<story><title>A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/business/japan-old-companies.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>agar</author><text>A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to &amp;quot;parent and child donburi&amp;quot; which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing).&lt;p&gt;Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with the signature dish having balanced flavors that seem to have been refined for generations. I found it endlessly fascinating that a humble lunch place with a simple dish could survive for 250+ years - but it also makes perfect sense that simple things last.&lt;p&gt;My colleague (a local in our Japan office) told me that emperors of old had ordered the dish to be delivered to them, well before Japan had even been &amp;quot;opened&amp;quot; to the world. Perhaps the stories were apocryphal (he was a sales guy after all), but still entertaining and gave a sense of the history behind the meal.&lt;p&gt;Tokyo is an amazing city, though it can be very lonely for an expat.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>drak0n1c</author><text>Oyakodon is one of the blandest dishes in Japanese cuisine (typically made with no sauces or spices - or just a tiny dash of shichimi), so I&amp;#x27;m not surprised foreign travelers found it disappointing. Growing up with the context of the dish helps - and so does a sensitive tongue!</text></comment>
<story><title>A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/business/japan-old-companies.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>agar</author><text>A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to &amp;quot;parent and child donburi&amp;quot; which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing).&lt;p&gt;Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with the signature dish having balanced flavors that seem to have been refined for generations. I found it endlessly fascinating that a humble lunch place with a simple dish could survive for 250+ years - but it also makes perfect sense that simple things last.&lt;p&gt;My colleague (a local in our Japan office) told me that emperors of old had ordered the dish to be delivered to them, well before Japan had even been &amp;quot;opened&amp;quot; to the world. Perhaps the stories were apocryphal (he was a sales guy after all), but still entertaining and gave a sense of the history behind the meal.&lt;p&gt;Tokyo is an amazing city, though it can be very lonely for an expat.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>herodoturtle</author><text>This was really cool to read, thanks for sharing.&lt;p&gt;I had a similar experience in Greece, where some locals recommended an out of town Gyro shop (&amp;quot;Gyro&amp;quot; is a popular Greek dish, simply put, it&amp;#x27;s your choice of meat, wrapped or stuffed in a pita, along with ingredients such as tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce).&lt;p&gt;At a measly 2 euros, it was vastly cheaper than the Gyro shops dotted around the popular hot-spots of the island.&lt;p&gt;And yet it had been open for a very long time indeed.</text></comment>