Nuts!

 Yesterday the weather went from 59 degrees Fahrenheit down to the mid 30s with strong winds.  Brrrr!  (I know you Minnesota readers are scoffing.)  Doug and I walked to the neighborhood of Meguro which is a train and subway hub surrounded by all kinds of eating and drinking establishments.  In the cold, a Japanese fellow suddenly approached us holding a menu with English translations.  He pointed downstairs to the facility.   I paid no attention to the "Izakaya" sign above the door.  Wanting warmth and tasty, inexpensive food, we hurried down.  Ushered to the back corner table, the waiter promptly delivered a bowl of assorted nuts.  We ate them hungrily thinking they were complimentary munchies.  We noted that the wine and beer listings were three times the length of the scanty food menu, most of which were dishes of tripe (animal intestines).   Our food arrived on a gas burner and I was not happy about having to cook a $26 dish myself.    The dish was not inexpensive and the entrails too tough to chew.   Still feeling a bit hungry and somewhat irritated, we told the waiter that since we had not ordered the nuts, we did not want to pay the 700 yen ($7).  He deducted the amount. 

After some reading, I learned that an "Izakaya" is a casual place where Japanese go after work to eat and drink.  Not a pub, not a restaurant but something in-between.  After a warm towel is delivered for hand-washing (not face-washing!), nuts are set on the table and automatically charged to the bill in lieu of an entry fee.  Drinks and small plates (kind of like Spanish tapas) are to be ordered and delivered throughout the evening.  Some Izakaya allow customers to eat and drink all they want for two or three hours.  To be honest, the food at this Izakaya was so bad that one dish was plenty.