[ Eiji has cooked for him. When living in the penthouse, Eiji had provided the meals. Ash himself had never learned to cook, never really intended to. As much as he teased him, Ash enjoyed the meals when they hadn't been weird Japanese things. Likewise, Shorter had provided some food on occasion as well. Oddly enough, though Ash went through years where he ate only the best foods prepared by the best chefs, it's these small, homemade meals that seemed better.

Linneus stumbled onto something about Ash without meaning to by making something devoid of meat. He's not a vegetarian, but he's not far from it, choosing vegetables and fruits over meats with his favorite food being a salad. He'll eat meat that's offered to him, as long as it wasn't a hamburger, but he wouldn't often choose it himself. ]

It was a Japanese thing, and I'm from America.

[ He keeps it vague not out of some sense of concern for revealing his homeworld location but because he doubts it would mean anything to Linneus. A lot of people here wouldn't know the difference between New York and Cape Cod. ]

Doesn't smell too bad.

[ As dismissive as it sounds, that's actually a high compliment when coming from Ash, who is much more likely to heckle than praise. ]

[ Pushing himself from the couch, Ash walked the small distance to the table. He'd have enough manners to sit there instead of taking it back to Linneus' couch. ]

Least the food here's familiar.

[ Once he settles in, Ash samples the food. It's good. Instead of expressing the sentiment, he shows it by continuing to eat. ]

Do you make a lot of salads?