Not Quite

This was one of those meals that had so much potential, but failed to live up to expectations.

The salad, for instance, was really good, especially because of the added cheese, which is a rare treat. Notice I chose a bowl with practically zero ham in it, too! No surprise there, huh?

The bread was also pretty good, especially when dipped in the main dish.

The main dish, however, is primarily where this meal failed.

The potatoes were fine, and the small pieces of pork were OK, too, but there were simply too many beans in there, which is why I couldn't finish the dish. I didn't feel like finishing the sauce, either, because I was worried about what it would do to my stomach.

As for the yogurt for dessert, well, it certainly tasted good, but the added sugar made it far too sweet. What a shame!

Total points: 5

My Version Of Natto

I really wasn't sure what to make of that pile of food on the little plate that was supposedly some kind of salad.

I mean, just look at it. It looks like something that came out of someone's nose.

Seriously.


Remarkably, the salad, which primarily consisted of eggplant, was actually pretty darn good. If it hadn't been so unpleasant to look at, I might have even gotten seconds.

I didn't even attempt to taste the soup, however, since I knew I wouldn't like it, especially because of the fact that there was plenty of mochi (thick little rice cakes) in it.

What is the point of mochi?

I did eat the fish, but I wasn't happy at all that is was deep fried. Why can't they just grill it? Grilled fish is so much better for you than deep-fried fish. Ugh!

I also ate the shredded cabbage, but I still don't understand the Japanese fascination with it.

Oh, and because a bottle of my favorite dressing, the poppy-seed dressing, miraculously showed up after just about everyone had gone through the line and gotten their food, I decided to grab a bowl of rice and cover it with the dressing. As a matter of fact, as soon as I finished my rice, I went back to get some more!

Needless to say, I got a few strange looks because of the dressing on my rice.

I kept my wits about me, though, and responded to the doubters as follows:

"Poppy-seed dressing is to me what natto is to you!"

Total points: 5

Good Thing The Salad Was Good

Yet again we had a really bad meal. I have no idea what's going on, but the food seems to be getting worse and worse.

I didn't even touch the main dish.

I ate/drank the soup, but it was about as bland as soup can get.

Luckily, the salad, which had bits of cucumber, seaweed, and squid in it, was actually pretty tasty, so I even had seconds.

Obviously, eating a lot of salad is a healthy thing to do and I should probably make a habit of it. Nevertheless, I wish the rest of the food on my tray were good enough to eat, too.

Total points: 4

Not My Usual Sunday Lunch

There was no school on Friday, because we had school today, Sunday. It was open house here.

Hopefully, not too many of the visitors ventured over to the school cafeteria, because today's meal was nothing to write home about.



The main dish was some kind of Chinese food that I decided to pass on.

The soup wasn't bad, but I certainly wasn't all that excited about eating it.

What saved this meal from being a total disaster was the gyoza (dumplings). They weren't exactly delicious, but they were good. As a matter of fact, they were good enough that I went and had seconds.

Because it has been pretty hot out, I haven't had much of an appetite lately. That's why I'm not quite as upset as I usually am about the less than adequate quality of the food that is being served.

Nevertheless, I'd rather be turning away delicious food, rather than bad food. Oh, well.

Total points: 4

Serve This Every Day And I'll Be A Happy Camper

For some reason, I never got the lunch schedule for August.

In other words, every time I head to the chow hall, I'm prepared for "Chef's Surprise."

Luckily, finally(!), today the food was more than edible.


Hallelujah!

The salad was pretty tasty.

The curry was more than pretty tasty.

The dessert was good, too.

If we had had cake instead of frozen pineapple, I would have even gone so far as to say this meal would have been perfect. As it stands, it was pretty darn good, especially considering how bad lunch has been lately.

Go figure.

Total points: 9

(Note: There's no school tomorrow, so there wont' be a post then. We do have school on Sunday, however, so that's when I'll be posting next.)

Finally, Some Meat

I guarantee you the only reason I grabbed that soup was to include it in the picture. I even told one of the students sitting next to me that it had to be the worst soup -- ever.

The soup went back to where it belonged -- down the drain.


I passed on the salad, too, because it included katsuobushi, one of my least favorite toppings.

As for the main dish: I gave away the renkon (that white stuff), but did eat the pork, which was fairly tasty.

Check out the size of that piece, though. It looks like the Lunch Lady's budget is on a diet.

Total points: 4

This Slop Just Doesn't Cut It

Today's meal wasn't much better than yesterday's, starting with the dessert, which I gave away, since it was of the ridiculously cheap and fake variety.

I mean, let's get real here. What did that thing cost? All of ¥20 or so? Hey Lunch Lady: Next time, serve up a real dessert, OK?

The salad was, oh, let's say, sufficient.

The main dish left a lot to be desired, too. See those little, disgusting wieners in there? Yeah, well, I didn't eat them. I did eat the broccoli and potatoes that you probably can't see, but they weren't very satisfying.

What is the point of serving food that looks like slop?

Survey says: So you can use it as dip for your bread!

