2020/02/21
Traverl

Popular Japanese Food List to Try

  Japan is widely known for its rich culture. They have become especially influential to many people all over the world. Not only are they very famous for their animated films and shows, people also flock to their very own local Japanese restaurants to satisfy their cravings for any Japanese food whether it’d be Ramen or any other staple Japanese dish.

  A first-hand Japanese culinary experience is quite different when you actually sit back and take in everything in an authentic Japanese restaurant.

  Let’s take a virtual trip down to the best food places in Japan where you can unwind and dine with the mouth-watering cuisine that they are popularly known for.


Most famous foods in Japan

1. Sushi

Sushi

  The most common dish that people highly regard Japan is sushi. Sushi is a Japanese rice seasoned with rice vinegar. Historically, this delicacy was said to be one of the dishes that got exported to the US just right after 1868 during the Meiji Restoration.

One of the restaurants that you could check that caters sushi is Kazahana.


Kazahana in Shimbashi, Minato, Tokyo
Their prices vary depending on the time you come in the restaurant and not what you order. Their set-up is similar to that of a buffet where you can just get whatever your heart desires.

Lunch: ¥3,500
Dinner: 14,000

A la carte items are also available, including assorted Sushi which costs ¥8,000.

2. Teppanyaki

Teppanyaki

  Teppanyaki refers to the way how the food is cooked. The chef uses an iron griddle to cook. The word teppanyaki is derived from teppan which is the metal plate on which it is cooked, and yaki which means grilled, broiled, or pan-fried. And while you’re having a good time with your friends, the chef cooks live right in front of you.

If you’re feeling a little fancy, you can go and head over to Minami Teppanyaki Restaurant.


Minami Teppanyaki Restaurant located just above Namba station in Osaka
  When you’re up for a celebratory feast, you can humour yourself with the Minami Set Dinner Menu. It is a 7-course meal featuring assorted appetizers such as live lobster or live abalone, garden salad with Japanese dressing, a selection of scorched vegetables, choice of tenderloin or sirloin special Kobe beef, garlic rice, miso soup and Japanese pickles. The set wraps up with a selection of seasonal fruit.
  Their prices vary depending on the time you come in the restaurant and not what you order. Their set-up is similar to that of a buffet where you can just get whatever your heart desires.

The Minami Dinner Set Menu is priced at ¥32,000.

3. Ramen

Ramen

  Ramen is a noodle soup dish that is made out of wheat noodles, a broth, which is typically prepared with soy sauce, salt, miso, and tonkotsu pork bone, four of which the main basic ingredients, and toppings of meat, protein, and/or vegetables such as sliced pork, nori seaweed, spring onions, bamboo shoots, and other spices, wherever your creativity takes you.

  Ramen is one of present-day Japan’s absolute favourite delicacies, costing very little and being widely available in restaurants and ramen bars which are on almost every street corner.

  Travel to Sugamo to visit Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodles which is proven to be the best ramen house in Tokyo.


Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodles in Sugamo, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Tsuta received the world's first Michelin Star for ramen restaurant. They serve other food other than ramen like Sio Soba, Tsukemen, Rice Bowls, and side dishes. Everything in their menu is usually priced at ‎¥1,000 to ‎¥1,500.
They offer different types of Ramen. Here are some of their ramen and their prices:

Wanton Ajitama Shoyu Soba - (¥1,500)
Shoyu Soba - (¥1,500)
Ajitama Shoyu Soba - (¥1,500)
Wanton Shoyu Soba - (¥1,500)

4. Tempura

Tempura

  Nothing can beat the satisfying feeling you get from the crunch of fried food. One of the most well-known friend dishes in Japan is Tempura. These munchies are pieces or slices of meat, fish, and/or vegetables that have been covered in a special tempura batter. They are deep fried to achieve that crunchy texture and golden colour.

  Unlike in the UK, where battered foods tend to be made from meats and fish, tempura tend to be made from either small shellfish like prawns, or vegetables like green beans, pumpkin, daikon mooli radish, and sweet potato.

  One restaurant you can freely go to for this crunchilicious finger food is GENJIKOH.


GENJIKOH in Nihonbashi, Tokyo
They have 5 private rooms that you can avail to eat and relax, even relax while you eat. There are 2 traditional Japanese-style private rooms with tatami and 3 Western-style rooms with table seats which can cover for 4 to 20 guests. It’s an ideal space to hold business dinners, gatherings, anniversaries and engagement celebrations as Suitengu Shrine is just around the corner. To top it all off, if you want to catch some air, there is also a tea room in the Japanese garden.

