel are basically asking us "Please order some fries as well" since we've both had like half a kilo each worth of ribs. As for some context: my brother in law is built like Henry Cavil and I look like I'm about to fly away because a slight breeze hit me, we both ate the same amount.

[@katelynpringle5506]

What they say: Can we change the coals? What the staff hear: *We’re done, when I say we’re done.*

[@sveipr]

Visited Osaka January right before Covid hit. Was with a group of myself and 5 others. We went to an all you can eat bbq place. We're all Chinese, but we're American. The staff there were super nice and accommodating to probably what they thought were chinese tourists, but you can tell that they were getting progressively worried the more we ate when they slowly realized we were American lol

[@naritruwireve1381]

LOL thats hilarious

[@Brenilla]

For me as An American, its not a challenge but more a rare opertunity // wanting to get most money worth. I haven’t been to too many all you can eats.

[@juliar2462]

I remember being at a sushi place in US where the chef would make it in front of you and I asked him: 日本とアメリカどちらの方が好きですか。 And then every dish he gave to us he started saying the Japanese name. At some point I had no idea what I'm eating, because I couldn't even recognize the syllables in the words he was saying, he was talking so fast. So yeah, be prepared lol

[@PerpetuallyTiredMillennial]

As an American, this fills me with a sense of patriotism and pride I had thought I had long forgotten.

[@-Devy-]

Obviously greedy pigs would fill you with pride.

[@birdytiger]

I spent ages learning Japanese before going, and after getting there, quickly learned to pretend I only knew 5 statements so they didn't go off script

[@everythingpony]

It's good to learn, had a place calling me names and stuff

[@unistudent4002]

Most ‘all you can eat’ places in Australia are at RSL clubs, so they don’t just have the buffet, they have the buffet, a pub, and sometimes a seperate swanky bar, several dinner and event venues, pokies, etc and the buffet is usually only at set days and times, while other times it runs like a standard restaurant.. and then there’s membership fees. I wouldn’t be surprised if the buffet is the least profitable part of the club tbh

[@JohnSmith-gm4fj]

We call it "Beat the Buffet" The goal is to eat (at a minimum) twice the price of the bill. We keep score by the plate, Indian place in MD was a 4 plater, good stuff!

[@kenisdabest]

American in a buffet scares you? oh man you should see the Chinese LOL

[@Ash_Wen-li]

Username checks out But yeah, Mainland Chinese can be on another level

[@snarkylive]

@@Ash_Wen-li Ya but Chinese people know hospitality well and will provide more than enough to satisfy their clients, it's such a damned shame about their government.

[@ffwast]

They don't even eat the food they just grab it all,so the restaurant just scrapes it back on the buffet for the next busload of locusts.

[@Boredgasm]

Yeah Chinese restaurant goers at buffets are the worst. They grab everything expensive they can, and end up not eating most of it, so it goes to waste.

[@crossingfandoms]

You think Chinese are bad? Try Samoans

[@peachcobblercake3968]

The thing about some buffets like some of the Vegas buffets, I will always eat more than necessary solely because of how much more expensive it can be. I went to one where the buffet was almost 80 bucks. At 80 dollars I will eat the entire restaurant. If the buffet is like 20 to 30 dollars I'm much more willing to eat less and just stop when I feel satisfied.

[@keithhorning7753]

I'm Canadian, that makes sense before the exchange rate.

[@Slayer666th]

In my city there is a great all you can eat sushi place, but they charge you 1€ for every piece thats left on your plate. I think thats fair

[@drtyhay]

I live in the middle of the US and I've never heard of an all you can eat place that charges you extra for not finishing the food

[@beccabowen4292]

It happens in Italy too

[@kelvinle8662]

All you can eat bbq places charge for uneaten food. Makes sense because the meat is usually more expensive than at an asian buffet.

[@Eirias_h4]

Yeah, in the US, "buffet" means "cafeteria-style." In other parts of the world, "all you can eat" is usually like a regular restaurant, where the menu is full of appetizers. So you ask your waiter to bring certain dishes, then the chef cooks them and brings them to your table. It's a lot more likely that you'll overorder (because you're ordering 10-15 minutes before you actually eat it) and the food wouldn't have been cooked in the first place if you hadn't ordered.