Total points: 3

What A Welcome Back! Not!

I can't honestly say I had forgotten how bad the food here was, but I guess I was hoping that things would get better after summer vacation.

Boy was I wrong. In a big way.

This had to be one of the worst meals ever, if you can even call it a meal.

The only reason I took any of the food was so that I could take a picture of it.

I didn't even touch the main dish or the soup, and I had even passed my salad to one of the bigger eaters before tasting it and realizing that it actually wasn't that bad.

Yeah, so my lunch consisted of one spinach and tuna salad. That sure makes for an odd combo, but I liked it. I really did.

Total points: 2

Bitter Melon, Anyone?

This meal was pathetic. That's about all there is to it. What's worse: The HVC wasn't in school today, so there was no one (obvious) to give my food to.

I just nibbled at the main dish, which was sprinkled with bits of goya, also known as "bitter melon" in English.


I like sweet melon, but bitter melon? What's the point of that?

As for the soup, well, I dabbed at it, but that's about it.

The salad was OK, because there's nothing wrong with cucumber, but because there was a lot of a strange-tasting, stringy type of seaweed tossed in there, I just wasn't able to finish it.

Like I said, this meal, which was theoretically my "Welcome Back" meal, was for the birds.

Total points: 1

(Note: I will be out of town until August 16, but it will still be summer vacation then, so the next post won't be until August 22. Stay tuned and stay hungry!)

False Advertising

I was kinda looking forward to this meal, because the menu said the main dish was going to be "potatoes and cheese."

Unfortunately, there were also some (disgusting) wieners in there, along with a stomach-busting sauce, so all I did was pick out the potatoes and pass the rest on to HVC.

I ate the entire salad, although that, too, threw me for a loop, since the menu said we'd be having "fruit salad," not "fruit mixed in with salad."

The bread was fine, and the mini pack of "almond" (butter? jam? spread?) gave it some extra flavor, although I could have used about three more packs of it.

I even gave away my "ice milk mousse," since I knew it wasn't that good, it wasn't the kind of mousse I was expecting, and the kids always love it when you give them an extra dessert.

Lunch Lady: Next time, stick to the menu!

Total points: 4

(Note: I will be out of town until August 4. Stay tuned and stay hungry!)

Tangy Fishy

I think this is a recording.

We had fried fish today.

Yet again.

For the umpteenth time.

At least I like fish, which is one reason why I had seconds. The other reason: I was hungry.

I also have to say that, although I'm not a fan of miso soup, the ginger miso sauce gave the fish a nice tangy flavor.

The salad had no such pizzazz, however, but I did manage to eat it, unlike the soup, which just wasn't very appetizing.

Don't get me wrong: The soup wasn't bad, but it was greatly lacking in "Bam!"

Total points: 5

Let's Re-Name This Meal "Salad"

They might as well have called this meal "salad," because that's all I ate.

Well, to tell the truth, I did nibble at the tofu before giving away that main dish to you-know-who.

HVC wasn't interested in the soup, however, so I just dumped it.

(If HVC won't eat it, you know it must be bad!)

Thanks a lot, Lunch Lady...

Total points: 2

I Like This Tradition

This meal was a pleasant surprise.

I didn't read the menu carefully and thought we were having just another (generally not very good) "traditional" meal like what we have about two or three times a month.

Lucky for me, this "traditional" meal turned out to be curry!

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

You just can't go wrong with curry.

The salad would have been practically perfect, too, were it not for the you-know-what, but I ate it all, anyway. I especially liked the cheese in the salad, which we only get about once a month.

(I swear I wish we had a salad bar where we could choose what to put on our salads instead of getting stuck with ham, ham, and more ham.)

And check out the bottom right-hand corner: Fruit for dessert! Hurray for that!

I didn't have seconds of the curry, but I did grab a second pack of sliced apricot. The fruit wasn't as sweet as I would have liked it, but I can't really complain!

Total points: 7

The Lunch Lady Drops The Ball

This is the meal that they served just two hours before the mini-triathlon.

That bowl of spicy whatever plus tofu had "danger" written all over it.

Think: Exploding stomach.

Good thing HVC came to the rescue.

I didn't want any part of that salad, either, since it just didn't do the trick for me.

(HVC had an absolute Field Day today!)

All I wanted was something light and easy on my stomach, so the only part of this meal that I ate was the noodles. They had absolutely no flavor, however, so I didn't even finish them.

Luckily, however, I didn't count on the food staff to meet my nutritional needs before the race. That's why I brought my own "calories" to school and was all set.

Today was the perfect opportunity for the Lunch Lady to bust out a special pre-race meal for the students (even though the only ones participating are the juniors), but she dropped the ball.

That comes as no surprise, however, since the Lunch Lady has never impressed me with her (lack of) creativity...

Lunch Lady, if you're reading this, here are some suggestions:

Hamburgers and hot dogs on the 4th of July

Pumpkin soup on Halloween

Turkey sandwiches on Thanksgiving

Heart-shaped cookies on Valentine's Day

Spaghetti for lunch before the mini-triathlon

Get with the program a little, please! The kids would absolutely love it!

