Food concern...I'll stay in Shinjuku

Ok, take it easy before reading my question.. I never really tried properly Japanese food, I'll be staying 2 mins from Shinjuku station, and I'm not that worried about not eating for 10 days, but I should eat something. I kinda tried Japanese food twice and it was total failure, I didn't like it. I don't think I'm in big trouble, but I'm not eating in McDonalds everyday. Besides I imagine going to a restaurant it will be expensive (to waste) and it will be even worse to be embarrasing unable to eat it. My Japanese friend does not live in Tokyo but we'll meet for sure. But til then what can I eat?
I am not a big fan of meat, but I like it, and I like vegetables and my favorite is Indian but I don't think I should try to find foreign food I like. I think I should find Japanese food that I can eat ok. Of course I cannot use chopsticks =/ . I'm not scared I know I'll be just fine, but any advice would be very much appreciate. I really don't know where to start. But I thought since this situation exists I should think about it more seriously... Thanks in advance and be nice.

They also have KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken).

Yeah, KFC my favorite, however is funny you wasted the time to read my post =P

Hello,

Have you tried the popular Japanese curry ("kare raisu")? It is much less spicy than the Indian one, but the taste is similar.You can find it easily in restaurants.

I am sure you will find something you like!

Lizzy

From your post I can't quite tell exactly what among Japanese food were "total failure" before... maybe try some Japanese noodle shop ("soba" or "udon") - buckwheat or wheat noodle in soup, with fried vegetable topping, fried shrimp topping, etc. Or you can try "beef bowl" - see/ask if there is Yoshinoya or Matsuya near your hotel. It's bowl of rice with cooked beef topping.

I just got back from Japan and we got stuck in a similar situation. My husband tried some Japanese dishes at a restaurant and struggled because he doesn't like fish or the taste of fish.

Since you are staying in Shinjuku which is fairly touristy you should have an easier time than we did trying to get food.

Tips:
For breakfast, go to the trainstation. They have bakeries there and we ate the pastries and got a drink from a vending machine to keep it cheap.
for lunch and dinner you can find places in the malls orshopping centers. They have restaurants downstairs or trainstations also and I know that we saw an indian food place also. Chicken and vegetable katsu was a favorite of his also. We probably ate in the hotel a few times also.
I guess my biggest suggestion is to look for the most touristy place with an english menu and you will have better luck finding something you will eat.

Shinjuku has tons of choices for Japanese and non Japanese food! There is a Yoshinoya right outside the Southern Terrace Exit, as well as a First Convenience which seemed to have western food like spaghetti and burgers. Also AM/PM and 7 Eleven have sandwiches, rice balls (very tasty) and other stuff you might like. I wouldn't be worried at all if I was you.

As other have said their are tons and tons of choices if you don't like sushi. You don't say what Japanese food you don't like but there are noodles (soba and udon), there are Italian restaurants, there are burger joints (Mos Burger, Wendy's, McDonalds, Lotteria, etc.), Indian restaurants, Mexican restaurants, and there's even an Outback Steakhouse in the Kabuchiko area of Shinjuku.

Check out the Tokyo Food page for more ideas:
http://www.bento.com/tokyofood.html

Hi
Well I guess can you tell us how much for a meal you would like to spend?
I sometimes ate at Royal Host
across from Keio Plaze hotel
west side and noted there were
quite a few small places open.
Of course have you looked at
the food malls in big department stores?, not sure if they are there but in other
cites they are usually on 8 th floor.
Would think a morning or lunchtime walk to find a place to eat is in order and
have you tried Ramon?, it's
quite good, please try it.
Small town boy

What did you eat before.

I always say, there's more to Japanese food then raw fish (though thats what some people think Japanese food is all about).

I enjoy Japanese food, I just don't like Sashimi.

There's plenty of Japanese food and non Japanese food available.

Since I don't know what you ate before I can't comment.

There are non Japanese restaurants, and truthfully you'll probably end up paying MORE for non Japanese food then for "Japanese" food of which there is a whole varity of.

But again your experiences may vary. Shinjuku has a ton of restaurants of all types so I don't see you running into problems.

Thanks so much for such useful replies.

What I tried I didn't say because I didn't really know. I know once it was a soup but I can't remember what was in it, no noddles where there though. The other one was a black wheel with rice inside.

What you say is exactly what I think, I think there must be many things that I would like. I'm not sure how much I will spend but maybe there's no need to spend too much. I don't know how much I will need, but I don't want to spend 100 dollars a day in food. I think that's kinda too much. I hope! Even though I'm sure I'll wouldn't find it hard to spend so much if I wanted. But I would like to eat something nice and healthy and tasty and nice again.

I know I don't like sea food.. :(

I suggest you check out some cookbooks to determine what type of Japanese foods might appeal to you. I found a nifty little book in Japan, think the name was, 'Cheap Eats in Japan' that described all the different casual meals, easily recognized by the plastic food displays. I need to know what is in the food because I'm very allergic to shellfish.