You are learning confident ordering: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (confident ordering and deciding), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
A yakitori counter in Yurakucho, Tokyo — under the railway tracks, charcoal smoke drifting out, a red lantern marking the entrance. Six seats, one grill master, and a menu you order from piece by piece.
Under the Yurakucho railway tracks, a row of yakitori stalls has operated since the 1950s. Trains rumble overhead every three minutes. Smoke fills the air. Red paper lanterns glow. The counter seats are worn smooth by decades of elbows.
The stranger sat down. No menu — just ask. 「まず、ねぎまを二本ください。塩で。」 Two chicken-and-leek, salt. The grill master nodded.
The first skewers arrived fast. Charred edges, juicy center, sprinkled with coarse salt. 「おいしいです！」
「つくねにします。タレでお願いします。」 Next, meatball with sweet soy glaze. 「それから、かわを三本ください。」 Then three chicken skin — the best part, crispy and rendered.
A beer appeared without being ordered. 「おすすめをください。」 He trusted the grill master. A skewer of heart arrived. 「最高でした。」