If you’ve always wanted to taste Japanese food just like grandma used to make, but don’t actually have a Japanese grandma, here’s your chance . Japan has a lot of great restaurants, but many people will still tell you that their favorite version of a particular dish is a family recipe that their grandma makes . There’s just something special about that rustic, homemade flavor that satisfies both the taste buds and the heart.
Of course, this presents a problem if you don’t have a Japanese grandma of your own...
unless, that is, you head to this special restaurant in Tokyo . Located in the Nishi Ogu neighborhood of Tokyo’s Arakawa Ward , the restaurant is called Machinaka Shokudo , which loosely translates to “Neighborhood Cafeteria.” If that sounds like a pretty generic name, that’s kind of the point, as the aim is to provide the nourishing nostalgia of good old-fashioned home-cooked meals to customers, and the way Machinaka Shokudo does that is on display in their help-wanted sign, which specifically says they’re looking for part-time cooks “over the age of 60” (60歳以上 in the Japanese text).
The restaurant is an accommodating employer. Grannie cooks can work as little as one day a week, and are allowed to take even that day off if they’re not feeling well or simply have other plans. They’re not asked to cook anything they’re not confident making, and in fact Machinaka Shokudo is happiest when the grannies use their own recipes, developed over.
