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Japan has a reputation for being expensive, but on arrival nearly every traveller is surprised at the low cost and high quality of food throughout Japan. Of course – it has its fair share of high-end restaurants, where you can spend the equivalent of a year’s salary on the very finest quality cuisine, but don’t turn your nose up at the budget options either. You don’t need to pay through the nose to eat well – so read on for our guide to the awesome & cheap places to eat in Japan.
1) Kaitenzushi
Japan’s sushi scene runs the gamut from Michelin-starred to bargain-bucket, but you can be sure that even the cheapest offerings are far better than the kind of stuff you’d pay through the nose for at home. Don’t ask us why, the Japanese just do it better. Conveyor-belt sushi joints (kaitenzushi) are the cheapest, some of them offering plates for as little as 100yen (or 105yen with tax). That’s seriously cheap.
2) Convenience stores
No, don’t turn your nose up just yet – because you’ve never been to a convenience store until you’ve been to a Japanese convenience store. Called konbini, these little shops of wonder are scattered liberally throughout Japan (seriously, there’s one on every corner) and sell all kinds of cheap deliciousness – from microwave meals to interesting snacks, from rice balls and sushi boxes to warming winter hotpots (oden). So grab a picnic and head out to the park for an incredibly cheap lunch!
3) Ramen bars
Ramen hardly needs an introduction – but did you know how just how cheap it is in Japan? It’s so cheap that you can get a bowl of Michelin-starred ramen for 1000 yen. Just ask tour leader Tyler, who went to check it out! Ordinary, run-of-the-mill bowls can go for as little as 300-500 yen – and there are almost no duds.
4) Coco Ichiban
These are two words that are almost guaranteed to turn any Japanophile all glassy-eyed and wistful. Coco Ichiban is a low-budget curry house serving delicious Japanese curry in all different levels of spiciness. It’s a chain, so you’ll find them all over the country. Don’t leave without trying it!
5) Okonomiyaki restaurants
Okonomiyaki originated in western Japan, and is a favourite food in Osaka and Hiroshima – though these days you can find it pretty much anywhere. A firm favourite with foreign visitors and locals alike, it’s basically a cabbage-based pancake fried on a hotplate in front of you, slathered in yummy brown sauce and mayonnaise, and topped with dried bonito flakes. You can choose whichever ingredients you like (pork and squid is my favourite) – and if you like you can go “Hiroshima-style” with a noodle-based version. Delicious.
6) Famiresu
Family restaurants, or “famiresu”, are one of the best places to eat for cheap in Japan. Though it may sound as though they’re orientated solely toward families, pretty much every demographic in Japan falls back on famiresu for a cheap, filling, and delicious meal – from businessmen to students. Choose from a huge range of Western- and Asian-style dishes, and pay just a couple of hundred yen for unlimited access to soft drinks and coffee. What’s more, many of them are open 24/7! Some well-known famiresu are: Café Gusto, Denny’s, Jonathan’s, Sizzler’s, Royal Host, Saizeriya
7) Izakaya
The izakaya is the quintessential Japanese eatery, and is usually described as something of a cross between a gastropub and a tapas bar. Izakaya come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the tiny to the vast, from cheap-as-chips to Michelin-starred, and from uber-traditional tatami-mat affairs to order-your-meal-on-an-iPad joints. The cheapest izakaya serve tasty, filling dishes for as little as 340 yen per plate – and many izakaya offer nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) and tabehodai (all-you-can-eat) plans for an extremely reasonable price. Quite simply, it’s a dining experience that cannot be missed.
8) Fast food chains
You don’t want to go all the way to Japan just to eat in McDonalds every day – and thanks to the proliferation of domestic fast food chains, you don’t have to! Check out home-grown brands like Hotto Motto (for takeaway bento lunchboxes), Sukiya (for curries & donburi rice bowls), Yoshinoya (For gyudon “beef bowls”) – or Mos Burger for a Japanese take on the classic fast food staple. Mmmmmm.
9) Department stores
Japanese department stores are an attraction in their own right, if you ask me. Not only are they packed to the rafters with weird and wonderful electronics, homeware, beauty products and other unfamiliar knick-knacks, but they often have an excellent food court where you can grab a quick, cheap bite on the go. Do check out the food courts in shopping centres too, as they’re a great place to find excellent, low-budget meal sets that are much better quality than you’d get at home.
10) Yatai
Yatai are Japanese food stalls, and they’re found at festivals and events throughout Japan – though in some places (famously Fukuoka) you’ll find them all year round. Selling everything from okonomiyaki to taiyaki (sweet, fish-shaped cake), chocolate-covered bananas, crepes, takoyaki (fried octopus balls), meat buns and much more – yatai are the perfect place to fill up while sampling the best of Japanese street food.
11) Bakeries
Japan isn’t traditionally known for its baked goods, but it actually has some excellent bakeries where you can pick up freshly baked pastries, sandwiches and cakes galore for very little yen. Perfect for a picnic under the cherry blossom – or the autumn leaves.
12) Nabe restaurants
Nabemono, or nabe for short, simply means “things in a pot” – and it kind of does what it says on the tin. At a nabe restaurant, you’ll be given a pot of broth over a small, portable stove, and have a variety of different vegetables, noodles and meat to add to it. There are all kinds of nabe available – including oden (which can be bought ready-heated at convenience stores), sukiyaki (a hotpot cooked in sweetened soy and dipped in raw egg), shabu-shabu (thinly sliced meat & veg dipped in sauce), and chanko nabe (a favourite meal of sumo wrestlers). The different regions of Japan all have their own varieties – so give it a try while you’re in Japan!
These really are just a few of the cheap food options to be found across Japan. The truth is, Japanese food is very often extremely reasonable – and the quality is high even at the lowliest ramen bar or family restaurant. Take the time to explore and try out the options – you won’t be disappointed!
If you’re interested in Japanese food, take a look at our Gastronomic Adventure itinerary, which will introduce you to the very best of Japanese cuisine – or contact one of our expert Japan consultants to begin discussing you trip today.