I just learned the word for a restaurant under the train tracks is ガード下 (gadoshita).
I love the ambiance of these places. The rattle of the train overhead has the added benefit of masking the (more than) occasional earthquake.
Gadoshita are also known for having cheap food, usually grilled meats. We ordered chicken skewers, fried tofu, kimchi, and ホルモン煮込み horumon nikomi — stewed innards.
Learning new vocabulary isn’t always fun and games. From the translated menu:
I realize this outs me as a person who takes photos of the word “vagina.” I consider myself an adventurous eater, but I draw the line at womb. Though, meat of the head? Yum! Make mine a double.
Ha, I was about to say You ate the womb?? And then I read the next sentence. Get outta my head meat, would you?
After years of being teased for the size of my melon, it’s good to know someone appreciates fat of the head.
During our visit, consider me a vegetarian.
Is gadoshita an onomatopoeia for the sound the train makes?
I don’t think so, but now I have a mnemonic device to remember it. Just like I have one for stapler, ホッチキス (hochikisu). If you shout and whisper the word at the same time, it sounds like a stapler in action. In fact, i’m going to shout/whisper the word for the next 2 minutes. hochikisu. HOchiKISu. hochikisu.
When we were in Japan for our honeymoon my husband tried ovaries and Fallopian tubes on a stick! Can’t say I was keen to sample them! The chicken hearts weren’t too bad though 😉