Cheap Eats in Japan

Feb 27th, 2009 | By | Category: Food

You may have heard that dining out is expensive in Japan but that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, you can sample a wide variety of foods from Japan for under $10!

Bento Boxes

Grocery Stores and konbini (convenience store) usually have a selection of pre-made bento boxes that average around US$5 or less.  A large portion of rice and a selection of seafood and/or meat are usually available or you could try a refreshing zaru soba (cold soba noodles) bento in the summer.

Bento Japan

How about a tasty selection of assorted sushi or sashimi for less that US$6?

Sushi Bento

Noodles

Hanamaru Udon (English on signs read ‘Manmaru’) is a fast food Udon (thick wheat based noodle ) chain that operates 187 restaurants throughout Japan and  serves over 2.5 millions customers each month.

Hanamaru offers an English menu, but the picture menu will suffice if you are an adventurous eater that is not afraid of a mystery ingredient or two.  If that’s not you then try the kake udon (plain, pictured above) starting around US$2 or bukake udon (with lemon) for approximately US$3 and supplement it with a selection of ala carte tempura or onigiri (rice balls) many sstarting at under US $1 per piece  The Curry Rice Set of the Beef Bowl  both include a small bowl of udon in broth and will satisfy heartier appetites for under US$6.

A tasty and filling lunch or dinner for two can be had for between US$10-15 at Hanamaru Udon.

For those who prefer ramen noodles, pop into a local shop or Ippudo Ramen and join the salarymen and women for a similar experience – this time with a pork based broth and thinner noodles all for around US$8.

Ramen Salarymen

Donburi

Donburi is a one bowl meal where a large portion of rice is topped with vegetables, sashimi, meat or tempura and drizzled with a savoury sauce.  My favorite is the ebi-tempura don which usually sells for around US$8.

ebi donburi

Top it all off with a One Cup Sake that can be purchased for around US$2 and you’re all set to eat like a samurai for under US$10!

one cup sake

Image Credit:  Personal Collection Flickr, Cheap dinner, Ramen Museum, Yokohama, DSC_2665 & Sake, single serving.

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16 comments
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  1. Jamaipanese February 28th, 2009 2:56 am :

    that bento looks quite delicious

  2. Freedomwv February 28th, 2009 6:46 am :

    I have had some pretty good 7-11 bentos during my time in Japan so far.

  3. Hao February 28th, 2009 10:48 am :

    Nice information and nice pictures, I’m killing to eat the 590yen sashimi now @.@

  4. Lisa February 28th, 2009 7:21 pm :

    I just wanted to correct you real fast that its not called Yaki Soba (the cold noodle dish) its called “Hiyashu Chuka”

  5. Shane Sakata February 28th, 2009 8:59 pm :

    Freedom, I too have found the convenience store bentos to be surprisingly good!

    Lisa, you did catch a “misprint” I meant to write zaru soba (cold buckwheat noodles) rather than yaki soba (fried noodles) which by the way are often served in bento at room temperature. Hiyashu Chuka is another great cold dish but it is made with ramen or somen noodles. All would fall into the cheap & delicious eats from Japan category though, don’t you think?

  6. emi February 28th, 2009 9:53 pm :

    I love the One Cup Ozeki.

  7. Sheila March 3rd, 2009 1:55 am :

    Those bento boxes look so colorful and delicious. And for $5? Wow that’s a good bargain!

  8. Nik March 10th, 2009 9:02 pm :

    The donburi looks great, a personal favorite of mine… unagi (eel) donburi! Aaahh… but anyway, back on topic of cheap eats… how about just grabbing an instant-noodle and adding some fresh ingredients into it? I remember having a great meal of instant noodles with eggs and vegetables when I was in NZ… broke and on our last day of the trip! ?

  9. MariaAbroad March 11th, 2009 3:48 pm :

    Very nice post!!! You made me hungry! I am going for Japanese Food tomorrow!!! Thank you for sharing!

    Maria

  10. roentarre March 12th, 2009 2:36 pm :

    Wow, I love Japanese food like these ones photographed here

    I am a fan of unagidon and ramen

  11. 25 Things to Do In Japan Before You Die | Nihon Sun April 29th, 2009 3:03 pm :

    […] in a delicious bowl of Ippudo Ramen.  If you are like Reesan then you might want to check out Cheap Eats in Japan - Ippudo Ramen is on the […]

  12. Ekiben - Train Station Bento Boxes | Nihon Sun May 20th, 2009 3:02 pm :

    […] all heard of bento box meals, in fact, they are one of my favorite cheap eats in Japan, but did you know that there is a special class of bento that are only sold a train stations?  […]

  13. Budgeting Your Time In Japan | Japan | Japan Travel | Nihon Sun June 18th, 2009 4:52 pm :

    […] food specialties in a great neighborhood restaurant or pick up a bento box or one of the other cheap eats in Japan to eat in a local […]

  14. newyorkdude June 23rd, 2009 2:23 am :

    Americans use the word ‘sake’ to describe the rice wine. Japanese use the word ‘sake’ to describe any alcoholic beverage. They use the word ‘Nihonshu’ to describe the rice wine.

  15. Ramen Burgers - What will they think of next? | Japan | Japan Travel | Nihon Sun July 21st, 2009 5:05 pm :

    […] about other cheap eats in Japan or browse for other regional foods from […]

  16. August Japan Matsuri - Frugal Living in Japan | Frugalista Japan August 26th, 2009 3:10 pm :

    […] Shane Sakata at the Nihon Sun fills our bellies up for under $10 including a cup of Sake with her guide on cheap eats. Nice one Shane! […]

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