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Lesson Transcript

Hello, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. I’m Eric.
In this lesson we will talk about the ​"Top 5 things To Know For A Gyudon Restaurant".
The first topic on the list is about the three major franchise chains that serve beef bowl (J: gyu-don).
Japan's beef bowl market is almost dominated by three big brands (J: sukiya), (J: yoshinoya) and (J: matsuya).
All three vendors were once locked in fierce price competition during Japan’s deflationary economy and after the mad cow scare sapped diners’ appetites.
But the restaurants have finally ended these price wars, and have instead started releasing high-end and other unique menu items to lure more customers.
The next topic is about a special request for extra beef juice. This is called (J: tsuyu-daku).
This is a very popular but unwritten menu item, and you can have more sauce without an extra charge to make your beef bowl juicier than normal.
If you don’t like soggy rice, then you can request “no beef juice” (J: tsuyu nuki). In this way you can have your dish without juice.
The next topic is about an another hidden code, but this one is for extra onion topping. It is called (J: negi daku). If you are not a big fan of onions, then try the “no onion” request, which is (J: negi nuki).
You can make these special requests with no extra cost. But remember that it is always nice to ask the staff politely, and that they are not always able to fulfill your request, especially during peak hours.
The other thing you should remember is that when you ask for extra onion, you will get more onions but less meat.
The next topic is a relatively new menu item with extra meat served on a regular portion of rice. This is called (J: atama no omori).
This menu item, available only at (J: yoshinoya), used to be a very popular secret menu item among hardcore beef bowl fans.
Reflecting the popularity of this request, the beef bowl company added this unwritten item to their regular menu in 2013.
Last but not least is about the bowl in which gyudon is served. This is called (J: donburi).
This bowl is used for serving noodles or rice dishes. It is normally ceramic or porcelain, and bigger and thicker than a rice bowl.
When you serve rice in this bowl with toppings on top, the dish itself will be called (J: donburi) or even abbreviated as (J: don).
For example, a rice bowl with deep-fried tempura (J: tenpura) is called (J: ten-don) while the rice bowl with egg and chicken on top is called (J: oyako-don),meaning “parent-and-child-donburi”.
(J:Gyudon), meanwhile, is made with the Japanese words for beef (J: gyuu) plus (J:don).
That’s all we have for this lesson. One of the fun things about beef bowl restaurants is that you can arrange your dish to best suit your taste. Have you ever tried these hidden menu items? Leave us a comment and let us know! Thanks for listening and we’ll see you next time. Until then, bye!

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