“Eat everything on your plate or NO dessert.”
“You’ll sit there until you clean your plate.”
“I’m not running a restaurant. There’s no menu. You’ll eat what’s put in front of you.”
“Starving children around the world would love to have what you leave on you plate.”
“My, my, I think your eyes are bigger than your stomach.”
How many of us heard those lines or something similar while we were growing up. And let’s face it; no one likes to throw food away. But is it always necessary to clean your plate? Obviously, since this is a blog about trying to lose weight I think the answer to that question is no. I believe that you should stop eating when you are full.
If you happen to be in Sapporo, Japan and go to Hachikyo restaurant for a seafood meal, you will find that the owners share a very similar opinion to that of your mother. Clean your plate!
Their signature dish is called tsukko meshi, a popular meal consisting of rice topped by a huge heap of salmon roe. Customers also come because of the high quality of the fish they serve. Regulars are quite prepared to pay the price of eating at Hachikyo as well. Not only premium prices for the always-fresh seafood, but a $20 “fine” if they fail to finish every last morsel on their plate.
According to the explanation on the menu, “the working condition for fishermen are harsh and so dangerous that it’s not unknown for lives to be lost. To show our gratitude and appreciation for the food they provide, it is forbidden to leave even one grain of rice in your bowl. Customers who do not finish their tsukko meshi must give a donation.”
So, the surcharge goes back to the fisherman.
Hachikyo customers seem to not mind the surcharge since owners are planning to open a second branch in Tokyo soon.
According to the article I read on Yahoo-Shine, while unusual, their approach is not necessarily unique.
Doesn’t that give “home style food … like being in your mom’s kitchen” a whole new meaning?
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