There is a restaurant chain here in Tokyo called Kushikyu (which is a wordplay too difficult to describe in English) that serves “foods without a country.” Their menu features fusion cuisine—rice ball croquettes, kim chee stew—that are ultimately uniquely Japanese. It’s always a treat to see what specials they are cooking up this week.

Not only does the menu have strange combinations of flavors, it contains a joke. It’s teh first joke I’ve ever seen in Japan and I was stung by not quite getting it.

The word toriaezu means “that’s all for now” and is often used in restaurants when you’ve ordered your drinks and appetizers, but will order an entree later. Tori means chicken. And To is the number ten. When I read the weekly specials I see:

10. Tori aezu

I figure that #10 is a chicken dish with a cute name. So we ask the waitress, “What’s this tori aezu?” And she patiently explains that it is a joke. The laugh was on me, for sure. Posted by kuri at November 27, 2000 09:16 AM