[@wakefieldallan]

I spent 18 months in Japan and a guy at a bar told me it is a spectrum. If your foreign and speak poor Japanese but are trying they'll be impressed and help you if you need it. However if your speaking perfect Japanese as a foreigner you'll be judged for any small mistake or mispronunciation. Idk if that's true for most Japanese it's just what I was told, cause I spoke really really poor Japanese.

[@SeikiRikodou]

Japanese restaurant: doesn't turn the fan on 20 mins later: Darksouls fog

[@24chibimanga]

As an American, I can confirm that I will eat til I wanna pass out lol. Gotta prove that I can eat double my weight 😂

[@sprafa71]

As a Mexican i can confirm, me and my Friends starve all day sometimes one day before so we go to an All you can eat buffet and make our money worth, we know it doesnt really matters on how much you can eat but it makes it more Delicious

[@jadedmw6966]

Even "The Boys" can take a few days off. Just let people know. It's called a vacation or holiday lol you guys deserve it.

[@venheartzeil3070]

I went to a Japanese buffet once with my aunt’s family. They’re all extra big and they eat more than any other humans I’ve ever seen. At one point one of the workers came over to them while they were getting like their 4th or 5th plates and said “Relax relax”. I’m not going to type it the way he said it but I still cry laughing thinking about that shit to this day. 😭

[@ryujin199_]

Joey's right on the money here. Confidence in what you're saying does go a long way.... for better or worse. Experience: lived most of a year in Fukuoka recently and spent several months in Akita previously. Issues: apparently my enunciation is pretty good for at least passing as Tokyo dialect, so I often ran into problems of: 1) person first assumes I speak no Japanese at all and tries to speak to me in "English" that even I can barely understand (as a native US English speaker) 2) I say something akin to "ああ…日本語は大丈夫だけど…" 3) person takes off at full speed, in Japanese, leaving me sitting there for a full minute trying to process what they said in 10 seconds. ......I can often process what they said in those 10 seconds, but it's not as instantaneous as a native speaker would manage (obviously). honestly was kinda weird, 'cause a lot of the people in the research lab I was working at asked "when" I took (and presumably passed) the N1 JLPT... and I'm like... "Uh... I passed the N4 in the top 5th percentile like... 5 years ago... :3"

[@Aaron-bh5cp]

Isn't だけど considered タメ語

[@PokerOnChips]

They got to try and do one only Japanese speaking podcast to see how long it can go on for

[@itsaUSBline]

That would be hilarious if they tried to do a special like that. Joey would just be shaking his head the whole time.

[@alexitrinune]

All-You-Can-Eat Buffets seeing westerners: Dark Souls Music

[@pivotman2388]

There's like a sliding scale that determines how hard you go at an AYCE place, like the first bit is always "well, AYCE costs $30, and each individual item costs like $10 a la carte, so i have to get at least 3 things to make this worth it." Then once you finish those couple things its like, "well, the more food you get the more economically efficient this AYCE decision becomes" so you go hard until you're almost full, and then you know your range. lol

[@boeingnz]

When I see "All you can eat." It's like someone thrown down the gaunlets. "Well sir, I accept your challenge."

[@lootjunior]

you don't understand the all you can eat mentality because you are not poor enough. If you can only afford to eat at a restaurant once or twice a year, you'll eat as much of the good stuff as you can fit.

[@rankoprose]

John Pinette (RIP) put it best with his stand up. "You here 4 hour! GO HOME!" Japan being size cautious helps with this values dissonance.

[@SinDragonSD]

holy crap this is so true..... I just went to Gyu Kaku in Tokyo and my table was sat next to a Japanese Family. Was $40 for AYCE and the other table barely even ate.... while my table tried to expand our stomaches for world war 3 and bankrupt Japan by the time we finished our dinner lol

[@burnhamrobertp]

I can tell you with 100% confidence, the Americans were not "I'm going to break this place" its very much "I must get my maximum value." The result is the same, but the intent is obviously different.

