In Japan, you'll often find these on lunch menus in many restaurants. It's basically a lunch that is not so heavy, but comes with a variety of little dishes. Japanese women often can't decide what to order especially when there are so many choices and often say they would like to try a little of everything. Of course they can't order every item because either it wouldn't fit into their stomachs or the bill would be too large in the end. Somebody had the brilliant idea of creating a lunch that would satisfy these women and give them an easy choice. Women are also known to like a tea or something sweet after their meals so many Lady's Sets also include these.
I visited a washoku (Japanese-style cooking) restaurant at the Dai Nagoya Building, just across the street from the East entrance of Nagoya Station. The Lady's Set on the lunch menu posted outside the restaurant drew me to try this shop, Shutei Kanda Sakuma, for the first time.
The decor itself gave this place an eastern Asia feel (not completely Japanese). The tables were set far apart so it didn't feel busy or as if you had to rush your eating. I was shown to a a table in a small room near the back of the restaurant since all the front seats were taken. As I peeked into the rooms at the farthest from the entrance, I could see that there were also tatami mat tables. There was a large menu for alcoholic drinks so I assume that for dinner it's more of an izakaya (Japanese Pub).
The Lady's Set was also called the Obanzai lunch (about ¥1300). Obanzai are basically side dishes meant to go with a main. However, sometimes as in this case, a variety of obanzai can be served instead of one main dish.
Today's obanzai lunch included some simmered veggies in a Japanese broth, tai (sea bream) sashimi, kinpira gobo (stir-fried burdock root), okara (seasoned tofu curds), pickled cabbage, tempura, grilled fish, tamagoyaki (rolled egg omelette), miso soup, Japanese pickles and rice. The picture doesn't include the small chawan mushi (steamed savoury egg custard), but it was also part of the lunch.
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| Obanzai Lunch (Lady's Set) |
To be honest, nothing really stood out in terms of flavour. They were all very standard obanzai, similar to the obanzai I can find in the prepared food section at my local grocery store. The chawan mushi tasted as if it had some sort of cinammon-like spice in it, but I could not tell what gave it this unusual flavour. All-in-all, a great Lady's Set, a combination of several small dishes just as it should be.
Area: Nagoya Station 名古屋駅, Dai Nagoya Building 大名古屋ビルヂング
Restaurant: Shutei Kanda Sakuma 酒亭・神田さくま
Hours: Lunch 11am-2:30pm (LO 2pm), Dinner 5-11pm (food LO 10pm, drink LO 10:30pm)
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