All you can eat, all you can drink!

Recently, Jason and I have been to some events that have been both all you can eat AND all you can drink.

I understand why these sorts of places are not really a thing in Australia. I do. Australians would bankrupt the places. I get it. But they're soooooo good!

The first place we went to was an all you can eat, all you can drink Chinese restaurant. It cost 3200 yen for women ($35) and 3500 yen for men (around $37). As soon as we sat down, we ordered our first round, being able to choose anything on the drinks list. I ordered whiskey and everyone else ordered beers. We did our first kanpai, and started ordering food. A lot of food!

The great thing about these sorts of restaurants is that you can try A LOT of dishes, without having to pay a huge amount. You can try risky dishes that you normally wouldn't order, and you can try things that you don't know what they are!

Over the time we were there, we ordered vinegar pork, century eggs, crunchy noodles, pot-stickers, dimsims, soup pumplings,  tempura pork, chilli shrimp, pepper beef, garlic vegetables, fried rice, raamen noodles, french fries, and a whole bunch of stuff that I'm not sure what it was. Basically, everyone just orders anything they want off the menu, and then we put it all on the table and eat together, dish after dish. So I got to eat dishes ordered by my Japanese and Chinese friends, and they got to eat my more reserved favourites.

The second place we went to was a beer garden in Himeji called Coconuts. It was up on the roof of a building, decorated with fake palm trees, and sun umbrellas. This one was similar to the buffets we had in Australia, like Sizzlers, but with one key difference- The booze was also buffet style!

For 3200 yen each we were able to serve ourselves as much booze and food as we liked, until the place closed!

On one side of the roof they had the food buffet, with asian dishes, western dishes, and desserts. On the other, they had post-mix machines that allowed you to press the button and pour out whiskey, dispensers of wine, liqueurs, and beers. You simply took your cup and refilled it yourself with your choice of liquor! Cocktails were also available and one simply has to ask the staff for one, and they will make it.

Again, this gives people the chance to try cocktails they wouldn't otherwise have wanted to pay for.

Australia, step up your restaurant game!