Cheap & Good Places to Eat

Hi all,

I will be going to Tokyo in September and it's going to be my first free & easy trip. I have got my itinerary ready but worrying about food due to language barrier.

Please advise if there are any cheap & good places to eat at Shinjuku, Tokyo station, Mt Fuji, Ginza, Odaiba, harajuku & Shibuya.

I am looking into cheap & good swordfish sushi too.

If there are places that is a must-try... kindly let me know too.

Thanks a million.

japan is expensive. this is coming from a 40 year old man born and raised, and currently living in japan. you can always try 7-11. but if you want anything decent you can't get it cheap.

I just got back from Japan and I disagree with Taro...

Hey Taro, do you live in Japan? Damn... youre lucky, I wish I was there right now, so I could go eat some takoyaki... I cant get that here.

It is not expensive,,, you dont have to eat at 7/11.... there are great ramen places all over.... lots of inexpensive restaurants everywhere.

If you want to eat inexpensive food, its easy to find. It only gets expensive if you want to sit down order and be waited on by a waitress/waiter.

I just went to NYC and it was much more expensive than Tokyo for food.

If your laid back and can deal with inexpensive meal options you'll have no problems. Snacks are everwhere too.

The only reason I'm not telling you a list of places is that theyre everywhere.

Try conveyor belt sushi, and the sushi at Tsukiji Fish market is great and cheap too... definitely go there

Try ramen, and in all the train stations they have tons of food.

have fun.

ljac,

I too would disagree with Taro's advice. Obviously what you consider expensive will depend on where you are coming from, but eating in Japan need not be expensive at all these days. Note that eating from convenience stores is usually not a cheap way of doing it, though.

Also, what's so special about swordfish sushi? I don't think it is very common - probably because it's not particularly popular. Isn't it rather tough compared with other types of tuna?

Thanks for your advices...

swordfish sushi is chewy. Perhaps it's personal preferences. =)

anyway, are there any food that it's a must to try in those places I am visiting?


Thanks.

Try whatever locals eat. Why not visiting YOSHINOYA to eat GYUDON (beef over rice)? Its about 350 yen per bowl and delicious!

There are tons of good places to eat for cheap! Kaiten sushi, udon, ramen...lots of Japanese people eat for cheap every day, so don't listen to people who tell you it's expensive. You'll find plenty in all the places you listed, and most will have their prices outside.

I've never seen swordfish sushi- I've heard swordfish is one of the most dangerous fish to eat because of the mercury content- my fish guide says eat it rarely or never. I'd imagine if you can find it it would be expensive.

Expensive???

I don't think so. A lot of nice meals are quite cheap here. And I'm not talking just noodles.

A good meal of Tonkatsu will cost 1200-1800yen.
I went to a Brazilian BBQ place in Yokohama, and it cost 3000yen, for all you could eat salad bar and BBQ meat, brought fresh to the table.
A lunch time meal of Thai Red curry can be 1100yen.

I also disagree that Japan is expensive. I would even classify the food there as cheap, compared to Australia for instance.

I could spend the equivalent of 8000Yen-10,000Yen for dinner in Aust Melbourne and the quality of the food leaves more to be desired for.

Japan is so competitive with its food industry you could get away with eating great food for barely 2000yen or even less.

As for Swordfish, funny you mention that. Its popular in a lot of places just not in Japan. Same goes with Salmon and Ocean Trout. I know because I had a fetish for Swordfish myself but was shocked to see or not see it on the shelves or in the sushi restaurant menus. If you find really good Kajiki Toro then its awesome and comparable to tuna toro. Otherwise its better to be seared on the edges to be eaten like a tataki, wouldn't call it chewy but its more like a crunchy type of fish.

I like to eat at Ootoya for good cheap food. Almost all of the set menus are less than Y1000! The restaurants are clean and can be found close to train stations (there are over 100 in Tokyo).

Certain Izakaya chains and the family-run one are quite affordable. The food is good and the price right with smaller portion. The only problem is it is smoky and rowdy as what it should be.

I agree
Japan is not expensive at all. There are alot of eatry in train station that are inexpensive and very good. If you are in Japan you have to try the sushi in Tsukiji Fish Market. once you have the sushi there you don't want to eat it anywhere else that's how fresh it is.
you can also tried Jusco. There's a super market on the lower level.
Does anyone know if I can walk from Shinagawa on the JR line to Shinagawa-Seaside?

Despite it's name Shinagawa Station is not in Shinagawa. It would be quite a long walk from Shinagawa station to shinagawa seaside.

You can either take the JR line from Shinagawa staiton to Osaki Station, transfer to the Rinkai Line to Shinagawa Seaside station.

Or take the Keikyu line a short stop over to Aomonoyokocho Station and walk about 10 minutes.

Or from Shinagawa Station, take the city bus #91 (located on the East exit of Shinagawa Station) to Shinagawa Seaside.

Here are some of my favorite cheap eats at Tsukiji Market:

http://foodsaketokyo.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/tsukiji-market-cheap-eat...

Taro I agree 100% but theres a big difference in what a 20 year old and 40 year old concider a decent meal. You can find cheap junk food every where. I find Japan expensive if you are looking for good quality food. Theres no such thing as cheap Shishime, no way would I ever concider eating raw fish in a turn table sushi place. Theres the old saying "You get what you pay for". As far as Swordfish goes, Love it grilled medium rare over charcoal but after 18 years in Japan I've never found it cheap. Like asking for cheap Kobe Beef, there ain't such a thing.

Do not worry too much about not speaking Japanese. Most restaurants have pictures of what they serve all around and also a 'realistic' copy of the food in the window.
There are also a lot of 'local' restaurants that have a ticket machine near the entrance. On the machine are often also small pictures of the food including the price. After you drop money in the machine you make a selection and you get a ticket. You give the ticket to somebody from the restaurant. So you do not even need to say anything exceot maybe 'thank you'.
The only suggestion i would give to you is that you need to learn the number system (or write them down on a piece of paper) as in a lot of the local restaurants post the price in Japanese number characters.
Have a nice trip and enjoy the food
B. Slager