In a Japanese restaurant

As in Chinese, the Japanese word for a meal is the word for cooked rice. The first distinction made by Japanese diners-out (who are almost exclusively male) is they never drink sake (rice wine) and eat rice at the same time. Thus, though the tipsy Japanese businessmen at the next table in your local Japanese restaurant will probably eat a great deal more than you, they are not technically having a meal at all, but only drinking sake, as they will eat no rice.