Christmas in Japan is different. It's like Valentine's day here. Rather than celebrating it with family, it's meant to be celebrated with your lover or a confession to a crush.
I celebrated mine with my boyfriend. 5 PM on the 24th and we still didn't have plans. A few minutes after he woke up, he declared we would be eating out so I tried to look for a place to have dinner. As expected, restaurants were so full of reservations but luckily, we found TGI Fridays opened til late.
It's my first time here. I knew it would have the American vibe but I wasn't expecting some kind of show when we arrived. The bartender was showing off his talents to the audience while making some cocktails. It was so lively and a bit noisy which surprised me because usually, restaurants in Japan are quiet and no show-offs like this.
It seems like everybody was so impressed with the performance of the bartender.
There were so many to choose from on their menu. We haven't had anything the whole day (because we were sleeping) so this was hunger speaking.
While waiting for our food, we learned that the propeller we found in the bar is symbolic of this restaurant. On the later pages of the menu, we found this and it stated it is the main focus and the engine of Fridays.
We also learned that this restaurant started way back in 1965 in New York and it's "a meeting place for singles". It's so different from what we have seen here in Japan now. The crowd in this restaurant is friends, couples, and/or families enjoying their time together. I saw some getting only drinks but they were not socializing with other groups. And we came here for the food. The times have changed it seems. Or maybe this place has a different mood on other days?
Fish And Chips came first together with the Friday's Signature Chicken Strips.
The Fish And Chips were good, I have no complaints. My boyfriend liked it so much but for me, it's a bit normal. I was expecting it to be a bit salty though. It came with fries so we were both enjoying it.
Can you believe I finished the Chicken Strips all by myself? My boyfriend didn't like it because it's sweet and he can taste 黒みつ (kuromitsu, a Japanese sugar syrup according to Wikipedia) which he didn't like. To be honest, it's so sweet for me too. I was expecting it to be flavorful but not this sweet. I still managed to finish it though.
Tableside Guacamole came but the ingredients were yet to be mixed. I didn't expect the staff to make it in front of us. It was ordinary though, there were no special sounds or dancing or something like what the bartender did.
While she was mixing the ingredients, the silence was too awkward and it only broke when she was asking if we were okay with the ingredients, no allergies or stuff we didn't like.
It came with nachos which I ate by myself again. I didn't finish the nachos but I finished the guacamole. Yay! Actually, I don't usually eat this and I'm avoiding chips but I wanted to eat something healthy. I don't know if nachos and healthy go together though.
The main dish arrived, finally! We were waiting for the Baby Back Ribs but we were already full from the appetizers so we took half of it home.
The ribs were fine but Outback Steakhouse's ribs will still be my favorite. It's good, savory, and has a strong taste but I tried Outback's ribs first so I can't help comparing them both. This smells nice but I was kinda hoping the meat would be so tender I won't need a knife to get the meat from the bone. By the way, we used our hands to eat it as it would be easier that way.
Because my boyfriend wasn't expecting he wouldn't like the Chicken Strips, he thought he wouldn't be full so he ordered pasta. When it arrived though, we were so full as I have mentioned earlier so we also had to take it home. He ate half of it at home and left me some but I didn't know he did that. I thought he finished all by himself so I didn't bother opening the container. He said the Chicken Pasta was delicious I should have tasted it.
I ordered Brownie Obsession for dessert and it's the best thing that happened that night besides spending date night with boyfie. The brownie was baked to perfection and was still hot so it goes well with the cold vanilla ice cream. I had eaten too much but the brownie was so yummy I ended up finishing the entire thing. I finally found the spot to eat desserts when I'll be craving for some.
For drinks, I ordered this cocktail called Mango Lemonade Shaker while my boyfriend ordered Oolong Tea. Yes yes, I was the only one drinking for both of us. The cocktail was sweet, just how I liked it and I missed mangoes. The staff did the shaking in front of us, no music though like the bartender's show. I didn't want to attract too much attention anyways.
The TGI Fridays we went to is in Ikebukuro but I heard there are so many branches all over Japan, and in the world. I think they have a branch in your country too so maybe you can go and try their food..? 😅
I may have not celebrated Christmas with family because they're miles away but at least I was with someone special on this day. We enjoyed each other's company on this cold Christmas eve, though this was last minute. We were still on the road walking home when it hit midnight, a first for me not indoors but I didn't mind because I was overjoyed, my tummy was full and so was my heart. 😉
How did your Christmas dinner go? Were you able to celebrate it with loved ones?
Hope you're having a happy holiday! メリクリ！
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.