Eating | Sleeping | Getting around | Top things to do
One of my favorite things about Japan is the food. Not only for its deliciousness, but for the wide array of restaurants specializing in the preparation of a single item, which means every dish is a masterpiece: delicate, precise, and totally dialed in. While there are restaurants, called shokudo and izakaya (casual, pub-like places) that offer a mix of different types of food, there is nothing like the carefully crafted dining experience in a nice tempura or tonkatsu restaurant, or the fun of cooking your own food on a grill at the table at an okonomiyaki or yakiniku (bbq) joint.
Types of restaurants
Fugu: Dishes made with blowfish
Izakaya: Casual fare served in a pub-like setting
Kaiseki: Elaborate, multiple-course meals
Kushiage: Deep-fried skewers of meat & vegetables (drinking food)
Okonomiyaki: Pan-fried cake of cabbage & fillings (an Osaka specialty)
Shabu shabu / Sukiyaki: Hot Pot dishes with beef & vegetables
Shokudo: Noodles, rice, & other specialties
Soba / Udon / Ramen: Noodles in broth
Sushi / Sashimi: Raw fish
Tempura: Battered, deep-fried seafood & vegetables
Teppanyaki: Meat & vegetables grilled at the table
Tonkatsu: Deep-fried pork cutlet
Yakiniku: BBQ at the table
Yakitori: Grilled skewers of meat & vegetables (drinking food)
Eating in Japan can be as cheap as $6.00 US for a few sticks of yakitori or a bowl of udon, or as much as $40.00 US per person at tonkatsu, tempura, and shabu shabu/sukiyaki restaurants (ouch)–and even more for a kaiseki meal, which start at $100.00 US and go much, much higher.
To eat cheap, noodle shops and 'drinking food' such as kushiage and yakitori are the way to go–you can get out of there for about $6-$15.00 US per person (depending on how much you drink). There are also a number of restaurants serving Japanese interpretations of Western food called yoshoku, with prices ranging from $8-$20.00 US. One of our favorite meals, okonomiyaki, is both delicious and affordable, at $9-12.00 US per order.
If you're dying to have a kaiseki meal but can't afford the price tag, look for a mini-kaiseki or kaiseki-bento option during the lunch hour. Some restaurants also offer a cheaper dinner option for customers who don't mind sitting at a Western style table rather than the traditional way, on the floor. Most kaiseki restaurants recommend a reservation.
Breakfast
If you're staying at a ryokan (traditional guesthouse), you'll be able to have a traditional Japanese breakfast, served on a laquerware tray at a low table with pillows on the floor for seating. Breakfast is a bowl of miso soup, a bowl of rice, a grilled piece of fish, natto (fermented soy beans), custard, japanese pickles, and dried seaweed.
Many Japanese eat moningu, or a morning set, which includes toast and coffee or tea. You can find a Western breakfast in hotels or small cafes that cater to tourists in large cities like Tokyo and Kyoto. We also found local bakeries to be a good, fast, and cheap option–with savory pastries wrapped around sausages or filled with tuna salad, along with more familiar sweet options like doughnuts and creme puffs.
Our favorite things to eat
1. Okonomiyaki
2. Tonkatsu
3. Tempura
4. Bento box on the train
5. Shabu shabu
See my food photo album |
