00:11
So, on to our intentionally light-hearted topics. Take away, LEN.
All right, I'll take it away. My heart feels very light, but my stomach feels very heavy.
So, we're talking about udon. And why are we talking about udon? Let me add some context,
lead us in to my sort of premise for this udon.
Because basically people, LEN just said, Asami, we can talk about my PC building and udon.
And I'm like, sure. And we spun this PC building part into multiple episodes.
So, we're finally getting to udon. What about udon?
That was the appetizer. This is the main dish.
And it certainly was. So, okay, we... Well, I am in Japan. You are not.
I am not.
But, so I'm here. And now, I wouldn't usually expect to run into or have a chance to see
a lot of people that are in the States, because I'm in Japan.
Yeah.
However, completely by chance, there was a mentor of mine from high school,
speaking of things like robotics and stuff, who was in Japan. And I just happened to see a post.
I went on the thing that I don't use very often, which is the Facebook. And I saw a post and I was
like, huh? And so I sent a message and I was like, you know, I live here, right?
And so, it was a good fun. It was really great.
I love those impromptu meetings.
Yeah. And it was wonderful. We're connected again on things now and stuff. And it's like,
it was really, really good. I wish I had a little more time.
But it was perfect to sort of have and they're heading out soon, right? So,
um, we snuck in a dinner. And so we were planning a dinner and I was like, okay,
I am going to be the one to take and organize this because, well, I guess I live here, right?
So, I said, okay, you know, what would you like to have? And so this mentor was also with
somebody with a family member that were traveling. And they were like, well, Udon. We haven't really
had Udon of anything yet. I'm like, okay, fine. I can, I can find a Udon place, go through all
the patterns, Udon, Udon, Udon, restaurants, ask people for recommendations. Um, I was also
introduced to the hot pepper app. Um, yeah, that one. Yeah. And, uh, so that is what I ended up
03:05
using for this particular one. And I stumbled across, uh, Tsurutontan. And so, uh, it seems
good to say that word. It's, it sounds like one of those words that would be fun to say if I didn't
have to think so hard about it. No, you know what? It is fun to say. Um, I'll just leave it at that.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I'll say it again. Tsurutontan. Ton-tan. Ton-tan. Ton-tan.
I think Tsuru is the harder part. Tsurutontan. Tsuru, in fact, maybe it's just because I've
done it a bunch. It doesn't feel as ungraspable. Whereas the ton-tan is a quick change between the
o-a sounds, which makes it a little tongue twister-y. Um, it's not bad. I don't mind that.
I don't mind, you know, playing with the back and forth, but I can tell it wants to be ton-ton in,
in my, in my reflex, right? Ah, you might understand that. Yeah. Ton-tan. Ton-tan,
right. In terms of the, the switch. Yes. Yeah. Um, so, okay. You went to Tsurutontan. Was this
your first time? First time. It's the first time I've been. Um, I don't even know.
I'm trying to remember if I have gone out for udon in Japan since I've been here. I have to
have. Have you cooked udon? I don't know. Um, udon, I had to have gone. It's one of the easiest,
like pasta alternative. Yeah. See, I stopped eating a lot of just like straight pasta in the
States. Like, okay. I would make pasta dishes, but I would end up like doing, you know, a bunch to
it or sauces or other things. And, or I would do like lasagna or something. Right. But I don't
know. I just, I kind of fell out of wanting pasta a lot. And so udon doesn't always draw me in.
I had to have made it a couple of times, but you know, just, it's not sticking. It's not,
it's not a clear memory. Anyway. So you hadn't had udon in a while. You went to Tsurutontan.
Went to Tsurutontan. How was it? Uh, well, it was great. Okay. Yeah. First off, I mean,
it was great. I really enjoyed all the food in particular because, because I had made a
reservation, we needed to get. Oh, you need a reservation to go to Tsurutontan? Well, you don't
need one. I made one, but because I made one and that was to ensure that there was no problems
trying to get in at the time that we wanted to get in. Right. It was like, there were, there's
06:03
popular, right? Like it's a, it's a popular place. And so I didn't know how popular,
and there were things online about waiting, you know, 30 minutes to an hour. And I'm like,
I'm like my, yeah, that exactly that. And so I was like, I think I'd prefer to make a reservation.
If you make a reservation, then you need to order the course meals. So you have to order like the,
the whole array of, you know, appetizers and things like that. Um, which turned out great,
right? It was nice. We had the whole ordeal of, um, you know, little, little, little
Okazu. I'm not even sure if it's Okazu at that point, like the little sort of small plates and
dishes of things. Kobachi? Maybe. I don't know if I don't use these words. Or like otoshi,
like maybe the little thing that comes as like, at the beginning of izakaya, you're like,
I didn't order this, but it's like a stuff that comes. Would you, would you use otoshi for the
ones that come as part of like a full course set? I mean, maybe if I ordered a course ahead of time,
it's not that, like otoshi is usually like, that's the surprise, not the surprise, but the izakaya
right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Although I don't know where Tsurutontan stands in the scale of izakaya
to restaurant. I'd put this particular one, this was at Tokyo Eki. So it was like under the,
in like the Tokyo building. Um, it's like one of their mall things.
Doko doko? Tokyo Eki. So in Tokyo station.
Um, or just outside of it, but I mean, like, I have no clue. Like I, Tsurutontan is like a fairly
new chain. Oh really? Uh, I mean, I mean, maybe it was already popular in Kansai, but it only
made its way to Tokyo area. Like after I have left Japan, uh, which at this point it's been
a long time. So maybe I, I shouldn't say new, but like new for me. And, um, I mean,
they even have a spot in Boston. Did you know that? I did not. No, I had no idea. Okay. Don't
go there. Okay. Now I don't need to know that I can just, just delete that from my brain. Yep.