P.S. Remember what I said about "exploding stomach" above? Well, check this out: After crossing the finish line, the third-place finisher took about two steps, bent over, and up-chucked his lunch, tofu and all. Yuck!

Total points: 2

Ham? No, Ma'am!

There it is again, the omnipresent ham in the salad.

Pass.

Oh, and look what's in our soup: Gobou, or rather, yesterday's leftover gobou.

Pass.

What's left?

Cabbage, luckily covered with (my favorite) sesame dressing, and a pice of deep-fried fish.

The fish really wasn't all that bad, but just look at it. It looks pretty "dead" to me. That's not exactly the most appetizing way to serve food, is it?

Total points: 4

Sloppy Chicken

This meal was a first for me.

That main dish looks like a right mess, and it certainly was.

I used my chopsticks to eat the potatoes, but I ditched them when I got to the boiled chicken and simply grabbed the mini drumsticks with my hands.

I wish the chicken had been easier to eat, but at least it wasn't bad. I even went and got seconds, but I asked for potatoes only.

The only part of the soup I ate was those two fish balls (or whatever the heck they were). The rest of it, the gobou (burdock root), just wasn't appealing.

I did finish the salad, but it wasn't a winner.

Total points: 6

Word Of The Day: Ridiculous

Today was yet another "Hungry Meal."

There was one big difference between today's Hungry Meal and every other Hungry Meal that we've had until now, however: They ran out of rice today.

Yessiree, Bob... You heard me right: They ran out of rice.

Believe it or not, this is at least(!) the second time this has happened. Since I generally pass on the rice, however, I normally wouldn't care if there were no rice.

The main component of today's main dish, however, was just that: Rice.

To finish off the main dish, you then take the side dish, wish is a sort of soup, I guess you could say, and pour it over your rice.

Since there was no rice, though, my side dish today was my main dish. Gee, thanks.

Actually, in all fairness, the food servers eventually busted out instant (microwavable) rice. The problem is, by the time they served that, it was already 12:50! By then, I had already had two bowls of "soup" for lunch and was in no mood for rice.

I don't really like purple grapes that much, either, so today's dessert wasn't that appealing to me. (I gave away half of my grapes.)

I still can't believe it's possible for the food servers to run out of rice. I mean, they pretty much make rice three times a day, day after day after day after day after day. You'd think they'd have gotten the hang of it by now.

Oh, and you should have seen how they were serving the microwaved rice. They served it in a bowl, but gave the poor few students and teachers who had to wait (forever) an extra bowl to eat it in.

Say what? Thanks for creating even more waste. That's just what we need.

I was joking with the students that they were supposed to take the second bowl, turn it over, place it on top of the other bowl, and shake up the rice and "soup" like a cocktail. Too bad that wouldn't work...

Oh, and yeah, what's up with the "endless" grapes? I mean, again, this meal is supposed to teach the students to appreciate food, yet they can pretty much feast on grapes.

Talk about sending mixed messages...

Total points: 2

(Note: Monday is a holiday, so the next post won't appear until Tuesday.)

The Barbarian Strikes Again

As you probably know by now, I'm not much of a fan of fried food, but I did eat today's (barbarian) chicken (most recently seen on June 20. I didn't eat the excuse for tartar sauce, though (I found a willing taker), and I wasn't happy about the fact that there were only a few drops of dressing left for me to "enjoy." Thanks so much!

The salad was OK, and I even purposely grabbed a bowl that had a piece of squid in it.

The soup was OK, too, which means I ate just about everything on my plate.

If the chicken had just been grilled instead of fried, this meal would have been much better.

Total points: 5

Yuck, Yuck, And More Yuck

The soup? Yuck. (I nibbled at it)

The salad? Yuck. (I passed.)

The main dish? More Yuck. (I nibbled at it.)

The water? Delicious!

Basically, I had 6 cups of water for lunch.

Amazingly, here are today's numbers for Honda, aka The Human Vacuum Cleaner (par excellence):

Bowls of rice: 2

Bowls of soup: 2.5 (including mine)

Bowls of the main dish: 2.5 (including mine)

Bowls of salad: 5 (Yes, that's right, five!)

The kid is amazing.

Total points: 1

Quail Eggs? In Soup? Say What?

Today's meal wasn't fun. How's that for a description?

Problem #1 was the fact that, as usual(!), there wasn't any sesame dressing left by the time I got my food. I did make a feeble attempt to cover the cabbage with the sauce that came with the fish, but, well, yeah, it was a feeble attempt.


That's why I gave away almost all of my cabbage.

Problem #2 was the fact that there were quail eggs in my soup. Quail eggs are bad enough when they are mixed in with the main dish, but this is the first time I can recall seeing them in soup. What is going on here? There's also ham in there. Ugh.

Guess what I did with my soup? Yup. I gave it away.

The salad wasn't bad, but that's the most I can say about it.

The fish was OK.

As you can imagine, I was left rather dissatisfied with my meal.

Total points: 4