[@kevindelgadillolazarte3087]

I had an opposite experience to this... I am used to buffets and we normally just get what we will eat and also we don't have to pay for the leftovers (a south American country) then I travelled to Brazil and we entered one all u can eat buffet and I started reading signs saying about the paying extra per scrapped/left overs, and different prices per items. And I was like "u say what?!"

[@alexschwalbach8229]

As an American, I fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy and continue eating out of fear of "not getting my monies worth". It's definitely a super weird psychology going into these places.

[@sageulf6968]

I did a year abroad in Japan and there was a place that every Wednesday they offered all you can eat Gyoza for two hours. It was probably a 10 minute away walk from the College. So a large chunk of the European and American students were there almost all the time once they knew to save on a Wednesday dinner. It was 500 yen. It was outrageous. I was there Fall through Spring and during the Spring they decided, after however many years they offered this deal, they were stopping. The consensus of myself and my friends was that they didn't plan the foreigners were going to eat anywhere from 30-80, if I remember right 88 was the max I heard of of one sitting, pieces of Gyoza and it probably would have run them out of business if they continued

[@shirabe64]

Lord, this reminded me of how I got frustrated and tried to be Nihingo jouzu. My mother had awesome things planned for us all in Japan, but never knew how to pronounce the names. And then when I had the chance to talk to someone like at the train station, I’d ask “Hey mom, where are we going?” “Oh I don’t know how to pronounce it.” “That’s ok, but is it a temple? Castle? Store?” “I don’t know, honey” “Can I see the paper since you have a whole schedule typed?” “I don’t know where it is in my bag, honey.” Biggest need for Japanese was at bars and I’d had no practice for ordering shots or cocktails. Most success I had speaking Japanese was at a wine bar where she knew quite a bit of English. (Shout out to Nostalgic Bar In Kyoto, owner was a gem and wine was fantastic!)

[@michaelhsparksshorts]

I went to an all you can eat Shabu Shabu place with my friend when we were in Japan and I remember we literally scared the waiters with how fast we were eating lol. The waiter actually did a double take when they passed our table haha. $50 all you can eat wagyu beef? Yes please!

[@MrHenrikq]

Went to a Nomikai, got there late, didnt understand that it was a all you could drink until they came for the last order. I ordered every singel drink of the meny, they were like "if you dont finish, you have to pay extra for it", I was like "yeah, no problem". Finished 12 drinks in less than 30 minutes. (Got some help) Ended up being a great evening. :D

[@NexAngelus405]

I remember there was an episode of _Lucky Star_ where the girls went to a cake buffet that charged extra if you had excessive leftovers. They ended up overestimating their appetite during the second round and had to force themselves to eat the remaining cake. Edit: Found the clip kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3OUhZ-ambZ0hpo

[@julesk3816]

north american here, and generally speaking, the AYCE restaurants where i live tend to serve low quality, cheap foods, but the price per person is more expensive than if you were to order a good quality meal at a regular restaurant. so yeah, in my brain, it doesn't feel like i'm "breaking even" if i only eat as much as feels comfortable, because it's probably gonna be around the same amount of food as that "good quality" meal, but at a lesser quality, and still costing me more. so then i feel that need to justify it by eating even more, bonus points if i can eat enough that it keeps me full enough to skip my next meal.

[@JasminMiettunen]

Expensive low quality food when you could get a better meal for less money? Wtf just don’t go there lmao

[@sirhellsing]

less quality but more variety, also sometimes I need 1.2 plates of restaurant food, I don't need 2 plates worth (just giving an example)

[@theflyingspud]

I can relate to this! My wife learns Japanese (she's a language teacher, so it's cakewalk), but she got no confidence in communicating, whereas i learn from anime (both of us are weebs lol), but i can ask questions in simple Japanese with so much confidence, the locals just answer me in on full auto where all the information just went flying over me, while I'm trying my hardest to keep my game face on. And once they are done, I'll just turn to my wife and ask her to English that for me

[@Webberjo]

Buffets* It's not possessive or associate, it's a plural, so it doesn't need an apostrophe.

[@hamzasultan96]

"Change the coals" kind of sounds like the Asian exam hall call of "may I have an extra sheet?"

