I believe JIRO is VERY UNIQUE noodle that is not known for the most of foreigners. Its history starts a noodle dining run nearby Keio Universtity, whose owner wished to serve a noodle with much volume with cheap price for the university student. To appreciate such kindness to the owner, customers – mostly students or youngsters volunteerly created protocols to eat JIRO. Of course they are not mandate, but if you breach such broadly known rules, you will be under negative pressure from surroundings.
As long as I know, you are asked to follow rules:
- Keep in line to wait for your turn, and no representative (for others or your group) in queue.
- Buy your ticket in advance by vending machine. Be careful for the volume of noodle. No leftovers allowed, of course. The volume depends on JIRO dining.
- Once you secure your seat, serve a glass of water by yourself.
- Most of JIRO provides options; YASAI (vegetable), Nin-niku (garlic), Kara-me (sauce on top), ABURA (solid peaces of lards), Mashi (additional), Mashi-Mashi (further additional), but DO NOT ASK any of them UNTIL dining staff ask you “Nin-niku Iremasuka ? (would you like carlic ?). This is called a “call”, and you HAVE TO wait for that call to ask options.
- Options should be clearly declaired in combination according to your choice, say; “YASAI MASHI, NIN-NIKU” (+ vegetable and garlic), or “YSAI MASHI MASHI, NIN-NIKU, KARAME” (++vegetables, garlic, and sauce on top) etc.
- As I said, no leftover. When you finished, raise your bowl and leave it on high counter so that staff can easily pick up. Clean up low counter with a table towl.
- Say “GOCHISOU-SAMADESITA” (thank you for dish) before you leave.
- If your stomach cannot stand its heaviness, buy “BLACK Woolong Tea” that supports to divest your noodles. Mostly sold by the vending machine in front of JIRO.
Find nationwide JIRO dinings (Japanese only).
