however, i think the telegraphing of the big chopstick hand is wrong? the hand drops down left and down to the red circle. perhaps the telegraph circle isn't offset correctly?
Oh, that was not explained, but some of the horizontally moving fish get scared away if you come directly at them. You have to attack from the sides or from the above or below.
The Up Button is supposed to be for interacting with the environment, not for the menu. If you want to push the buttons on the menu, use the C/X or O/X buttons. If the up button doesn't seem to interact, then I don't know what the problem exactly is.
You're not supposed to click the food items. You're suppose to press the button above it. (For example, there is a 8 above a burger, continuously press 8. If you have troubles reading the text, go to the How To Play Tutorial.)