Eating and drinking in Japan on a budget

Go out for lunch

“Make lunch one highlight of your days in Japan ... Select a special lunch set at a sushi bar or traditional Japanese restaurant. You can expect to eat an exquisite selection for less than half of what you would pay at dinner time. These lunch sets are a good option if you want to eat at places that would usually outside your budget.”

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Use nomihoudai (all you can drink) or tabehoudai (all you can eat) options

“When having a party at any izakaya (Japanese pub), a common option to choose is the nomihoudai (all you can drink) option … you will be able to drink as much alcohol and soft drinks as you want for as low as 1000 yen for two hours. The price depends on the place you go. Sometimes options will have a 3-hour limit or even all night. Also, the more expensive options have better drinks.”

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Shop at the depachika food courts of big department stores

“Japan has the most elegant restaurants as well as vending machines and convenient stores selling snacks and beverages on seemingly every corner. Somewhere in the middle on the gourmet scale are the food courts of the big department stores. Usually they are located in the department store basement and are called depachika in Japanese.”

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Have a bento lunch box like a Japanese worker

“'Bento' is a take-out meal for lunch or dinner available in all parts across Japan. Although traditional bento contains rice, meat, fish and Japanese pickles, it has evolved into various types, proportions and cuisines. You can find bentos serving other cuisines such as Italian, Chinese, Indian, etc. Almost all restaurant chains, convenience stores sell bentos.”

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Eat at a kaiten sushi restaurant

“Conveyor belt sushi restaurants are a lot cheaper than traditional sushi restaurants! 100-yen Kaiten sushi place's Major chain stores - popular ”Kappa Sushi" and "Sushiro". Low prices are the selling point of these stores, but they taste very good too... Recently there are certain Kaiten sushi restaurants where they serve more expensive prime cuts of fish.”

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Visit a kissaten, a Japanese style coffee shop

“Kissaten are coffee shops, but not of the chain variety. Most of these coffee shops are delightfully retro, unique, and atmospheric. A kissaten is the perfect place for taking a break. Along with the coffee or tea you can enjoy sweets or snacks, ranging from ice cream, cinnamon toast, and coffee jelly with cream to curry rice, butter toast, and sandwiches.”

Read the full post http://www.deepjapan.org/a/3125