| | |  | SHOP BY TYPE | Home » » OISHINBO: JAPANESE CUISINE (Oishinbo: a la Carte) | | | | | | | Description: | | Follow journalist Yamaoka Shiro on a rich cullinary adventure as he hunts for the "ultimate menu".To commemorate its 100th anniversary the heads of newspaper Tozai Shimbun come up with a plan to publish the “Ultimate Menu”. The assignment is given to journalist Yamaoka Shiro, the protagonist of the series. With the help of a female coworker, Kurita Yuko, Yamaoka starts off on what can only be termed an epic saga to find the dishes hat will go into the “Ultimate Menu”.The subject of volume 1 is Nishon ryori, or Japanese cuisine, featuring stories on subjects like how to prepare a proper dashi (broth that is one of the building blocks of Japanese cooking), or matcha (the powdered green tea used in the tea ceremony), or red snapper sashimi. The subjects of the later volumes are: 2) sake, 3) fish, 4) vegetables, 5) rice dishes, 6) udon, and 7) izakaya or “pub” food. To commemorate its 100th anniversary the heads of newspaper Tozai Shimbun come up with a plan to publish the “Ultimate Menu”. The assignment is given to journalist Yamaoka Shiro, the protagonist of the series. With the help of a female coworker, Kurita Yuko, Yamaoka starts off on what can only be termed an epic saga to find the dishes hat will go into the “Ultimate Menu”. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Tetsu Kariya | | Paperback:
| 272 pages | | Publisher:
| VIZ Media LLC | | Publication Date:
| January 20, 2009 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1421521393 | | Product Length:
| 8.31 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.97 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.02 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.84 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.9 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.1 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.85 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 13 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 13 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Great manga for adult readers, one of the best ever published!Apr 10, 2009
By Aaron R. Reed
I discovered Oishinbo over 20 years ago and I even owned the first three volumes of the original Japanese version. I long hoped to see this manga
series or the TV anime version in English, and now we finally have this excellent manga in English.
Everything about this series, from the careful attention to high quality Japanese 'washoku' cooking to the contentious enmity between Yamaoka and his father Kaibara, make this one of the most enjoyable manga series aimed at adults out there.
That said, I do have just one complaint. Each English language volume is a "best-of" series.
With dozens of volumes published in Japan,
and the unwillingness of most Americans to invest in any series consisting of such a large collection, I can understand Viz's choice of going "a la carte," though the first volume should have reproduced the
original Japanese first volume of Oishinbo since it introduced the cast, prepared readers for the quest to find the ultimate menu, and introduced
readers to the father/son conflict between Yamaoka and Kaibara.
Despie my complaint, I'm happy to see even parts of this series finally in English and hope you all find each volume as rewarding a read as I do.
Let's hope Cartoon Network's Adult Swim takes notice and brings over the anime series :-)
Now, go order this book!
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 oishinbo = omoshiroiiNov 24, 2009
By foodie ronin
The Oishinbo 'a la carte' collections are an excellent way to get your Japanese food fix while reading manga. All the major elements of Japanese cuisine are represented along with some classic stylistic devices - the feud between the older traditional father and rebellious son, love interests, and plenty of showdown battles.
There reaches a point in your development when you're no longer just an otaku young adult, and you can get sick of continuous fantasy battles and power beams and magic etc etc... Oishinbo manages to retain the exciting elements of Manga with more real world content - food, drink, opinion and criticism. It's like a lively debate with your friends over the dinner table on the best food and restaurants
This collection covers the 'basics' of Japanese cuisine, including sashimi, tea and table manners as well as giving some background as to the feud between the protagonist and his father.
Each book also contains a recipe or menu item that is featured in one of the stories, and a personal article from the writer, both of which add to the context of the stories and add to your enjoyment. This edition contains two intriguing sashimi styles I can't wait to try.
Each story informs and entertains. I'm a devoted collector.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Review of Oishinbo, Volume 1Feb 02, 2010
By Lydia
"The Lost Entwife"
"It's not very common in other countries to eat fish raw. And since it's raw, people might think it doesn't take a lot of skill. But for fish or meat to be eaten raw, a great deal of technique is required. We should be proud that Japanese cuisine has developed such delicious ways to prepare sashimi."
This is a very "meaty" manga. All puns aside, it has a definite message and carries a fascinating look at the Japanese culture and cuisine - which are very closely intertwined.
We follow the story of a father and son who have had a feud with one another. Both are Japanese chefs in their own right, the son being more of an amateur learning and the father one of the finest in the country. They repeatedly run into one another causing much drama, which is hilarious and perfect and really gives the story a lot more character.
The artwork for the characters is fairly typical, from my limited experience in manga. It's not quite as beautiful as some others that I've seen but the drawing of the food is so precise and delicate, I could almost taste it.
If this is your first Manga, be prepared to read it a little differently. You being at the end of the book and read from right to left, rather from left to right. It took me a few pages of getting used to, but I adapted well and enjoyed reading the story so much I forgot how I was reading it.
Through this first volume I've learned the correct method of cutting fish to several ways of serving seabream, learned how the food should be enjoyed, how chopsticks are made and why they are such a valued cultured item. I've learned how rice should be made and that it is a delicate, difficult task to make it well.
There were a few moments in this volume that really spoke to me. The first was the passage I quoted above. The second is out of the middle of the book in a section where the author is speaking to us, the readers. He says:
Eventually, I realized "What is Japan", "What does it mean to be Japanese?" "What is Japanese cuisine?" are all meaningless questions. It is the spirit of washoku that brings everything together as one in harmony.
So, one day, looking around my dining table at several Australians enjoying a meal at my house, I realized that what we were all eating wasn't "Japenese food" of "Japanese cuisine," but washoku: a cuisine that brings people together in harmony and gives them pleasure. Here in my house in Sydney, I eat washoku every day.
Reading that made me want to experience that feeling more often. It made me want to change every mealtime to one of washoku. A time for pleasure, harmony and togetherness. I think that's something we all want to experience on a daily basis.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Delicious and in English!Aug 31, 2009
By artfulknitter
I was glad to find this series is being brought out in English now. The translation seems good and it is as enjoyable as the originals were years ago. I like that the format is still " Japanese Style", read from back to front. A really fun way to get an quick education in Japanese cuisine. Helps when traveling, too, to have at least read about the different foods that are available in Japan.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A bit of a surprise for this readerOct 14, 2010
By C. J. Thompson
"Arctic John"
I have to say that I really did not know what to expect from this purchase. I am not a comic book fan at all, but I am seriously interested in food, particularly Japanese cuisine, and I was curious about what I would find here.
To my surprise, I rather enjoyed the publication. I don't care much about the story, and only am marginally interested in the artwork, but the parts of the tale where the focus is on cooking philosophy and techniques is very informative, as are the very good notes supplied at the end.
My only real dislike is that the book reads from left to right (Japanese style). I suppose it would have been time-consuming and expensive to have to re-frame everything to accommodate western readers, but I am not sure why the text-only sections needed to be this way. It was very distracting at first and I was pretty near finished the whole thing before I got accustomed to the novelty. Still, I guess it couldn't have been all that bad as I am pretty sure I will buy another in the series.
See all 13 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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