For lunch, the tempura set which is priced at (¥3,800) is available only at tempura counter “Matsukaze.”
For Dinner, tempura course is priced at ¥8,000.

5. Gyoza

Gyoza

  Gyoza are savoury moon-shaped dumplings made from a minced mixture of savoury fillings which usually are minced pork, cabbage, green onion, and mushrooms. Aside from these ingredients, other fillings can be incorporated as well. When making it, you can’t forget the most important piece: the circular gyoza wrapper. Gyoza dumplings are normally cooked by frying on one side, a process that gives the gyoza that crisp and savoury bottom, and then steaming for 2-3 minutes so that the rest of the wrapper is smooth and silky, and the filling inside is moist and juicy. You then have to pleat it around the edges to achieve that iconic half-moon shape.

For the most famous restaurant that serves finger-licking gyozas, head on over to GYOZA IT.


GYOZA IT. in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo
“GYOZA IT.” opened in September 2017 as a casual, but stylish space where diners can try a new take on GYOZA with pairings of wine, champagne, and sparkling sake.

The course menu starting from ¥4,000, which have 9 dishes, includes their signature GYOZA with 2 hours all-you-can-drink.
Lunch menu starts from ¥1,000.

6. Takoyaki

Takoyaki

  Tokayaki is a ball-shaped dumpling delicacy filled with a savoury batter mixture and a bite-sized piece of tako octopus meat, which is typically inserted into the middle. They are also regarded as the 'octopus balls' or 'octopus dumplings'. This delicacy is cooked using a special hot plate with rows of half-spherical moulds. The takoyaki are turned with a pick or skewer every minute or so to ensure an evenly-cooked outside. Takoyaki are typically served in lots of six, eight or ten, brushed with a sweet or savoury takoyaki sauce and topped with mayonnaise, aonori seaweed, and the very intriguing life-like katsuobushi bonito fish flakes.

  For a more budget-friendly shop where you can quench your hunger for well-cooked takoyakis, just look around Tokyo.


Tsukiji Gindako Harajuku Branch in Tokyo
Multiple branches of Tsukiji Gindako Harajuku is spread around Tokyo. You can visit this Gindaco takoyaki restaurant in Jimbocho, Shibuya, Harajuku, and Odaiba. Those are just branches that people frequently notice. Everywhere you look, Gindaco shops are all around the prefecture of Japan. Wherever you find yourself, it is possible that you can bump into a smaller stall or a full-fledged bar out of accident or serendipity.
Their prices vary depending on the time you come in the restaurant and not what you order. Their set-up is similar to that of a buffet where you can just get whatever your heart desires.
Each order of takoyaki set comes in big sizes and it roughly costs the following:
4 pieces costs about ¥350
8 pieces costs about ¥650

7. Yakisoba

Yakisoba

  Yakisoba is a fried noodle dish made by barbecuing or stir-frying a combination of noodles, sliced cabbage, pork, carrot, and other vegetables, and a barbecue style yakisoba sauce. During summer festivals is when a multiple and numbers of stalls are set up around the grounds. Yakisoba means ‘cooked soba’, but unlike other soba noodles, the noodles used in yakisoba do not contain any buckwheat.

However, you can also choose to dine in the most budget-friendly places that sells the best yakisoba.


Fukuchan In Asakusa, Taito-Ku, Tōkyo
Fukuchan is located in Asakusa at an underground arcade. You couldn’t be more in awe with the place since it happens to preserve the Showa era.
At just ¥700 to ¥800, you can savour the very well-made yakisoba in all of Tokyo.

8. Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki

  Yakisoba is made out of mixed batter, sliced cabbage, and other savoury ingredients. Originally, Okonomiyaki was first discovered and prepared in Osaka and Hiroshima, and back then it was still a different style of okonomiyaki. From then on, its popularity spread everywhere and across Japan, where specialised okonomiyaki restaurants are easy to come by.

  If you’re looking for a restaurant that won’t break your bank where you can just leisurely bite down on your most favoured dish, go for Okonomiyaki Katsu.


Okonomiyaki Katsu in Ukyo, Kyoto
Okonomiyaki Katsu is a popular Okonomiyaki restaurant in Kyoto. Katsu is deemed to be the most recognized restaurant in Kyoto because of how many travellers from all around the world know about this place.

Some of the kinds of their Okonomiyaki includes:

Plain ¥450
Pork (Best Seller) ¥580
Squid ¥580
Tomato ¥600
Shrimp ¥700
Beef ¥700
Combination (pork + squid + octopus) ¥800

Sources:

“30 Must-Try Japanese Foods”
“japanrestaurant.net”
“DanielFoodDiary.com”
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