The Quest for a True and Proper Breakfast

One great thing about living in Tokyo is that I can always try new things. Every day is an adventure! And sure that is great for a couple of weeks, but how about after a couple of months? Well, eventually there comes a time when you need a break from the new stuff and you need to experience something comfortable and familiar. And I was at that point last month. It was morning, and I was craving a good western-style breakfast.

I didn't want miso soup or rice or green tea or fish, I wanted fried eggs and toast and coffee and hash browns and orange juice and the whole bit.

So I looked around the station and after I found a Jonathan's restaurant!


That's right - I share the same name as a Japanese restaurant chain. For those who have never been, Jonathan's is very similar to the Denny's chain of restaurants which they also have here. Knowing I could get an amazing breakfast at Jonathan's, I immediately became excited and went inside.

But sometimes thing's don't quite work out as planned. I asked for the "Fried Egg Set" and the waitress asked "with rice is ok?" I asked if I could have toast, and she said they ran out of toast. So given that I really didnt gave any other option at this point, l said rice was OK.

And then my next surprise was the drink bar.

At Jonathan's most of their meals include the "drink bar", which is an unlimited serve-yourself selection of drink items. Kind of like a salad bar for drinks, hence the term "drink bar". Get it? ^_^

So I went up to the drink bar and got my coffee. But when I went to get my orange juice, the orange juice selection was broken. No OJ. Hmmmm.

So what else could I have?

Well... they have grapefruit juice, which I don't like because its too bitter. They have iced tea but it's black iced tea and I only like green iced tea. And they have soda but I don't want anything that's gonna make me burp. So.... So I have a Calpis.


What is Calpis? Ummm... Well its kind of like a yogurt-flavoured drink that's sweet but not carbonated. Not bad, but definitely not the same as orange juice!

So I sat there, in the restaurant featuring my own namesake, eating what was supposed to be a tradtional western-style fried egg breakfast.

Except with rice instead of toast.

And no orange juice, only Calpis.