Benvenuto!

If you're Italian is as rusty as mine, Benvento is Italian for "Welcome." One night ago I visited an Italian restaurant in the main part of Hirakata City. The name of the restaurant, as it was an eclectic adaptation of an Italian word transliterated into katakana, eludes me. However, I was greeted with the usual "Irrashaimase!" combined with an Italian "Benvenuto!"

Eating Italian food felt a little awkward at first considering that I am, afterall, in Japan. Surprisngly though, Italian food is quite exotic in Japan (think French or Indian food in America). My group ultimately decided on spaghetti with arami (clam), a light salad including fresh vegetables and sashimi-like slices of fish, a pizza, interestingly enough, topped with calimari, shrimp, and tuna, and for dessert I decided on the raspberry cheesecake. All just as delicious as it sounds.

Although many in America when considering cuisine in Japan may instantly conjure images of sushi, noodles, and various dishes consisting of rice, cuisine in Japan is no less cosmopolitan than your average dining experience in the United States. To my understanding, Chinese and Italian food is quite popular in Japan and Japanese people are willing to pay a handsome premium for such food. I realized this soon after pricing a jar of spaghetti at a local grocery store for almost $7 a jar. Although foreign food is quite integrated into local cuisine, it is almost always adapted in a most unique way. Take for instance pizza. While many in the US are accustomed to ordering pizzas topped with pepperoni, sausage, or bacon, it is not rare to see a pizza topped with corn, tuna, or squid in Japan.

Think you know Japanese cuisine? Guess again...