It's gone. So this, this one was good, right? Yeah. This one was fine. Um, and.
So you had the whole array of items like a otoshi appetizer things.
Yep. Um, and so then we get to the point that they sort of are like, what,
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what udon dish would you like? So the course included the choice of your udon dish and.
Um, so we were ordering and, uh, he, he mentions that there are multiple sizes,
right? So there are, there are three, three sizes, um, uh, small, medium, large. And I,
I'm like, okay. I I'm not at first surprised by that. I'm kind of like, sure.
Size. Okay. Yeah. I don't know what that means and I'm not thinking too hard about it.
And then when we finish, which one we're going to pick, uh, he reminds us, he asks us again,
what size, right? Like, and so I kind of, now I'm thinking, wait a minute, hold on.
Small, medium. What do you mean by small, medium or large? Like, like how this it's
not computing to me. Right. So I'm like, you know, like don't know that I, you know, sort of
and, and see, you know, Nihaku gram is like, uh, small, 200 grams or small.
That's like not helpful information. I don't know what a Nihaku gram looks like.
Yeah. And so I'm, I'm, I'm like parsing in my brain because I sort of have a good idea of what
200 grams of rice is. I guess, I guess a hundred gram of pasta is usually one serving.
Yeah. That's okay. That would have been maybe a helpful reference for me to have at the moment.
Like, cause I'll eat 200 grams of like rice in like a sitting, depending on like,
right. Okay. How hungry I am. Right. And so that's like a one big ish bowl of rice.
Yeah. And so I'm like, I mean, for Udon, is that a lot? I mean, they said small,
so I assume it's not a lot. Uh, okay. Well, all right, fine. So like I, I quick translate. And
so I'm like, well, it's 200 grams for a small. So like the, the mentor of mine is, is a scientist
or science teacher. So like, it was fine. It was roughly a good idea for what a small was. And
it was like, okay, yeah, I'll get a small. And I'm like, okay, yeah, they'll get a small. Um,
their, their family member got a medium. And I was like, I think that's fine. I'll get a medium.
Um, because it's normal, right? You know,
Well yeah, you would think that if the choice involved small, medium, large,
you would think that the medium is like the average size. You would think that the normal
is normal. Right? Like, like this is, this is the one you would get. Um,
like, I don't understand. And so fine, fine. It's all fine. And then the bowl comes over
and the bowl is like, if I spread my hand out, right, obviously it's fancy. Right. But I got,
12:00
I don't know. I got sizable hands. Right? Like these are, these are like, they're not,
nobody would be calling them small. They might not call them huge, but we are like
in decent hand size here. We're talking about normal size.
I wish I had a reference around here that wasn't like arbitrarily sized objects,
but I have no reference. Um, although, although sadly hands are like the most valuable.
It's like, you know what? Hold on. You can, you can cut the silence in here if you want.
Everyone, Len is going to look for his ruler. He decides not to cut the silence and instead
narrate the silence. So everybody, you'll know, you'll now know how long my hand is
from the middle finger down to my wrist. What an intimate information to put it out on a public
wavelength. Oh, you can bleep it out if you don't want people to know. So, uh, it is 20 centimeters.
Okay. 20 centimeters. Yeah. People remember that. Yeah. Remember that. So I opened,
like I could open my hand over the bowl. Right. Like the diameter of the bowl. Yeah. Is bigger
than that. Right. It's like, you've got, you've got space around my hand. Right. Like there is
notable space. And again, the bowl flexes outwards. Right. I mean, it's, it's a fancy bowl.
But I sort of do like a bit of a tilt, you know, see how deep this is. And it's, it's deep. Like
this is a lot, this is a lot of soup stock and Udon in this bowl. Um, and I got, what did I get?
Uh, Kamono Udon. And so it was duck. Oh, good choice. Good choice. It was so good. I mean,
if we're going to pay for an expensive course, like, um, but yeah, so it was just huge. And I
saw mine came first and I was like, this is, this is big. Like, you see the looks on their faces
and they're like, that's pretty big. Yeah. So we were surprised and thankfully, like, uh, you know,
I mentioned that my mentor had gotten a small and that, I mean, that was still notable in size. Uh,
and I don't think I, I think that's what Tsurutontan is famous for. They're like a huge
portion size. The portions. Oh, I think, I think, I don't know. Um, like I feel like people like
Tsurutontan for the good cost performance. Got it. Okay. You get the most for your buck.
Most bang for your buck. Most bang for your buck. Yeah. I think, I think, I think that's
what made them famous. Okay. And it's, it's, it's, it's also known to be pretty tasty, right? Yeah.
15:05
It was, it was great. I mean, I, I finished mine. I was like, this is great. You know, um, like it
was, it was a wonderful meal, but definitely feels like a bang for your buck situation or a
cost performance, like, uh, well now, you know, if you ever go back to Tsurutontan, you, depending
on how hungry you are, you can order appropriate size and not be scared of this gigantic bowl.
I can be like, I can be like, this is the size that I think I want to eat right now. Right. I
have a good reference for it because wow. Oh, thanks. Yeah. I've learned something. So I do,
I do deserve praise. Um, I feel like that it was good. I'm glad to know that that
particular one is there. Tsurutontan. Tontan. Yeah. Um, and the knowledge of that might lead
me back there at some point, but wow, was that not what I was expecting, right? For like an udon
sort of meal. Well, let me tell you in the next episode, what other chain udon place there are
in Tokyo vicinity that are worth visiting. I'm going to be flooded with udon. Yes. All right,
cool. And I'm about to also bring out the most important debate of this week. So stay tuned.
Wow. That's it for the show today. Thanks for listening and find us on X at Eigo de Science.
That is E-I-G-O-D-E-S-C-I-E-N-C-E. See you next time.
