00:00
Welcome back to another episode of Kevin's English Room Podcast!
Hey!
So, I want you to talk to me about your experience, your past experience in the Michelin restaurant.
You've been there before, right?
Yes.
You told me that in the last episode there was a Michelin and a Michelin Junior.
Yeah.
And you've been to both.
Both, yeah.
Like a ramen shop for the Michelin Junior.
Yeah.
And you've been to actually...
Okay, tell me the official name.
Pipu Guruma.
Pipu Guruma, yeah.
Pipu Guruma.
Ah, got it.
Pipu Guruma.
What?
I don't know.
Okay, got it.
So, I want to know, so the two-star, the fully grown adult Michelin...
Yeah.
What, French?
Italian?
Japanese.
Japanese.
When I lived in Kyoto, there's a Michelin restaurant, Michelin Japanese restaurant right next to my house.
Damn.
So, I... why don't I go there?
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, my house.
So, I visited there once.
And actually, I've been... when I go to my... go work, to my nearest station, Michelin station, you know, I pass by.
Okay.
In front of that restaurant.
There's always one okami-san with like perfect kimono.
Okay.
Which seems very gorgeous and expensive.
Always cleaning up the genkan around the places.
And fully yokesho.
It's kind of very early morning.
But there's a okami-san cleaning up the street.
And putting like very nice flower in front of that restaurant.
Wow.
And that's what I've been seeing.
Yes.
So, I was kind of curious about that.
And I just tried to get in.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I reserved through the phone and get inside.
Yeah.
And there was like... there were like five seats inside.
Damn.
And...
Okay.
Okay.
And when I visit there, there was okami-san was waiting.
Okay.
And he was kind of like those things.
And invite me inside.
Never want taisho inside.
Okay.
And he was like very like smiley.
Okay.
And he was like very, very kind, gentle, taisho.
And...
I guess there was three courses that I ordered the cheapest one.
But still there was like six dishes.
Okay.
Like six Japanese dishes.
They were so good.
But taste was really like complex and complicated.
03:03
So, it was kind of difficult to explain what was that.
You know.
Okay.
It's not like simply like soy sauce taste.
But also like so many different like dashi or like different vegetables or meat.
Those unexpected like harmony.
So, it was good.
Okay.
But I have no word that I can explain those tastes actually.
It was fun.
Okay.
So, was that the experience there?
Was that like a straight up, "Oh, this tastes really good."
Kind of reaction or more was it like, "Okay, I can understand that this is complex and I can understand this is good.
But fuck it, McDonald's is better."
What was your answer then?
The former one.
The former one?
Yeah, it was nice.
It was delicious.
Instantly that was delicious and it's good.
But the taste itself was complicated.
So, I have to think about and taste about, taste the taste.
Okay. Got it.
That was the moment.
Like Michelin moment.
The Michelin experience.
Oh, this is good but let me taste these tastes.
Dang.
Maybe this is shoga or myoga.
It doesn't say?
If I ask them, they will answer me.
But there's a kind of Michelin atmosphere.
Got it.
It wasn't like casual.
Talking about the atmosphere, how was it like inside?
It was Michelin atmosphere.
That's exactly what you expect.
Really?
There's one counter and only five or six seats and one master guide inside the kitchen.
And there's a wife here, always care about me.
You feel the pressure of being watched.
A little bit, yeah.
And so many flowers and plates and vases were inside to decorate the whole kitchen.
Yeah, there were seasonal flowers and seasonal fabrics.
Do you remember how much the course was?
It was like 12,000 to 13,000 yen.
Well, not bad.
Yeah, not that bad.
But it was the cheapest course.
What was the most expensive one?
I don't remember, but I don't know.
It was not that bad.
It is not that, that, that expensive.
06:02
Like for the very special day.
Like some kind of anniversary.
Yeah, that's very acceptable price range.
Yeah.
Okay.
Do you want to go back there again?
Yeah, but you know, I'm the guy who love going different stores, like trying to do some adventures.
Okay.
So I prefer if I pay the same amount of money, I prefer going different good restaurants.
Different experience.
Yes, yes.
Different Michelin experience.
Yes.
All right.
I've never had that experience before in my life.
So I'm guessing it's worth a try.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes, yes.
It's worth a try.
And you didn't have to like comment or anything, right?
You didn't have to, there was no pressure of like, okay, you didn't have to say anything
to like the sophisticated comment or anything, right?
Oh, this is 1962 wine.
It's from Bordeaux.
You don't have to say anything like that, do you?
No, no, no.
It's good.
You just say, oh, it's good.
What is inside?
It's just casual conversation.
So you can, or if you don't want to have conversation, you can just eat.
Just eat and not...
What if you get like a notification from wine?
Is that trouble?
Like if it starts ringing, is that like...
No.
Is that like a taboo?
No, no, no.
No?
But maybe...
Maybe turn your phone off?
Yeah, maybe not.
That's a good idea.
Maybe.
Okay.
Yeah.
Wait.
You know, I think we're still on record.
Okay.
Let me check.
Yeah, we're still on record.
I'm sorry, guys.
I got a phone call.
But it's okay.
Yeah.
So food was great.
And atmosphere was great.
Yeah.
And it was great as an experience.
So, worth it.
It's right.
How was your, the junior one?
The junior one?
The Michelin junior.
I went to...
Actually, there's a period that I tried to visit those Michelin places as much as I can
to study because I need to recommend those places to the family.
And those places to the foreigner.
Yeah.
So, I was like, I need to know and I have experience.
So, I went to a ramen shop.
And I'm not sure, but there was a takoyaki place.
It was, I think, Michelin.
Or like, Taberobushakume.
I'm not sure.
Yeah.
But those places.
09:00
And I went to a soba place.
And tempura place, too.
They're all Michelin junior?
Well, that was maybe Michelin.
The fully grown adult, okay?
Maybe.
I'm not sure.
It's called daddy Michelin.
Daddy.
Yeah.
Okay.
But those are, like junior Michelins are not Michelin Michelin.
So, you can just, it's really like casual.
It's casual.
It's just...
It could be this atmosphere.
Yeah.
Like this is a normal cafe.
Like a normal ramen restaurant.
It'll show you those.
Those, like price range would be like 600 yen to like 1,300.
I'm taking a guess that the Michelin juniors only look at the taste.
Whereas the Michelin daddy would look...
The daddy Michelins would be, you know, the criteria would be not only the food,
but also like the in-store atmosphere, the in-store experience.
Yeah.
The customer services.
Yeah.
Those are included as well, I guess.
True, true.
Yeah.
All right.
There you go.
All right.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Thanks for listening guys, bye bye.