[@eudaemxnia2481]

The american buffet is the 21st century version of whatever darwinist mechanism the classic Saharan watering hole is supposed to be lmao

[@petunks]

Oh god, yesterday my husband and I went to this new korean bbq in town and the first thing we wondered was....do they charge extra if we over order or we leave some of the things we order? We never order more than we can take/eat, we hate wasting food but sometimes we leave behind a little in our plates and we had just 1 round and left but damn, hearing Garnt say it made me laugh

[@inventor121]

I get charged double at the korean BBQ owned by a family friend. Reason? They once hosted a party and I hadn't eaten for 2 days (because of studying and air travel) so I attended absolutely famished and single handedly ate out close to 3000 dollars worth of food in about an hour (about 6-7kg) then kept eating until my mother kicked me in the shins. Most korean people can't even conceive of someone eating that much food outside of being an athlete.

[@BlackTigr]

I imagine what started the leftover plate charging probably wasn't just a one-person incident. More like having entire tables where at least a few had a plate they didn't finish, so that's a few plates per table. Cuz any parties of more than 3, especially if each person in those parties, has almost a whole plate of food they didn't eat, that's still a LOT of wasted food.

[@Xiassen]

Under that model, literally every restaurant is all you can eat

[@bjornsan]

I went to Japan with my then girlfriend. I had been to Japan before and I had studied japanese and she knew it. We went to one of those tiny bars in Drunkards Alley in Shibuya. Me and the bartender started talking to each other in japanese and my girlfriend suddenly said "You really do know japanese". It's like, did you think I just made that up?

[@esrohm6460]

when the waitress comes over and asks for last orders and suddenly boss music starts playing

[@Alex-bw6yd]

There’s a place in a town next to mine that does all you can eat Sushi, it’s made as soon as you order with fresh ingredients. 14 bucks flat rate for lunch and I eat about 6-7 plates every time I go. It’s awesome and the food is amazing

[@otakubullfrog1665]

I think you can actually offend the staff at some American buffets if you don't eat enough. I once went to a breakfast buffet at a hotel in Atlanta and only ate one plate of food. I only picked the place because it was downstairs and I didn't even know it was a buffet until I walked in, so I wasn't interested in challenging myself to see how much adequate-quality breakfast food I can eat on that particular morning, but one of the waitresses seemed very concerned and asked me about the situation two or three times. I think she even offered to lower the price for me, which was only about ten bucks to begin, so I wasn't worried about the value proposition.

[@TheToneBender]

Kind of true, tbh. I'm generally a full = full kind of guy, but when I see "all you can eat" I really want to make them regret that business decision.

[@watataenjoyer]

That one person that takes a bunch of food, has a bite and tosses it all away.

[@undeterminedpotato]

i used to go to a sushi place with my family that had an all you can eat option. We made sure to order significantly more than what the plates would be if non-all you can eat, just to make sure we got out money's worth.

[@jennifervictoria349]

I agree with Joey, especially if you speak any other language Confidence on your knowledge no matter how small or large it is Ppl will respect you. Don’t be nervous just say it with confidence cause when your nervous ppl will notice how new to a language you are

[@leax1405]

In France it's typically 12,50€ during lunch and 19€ for dinner and you can literally eat with NO LIMITS

[@magiclollyl]

The best thing about a buffet is that you can have a little bit of everything - that in itself gets your monies worth, but still my eyes are always bigger than my stomach lol

[@FeroDega]

5:34 You're welcome

[@toneddiejona22]

love the video keep poasting the shorts cause there the best

[@gauravbarman3731]

I had that moment once when I asked an old man where Nishiarai is on a map I was holding. I was pretty proud of being able to speak an entire sentence in Japanese. Then the man started talking an entire paragraph worth of words in 2x speed, drew diagrams on the back of my map and left. I said Arigato and just stood there still having no Idea where Nishiarai is.😂

[@scrumbles]

I think the overeating at buffets in america is due to misplaced revenge in being taken advantage of by businesses in general.

[@surprisinglyblank2392]

I have been to one type of place in Japan where all-you-can-eat means try to eat as much as you can. In Iwate prefecture they have a local dish called Wanko Soba. Little dishes of noodles and broth that you pay an initial flat fee for then can eat as much as you want.

[@IzzyKawaiichi]

"Did they even make a dent in it?" Me, an American: Oh, they did better than that!

