What to eat in Japan

I have so many to recommend but when I tell my friends about these places, they will look at me with a blank face. Yes, I have forgotten that without pictures and names of shop, it is very difficult to remember.

So, for you my friends, here is a list for you to refer when you visit Japan. 

I will let you know where I have them, so you may use google to check if they are available in the places you going to visit. 

As a guide, Tokyo has the best eats if you want a gourmet travel. 

For the latest updates, do follow my link to Food that I ate when I travel.

Things to Eat recorded between 2014 to 2018

1) Ramen
Yes, you cannot bring back ramen after your travel. So you need to eat it there.
However if you are like me, who do not like salty food, the ramen may be too salty for you in Japan. I tried them in Fukuoka, Tokyo and Hiroshima, the soup is extremely salty. In Hokkaido, I requested for less salt, then I am able to have the meal comfortable.
Actually in Japan, you can easily order a bowl of ramen by using the order machine when you enter the ramen shop. Just refer to the picture and price, then insert. It is a good experience. A bowl of ramen can cost only 450yen onwards, depending on which location you are in. And it taste as good. But..... tooo salty.
So, like any tourist, I will go for the popular Ichiran Ramen and of course need to pay a higher price for it. 

ICHIRAN  Ramen - 一蘭 (https://en.ichiran.com/ramen/)

This is a very famous Ramen chain. If you are in Tokyo or Osaka, the queue can go very long. I must say, I like the service of this restaurant. They will manage the queue and the experience is not that bad. Of course, the price of the ramen is dearer, but I do not mind for just 1 bowl for the trip just for the experience. Click this link to know more about Ichiran

2) Udon
Sanuki Udon Hanamaru (Hanamura Udon) - I consider this a Japanese fast food. Restaurant provide clean toilets and good seating place just like the McDonalds. We can have free flow of plain water. Just need to grab it yourself. Very highly recommended if you like udon. The 'cheng cheng' taste we love.

For Udon Lovers. 720 Yen for 2 person. Only 300yen for a bowl of Udon (S) and 120yen for the side dish. The portion is enough for me. We have this in Tokyo, Akasaka area.

At Sanuki Udon Hanamaru. Look at the big piece of sweet bean curd. You can find this fast food chain in Tokyo easily. If not, just do a search in Google Map 'Hanamaru Udon'  and you will be able to find them easily. I first have this in Osaka with my daughters. We like it. Then I brought my hubby to try it in Tokyo and he fell in love with the huge sweet bean curd. It become our must have whenever we travel to Japan.

Not very sure if there are any shop in Fukuoka and Hokkaido. We cannot find one when we visited due to the short stay there.

We have this in Hiroshima. All for only 1300 yen for 2 person.

3) Matsuya 

Another Japanese fast food for rice bowl. Depending on where is the location, some do have clean free toilet. Some shop has good spacious seating place where some don't. Still it is a very good eating place with cheap delicious beef bowl. To order, just use the vending machine. Pass the ticket to the serving staff and wait for your meal to be served.

A Matsuya shop in Osaka. We were 1st introduce by my daughter's friend when we visited Osaka, 1st time in Japan.

We did a take away. Look at the radish and egg. All carefully packed for us so that none became soggy. Delicious.

Again, I introduce this meal to my hubby in Tokyo. A beef bowl can start from 290 yen which is so cheap. We can self serve ginger pickle when we dine there. It has also becomes our hunt for food when we visit Japan.

4) Matsunoya

Matsunoya Tonkatsu - Another Japan Fast food. But we are talking about fried Cutlet.

The light breaded cutlet, when you bite into the pork, it is so tender and soft. Your teeth just sink into the meat. To order, just use the vending machine. Pass the ticket to the serving staff and wait for your meal to be served.

Not recommended in Hiroshima, as the food tends to be too oil in Hiroshima. For Fukuoka and Tokyo, the food is very well prepared.

Can you imagine we only paid 500yen for this set? The mash raddish match perfectly with this tonkatsu. We 1st tried this at Ikebukuro, Tokyo. So good.

Side dishes goes well with rice

Menu in Fukuoka, Tenjin area

We tried the fried Oyster in Fukuoka. It was so delicious. It cost about 700yen for this meal each. Still it is chea.....ap

5) Mister Donut
https://www.misterdonut.jp/m_menu/donut/
For some reason, donut taste better in Japan. Even with the same brand, it tase better in Japan.
I believe this is because of the local ingredients they used. Coffee is free flow if you have coffee and donuts dine in. We love to stop over here for coffee break. It is a must do for us.

6) Visit a Cafe
Tully's Coffee- Coffee in Japan is good. Tully's is popular in Japan, just like Starbucks in Singapore.
The coffee is good. There are Tully's merchandise for you to buy as souvenir if you want too.
It is more for the experience to have a coffee break here if you have time.

Green Tea in Sapporo at Tanukikoji Shopping Street. It was really good. So it is always good to try out their green tea in Japan.

7) Beef Don
Nakau Beef Don - If you happens to visit Hiroshima, then you must visit this beef bowl shop.

It is quite equivalent to Matsuya, but in Hiroshima, you can find Nakau more than Matsuya.
Click here to find out what we ate here. I like it that they have more variety here.

8) Sushi or sashimi
Needless to say, we need to have sushi in Japan.
We find plenty of sushi restaurant in Tokyo. But we cannot find any good and cheap sushi place in Hiroshima. So if you are in Tokyo, indulge in them.

We did a take away Sushi at Tokyo near our Hotel (Akasaka area) Imagine the scallop. Cost only 190 yen per piece. In Singapore, it cost us $4 per pce.

When we were in Hokkaido, we found this fish store in Yoichi. The scallops were so cheap. less than 1000yen a bowl. 

For some reason, we love this particular Sushi store in Fukuoka. Located in Hakata station, the tuna were extremely delicious. 

9) Local snacks
Try them when you see them. Most of them taste like the traditional ang ku kueh with an real authentic flavour. Instead of banana leave, they used another kind of leave. Instead of green bean, they used red bean. In the end all taste the same, the red bean snack.  The only difference is the skin. Some is coated by glutinous rice, another by mochi.

10) Snacks from Convenient Stores
7 Eleven, Family Mart, Lawson Mart.
Our breakfast all comes from these convenience stores.

The steam cakes were soft and delicious. The pancake were springy and soft. We often buy them in the evening and have them for breakfast in our rooms the next morning with coffee made from in room coffee.
If you are lucky, you visit during sakura season, you will find them packed nicely in sakura designs. Click here for a write out of the snacks I bought from these convenience stores in Hiroshima when I visited in 2018, during sakura season. I do noticed we can find more variety in Tokyo. In Hokkaido, majority steam cakes comes in cheese flavours.

11) Ad hoc street vendor

We happen to see this cart selling charcoal grilled sweet potatoes on the street at near our hotel at Akasaka area. Without thinking, we just buy them though we are not hungry. 

So sweet. 

12) Visit Supermarket
Look at what they can offer. Savour the local fruits. The strawberries and tomatoes were very sweet. Usually, the supermarket only sells fruits locally produced in season. So must try them.

There are alot of things to eat in Japan. The game is, keep an open mind and try them whenever you

see them.