Star

Some of my friends asked me whether there are any good Japanese restaurants in Manchester. My answer is “I don’t know because I never tried any of them”. Actually there are some restaurants in Manchester and some of them look very nice but they’re very expensive. Some of them are called “Japanese restaurant” but for Japanese people it’s not Japanese food. They are big chain restaurants but they are British companies and they’re very popular as Japanese restaurants in England. I wasn’t interested in eating fake Japanese food in Manchester so I didn’t try them before but nowadays I’ve been in here more than a year and I miss Japanese food so I decided it’s time for me to search for good Japanese restaurants in Manchester.
My friend recommended a Japanese & Korean restaurant in Altrincham. The chef is Korean but he worked for a Japanese restaurant for a long time so the restaurant he opened is under both nationalities.

I went there with my Japanese friend. The menu was interesting it’s a combination of Japanese and Korean food. I ordered Sushi which was served with Namuru which is Korean side dish and this was very nice. The atmosphere of the shop was also very nice; it was clean and quiet. The music was Korean and Japanese pop music. I was planning to take a photo of the food because I wanted to show what they serve at the restaurant to my friends who are interested in Japanese culture.

As I waited for the food, a Korean guy entered the restaurant. When I saw him I felt like I knew his face, but I wasn’t sure and I couldn’t remember who he was. I thought Koreans and the Japanese are similar so maybe he looks like some of my friends. Why did I know he was Korean because he spoke Korean with a waiter. He was very friendly with the waiter and I thought he was his friend. After a while my friend told me, “the Korean customers next to our table are talking about the guy who just came to the restaurant; he is a football player at Manchester United.” Oh is he? But I wasn’t sure so I went to the toilet and as I walked past I took a glance at him but still I wasn’t sure whether he was the football player or not. But when I came back to my table my friend told me “it must be him because the Korean customers went to get autographs from him.” Oh, it must be him. But I wasn’t sure whether it’s OK to ask to take a photo in his private time. I’ve never seen any famous people before so I didn’t know what to do. But I really wanted to take a photo with him because he is a superstar in Asia and maybe I’ll never ever see him again. I didn’t want to lose this chance, at the same time I didn’t want to bother his privacy or make him feel uncomfortable because of me. Also I was afraid if he said no I would be disappointed in him. We decided to go to his table and ask his agent. I thought it’s easier because if the agent says no, we can blame him, not the famous footballer and we could give it up. But when we asked his manager, the footballer himself said no problem and even stood up and took a photo with us. I was impressed he was really kind and he did it quite naturally. After taking the photo I said “thank you” to him and he said “Arigatou” in small voice. Oh, Arigatou, I was impressed!

After I came home I checked Wikipedia and I found out that he speaks fluent Japanese, I should have spoken in Japanese to him rather than English, anyway I’m becoming a huge fan of him.