the worst restaurant in japan

i had the unfortunate luck of going to the worst restaurant in japan a couple of weeks ago.  it was billed as a pasta restaurant.  it is in nagoya, between gokiso and fukiage. 

as pasta restaurants go, most japanese italian food would send most italians into a fusilli twirl.  italian food in japan is unique.  most people outside japan don't expect cod roe to top their pasta; nor rice cakes to top their pizza. 

at least that is inventive.  the pasta restaurant we went to had 3 things on the menu.  tuna and bacon spaghetti, bacon and mushroom spaghetti and tuna and mushroom spaghetti.  before i go on, i have to explain the decor.  it was a medium sized restaurant with a bar.  it could probably fit 25 customers in it.  the problem was, the tables weren't in use.  everyone had to sit at the bar.  this meant that while there were only 4 people in the restaurant, we had to wait 15 minutes in a near empty restaurant to wait to be seated.  also the place was dark, only about 3 light bulbs were being used. 

also, as a kind of joke, while we were waiting, he (the owner and sole staff member) gave us a magazine about pasta to show us how restaurants should look and how pasta should be prepared.  as our turn approached, we sat at the bar. 

first we were told to pay first.  then he served us ice coffee.  he put a small jug of corn syrup and milk in front of us.  then he took away the milk and corn syrup, without asking us, and put it back in the fridge.  then he cooked and served us bland tasteless pasta in watery flavourless sauce.  i would have preferred a can of baked beans in my pasta.  i ordered mushroom and tuna.  the tuna was from a can, and it looked like he only used on teaspoon of dried tuna flakes.  the mushrooms were hard and they were undercooked.  the sauce was like he mixed a tin of chopped tomatoes and cat's piss.  the chef/owner/waiter spent most of the time looking at the tv in the corner of the kitchen.  the baseball was on.

the seats were hard and wooden.  the naked lights glared at us.  the buzz of the tv surrounded everything.  if i could speak japanese, i'd ask him if he could really run a place like this and take it seriously.  i'd ask him if he can make a living and if people actually come back.  i'd also ask him to apologies to every customer he ever served his slop to.