3000 yen a day for food?

I will be travelling to japan with my friend next spring, and have been trying to get a budget put together. I thought perhaps 3000 yen a day each would be a reasonable budget?Does anyone here have any experience with a similar food budge? I understand that we would not be able to eat in any particularly nice restaurants, but that really isn't a big deal with either of us.
Also, since we are renting an apartment, most of our breakfasts will be homemade so that may save us some money for lunch/snacks/dinner?

Hi.

3000 yen a day for food is little tight for tourists but it's not impossible because there are many cheap and good foods in Tokyo like Gyu-don, udon, soba, curry-rice etc. Actuality living expense of almost all Japanese students is under 3000 yen a day.

You should research good and cheap restaurant before coming Japan, and then you will have a good time in Japan!!

I introduce good and reasonable soba restaurant
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http://japan-magical.blogspot.jp/2013/10/classical-tokyo-style-soba-re...

If you stay in Tokyo, Try Kitchen Dive bento lunch box 250yen at Don Quijote discount store Akihabara.

http://www.akibun.info/index.php/archives/20976

3000 yen is plenty if you have good self-control. You can eat very deliciously in Japan for that. "Food" does not include alcoholic beverages, of course. And you need to exercise some discretion with regard to the nonalcoholic kind. It's easy to spend 1000 yen or more a day on coffee and bottled beverages if you're not careful.

If your are not too picky about non-alcoholic drinks, most drinks in vending machines are around 120 yen.

Go to the grocery store if you have limited funds. Good thing you don't have to tip at restaurants in japan
That's $30 us funds!

3.000 yen a day just for meals is enough unless you wanna try splurge meals.

You can find many places where you can eat for 1.000 yen a meal or less, like ramen shops, curry shops, kaiten sushi, so on.

3000 yen is plenty for me as Japanese living in Japan for several decades.

You may have lunch at restaurant costing around 500-1000yen. (You can save more if you go to Gyudon restaurant: beef with rice costs only 280yen)

For dinner you can use the rest of your budget.
2000yen is OK for Izakaya restaurant with some glasses of beer.

Sure! You can actually eat at Matsuya, a beef bowl kind of chain, for each meal every day, getting the largest portion with complimentary green tea for 580 yen. So about 1700 yen for the whole day! Yum!

Eating out for lunch is always better value than dinner.
If you want to try traditional Japanese food, or maybe fancier style restaurants, go to them for your midday meal, and either make dinners in your apartment, or head to cheaper restaurants like gyudon/ramen/fast-food for your evening meal.

Here is what i did

For breakfast I bought sliced white bread (6 slices) for 150yen, two slices everyday so i had enough for 3 days. And I bought nutella(chocolate spread) from my country.
You can also buy eggs to eat with your toast 10 eggs for 168yen
1 liter of milk 196yen
My breakfast for 1 week cost 514yen or 73.45yen/day!!

For lunch you can eat at Yoshinoya, Matsuya,..
Like the other said for the largest portion you'll have enough with 600yen or you can go to business or university cafeterias really cheap and delicious lunches
I often ate at Waseda university cafeteria and I am even not a student haha

And for dinner you'll have plenty of choice, I�fll recommend you to try some izakaya sets for and average price of 2000yen.
Or tabehodai (all you can eat) restaurants the average price is 2000yen
Here�fs a list of some
http://www.bento.com/r-buff.html

Do you eat for 30USD/30EUR each day in your country? Of course not so don't worry for 3000yen a day you'll plenty to do!
I had a budget for 2000yen and I was able to eat for less

Yes. As the others have mentioned, it is possible. But remember that Japan has a huge food culture. I always find it difficult to just stick with a breakfast/lunch/dinner schedule. You will come across many food stalls and vendors in your travels that it will be impossible to deny a taste.In fact, when I'm in Tokyo I never plan for just three meals a day as I am constantly tasting all the goodies I come across. If you are on vacation you need to experience as much of the culture as possible and a large part of that is food. Yes, you can go to a grocery store and gather supplies but you can do that at home. You can budget 3000 but be prepared for more.Have fun!

You never really have to worry about food too much, since the great fall-back position is getting a meal from a convenience store. You can get excellent hot meals for under \500 -- chicken nuggets with rice (real meat nuggets, not the processed "parts is parts" stuff from US fast food restaurants), or katsu-curry, or salads, and so on. The clerk will always offer to heat the meal in their microwave, and language isn't a problem, cause that's what they are asking you, and you can just smile and nod your head yes.

Unlike in other parts of the world, I have never been told by a Japanese hotel that I couldn't bring my own food into the place.

My favorite convenience store desert is what used to be a \100 Jumbo ice cream sandwich, though the price is a little higher now (I was there last week, and never even bothered to check prices, since they are about as reasonable as you can get). I pick up a few donuts or some cake for breakfast, along with instant coffee sets. Almost all hotel rooms have electric hot water pots (hint: fill the cup with water first, then dump in the coffee, creamer & sugar, and stir for 15 seconds). There are even fancy drip coffee sets with paper filters. Stay away from the canned coffee, which is somewhere between tasteless and bad, at least to me.

I also pick up a sandwich or two for a later snack, and sometimes get a cup noodle, which you can store for days.

Convenience stores in Japan sell only fresh food and meals, and holding a potential purchase in your hand is lots better than pointing to something in a restaurant window display, if you don't speak some of the language, or can't figure out the restaurant ticket machines. I found the Japanese convenience store food to be good no matter which chain I used. And there are usually two or three different ones near your hotel, so put aside your feelings for similar stores & food in your home country -- the ones in Japan are better and different.

The advice to eat whenever you see something you might like is a good suggestion. Eat what you want, and when you want. I often have curry three times a day, if I'm in the mood.

Other advice is to avoid the all-you-can-eat dessert buffets. The food there might look like it's all different, but it all pretty much tastes the same, and is usually nowhere near as sweet as you would expect. The better desserts in Japan are expensive, sold in specialty shops, but are usually well worth it.

Isn't it great that the OP never even bothered to reply?

but IMO 3000 yen a day for food is enough, as you already pointed out you won't eat the best of the best, but it's far from having to survive like a bum. If you can make your own breakfast, you will be able to have nice meals.

As others say, 3000 yen is more than enough for a budget traveller. However, I think you do not come to Japan just to survive. As a Japanese I think Japan has some nice food which is less expensive than that in your home country.

1. Fruits. I know many foreigners think fruits in Japan is super expensive. As for some fruits such as special Musk Melon, it is true. But most Japanese people do not buy it. In October to November, Mikan (Satsuma orange, or Christmas orange) is cheap but very nice. It should be 200 yen/2 kg. Mikan is mostly made in south western Japan. On the contrary, apples are the product of north east Japan. I do not know the situation in the apple-producing areas, but here in Kagoshima, apples from Aomori or Nagano are sold at 300 yen/four. I think it should be cheaper and better in Aomori.

2. Sushi. I have experienced some sushi abroad, but in general, it is much better in Japan. I think the difference comes from the rice part: some regulation in the foreign countries might make it difficult to make soft rice.

3. Japanese cuisine, Kaiseki. Kaiseki is a style of Japanese food. I can not explain well about the concept of Kaiseki, but I think the core part of it is Nishime. You can find it in some kind of Bento sold at the basement floor of the department stores (so-called DepaChika). Nishime is not so popular for foreigners (there is only one hit in JapanGuide site). You might like it or dislike it, so try a Bento which is not so expensive (less than 1000 yen). If you like it, consider splurging in some Ryo-tei (Kaiseki restaurant) where you can eat full course of Kaiseki.