[@ffguy91]

I liked meeting up with friends from work that took vacation in Japan at the same time I did... I could translate from(I'm bad at speaking the japanese cause I ain't had to speaks it since high school basically) to english... Mostly. And literally, I would say, "I can speak a little japanese, but my friends speak no japanese" (obviously in japanese) and everyone was amazed. Made me feel VIP. Then I wrote my name in katakana and they were like "Sugoi!" and made me teach everyone how to write their names in katakana as well

[@insanemang9983]

I wonder if the restaurant owner started to rethink their pricing.

[@blueicer101]

All you can eat japanese hotpot is so banger.

[@sml_tech]

You can find all you can eat chinese restaurants in my country where you pay 8-12€ per person and the food is really good.

[@starwarsfamilyguy0]

11:11 cannot relate, I only do things I want, regardless of holiday or not

[@Proxyincognito]

Garnt is the real life version of "Omel;ette du fromage".

[@unboxing_legend7708]

to be fair its kinda the same in the uk as well. all u can eat places are like the pinnacle of go to restaurants and are also one of my favourite places to go to as well. i think its because its like a life hack perk in a sense to go to a place, pay whatever money it is to eat there to get more than like a meal compared to normal restaurants that make u pay for every different item on the menu. i think it also tends to come down to style, functionallity of how it all works and the amount of different variety of food that is there and tends to be of actually decent to higher standard type quality. when it comes to japanese traditional style of all u can eat places or how alot of places in japan have their very own quirks within their resturants like conveyor belts where u take the food off, pay for it then eat or u sit down at a booth tap on a screen to order something and the food is cooked and delivered hot to you thru a small hatch or even the fact u can just buy ready to go hot meals and dinners from vending machines is something only really that is unique to the eastern parts of the world that other countries cant compare on. so i think ecspecially in japan, going to all u can eat places with all their stylised shops and restaurants tied to tradition and history, something as simple as an all u can eat place will heavily grab peoples attention. i would also be one of those people or just go to those arcades that u tend to either see in documentaries or anime just to experience a different style to the norm in the west.

[@metallica1fan1]

Yes, we Americans have the appetites of Saiyans at, "All you can eat buffets".

[@Yayisme]

I think charging for not eating what you got is a good idea. A lot if people eat only eat half the plate each time they get a new one. Food waste in the US is no joke

[@luketurner314]

Garfield the Cat: "They didn't have all I could eat"

[@HrHaakon]

I know of only one all-you-can-eat place in my hometown, but it proudly says: The meal is not over when you're full, it's over when you start hating yourself.

[@CordovanSplotchVT]

Going to an All You Can Eat place and not stuffing yourself to the bursting point is basically the same as saying "no thank you" to free food.

[@Achivus]

if i eat enough today i won't need to eat tomorrow

[@Murto84]

Used to go to a tabehoudai pizza place in Kobe with an American friend. They stopped doing tabehoudai specifically because he'd order WAY too much. Feels bad man

[@rurikvan]

I remember in Himeji, that i use a lonely planet book that told you how to said stuff in japanese but using your own language sounds... The woman answered us in japanese as she though we speak it.... End up taking us to the place, thank you lady!

[@pockyhunter187]

There is a place in Misawa that is called the Viking. Not sure if it's still there as this was years ago. But it was an all you can eat BBQ, where you grill it at the table. They probably had a no waste policy, but it really was an all you can eat. Even had fountain drinks you could get yourself.

[@toptims3248]

There's an AYCE sushi chain in the st louis area that charges you per piece that's leftover cause people would try to order a couple rolls at the end and take them to go

[@Scottthespy13]

The psychology of Americans (and Canadians) at 'all you can eat' places is a combination of 'bigger is better', 'get your money's worth', and the aforementioned challenge mentality. It all mixes together to make it feel like YOU have failed in some way if you don't. If you don't completely fill your plate every trip, what's the point? If you don't 'take advantage' of the one price no matter how much you eat, you've failed to be financially clever. If you don't overeat, you've failed at being the best at eating.

[@awsomesauce51]

I would love a special on trying lots of different food and drink places over an extended period that's just to show us places the boys think are good