Japan for Food Lovers: What to Eat and Where

By Frank Adam Burns · Updated 5 September 2026 · About a 17 minute read

Japan has more Michelin stars than any country on earth and the best AUD 12 lunch on the planet. This guide goes city by city through what to eat and where, explains how the restaurants actually work, and gives you a working glossary so the menu is a pleasure and not a puzzle.

Japan has more Michelin stars than any country on earth and the best AUD 12 lunch on the planet, and the two facts are related: the same obsession with doing one thing perfectly runs from the three-star kaiseki house to the noodle stall under the railway arches. For a food-loving traveller that means the trip organises itself around eating — not because the sights are dull, but because in Japan the eating is one of the sights. This guide goes city by city through what to eat and where, explains how the restaurants work (the ticket machines, the counters, the no-reservations queues and the reservations you must make months ahead), and gives a working glossary so the menu is a pleasure rather than a puzzle.

How eating in Japan works

Restaurants specialise

A ramen shop makes ramen. A tempura counter makes tempura. A yakitori bar grills skewers. The generalist restaurant is the exception, and the rule is that a place doing one thing has usually been doing it for decades. Order what the sign says.

Ticket machines and counters

Many casual restaurants have a vending machine by the door: insert cash or tap your IC card, press the picture of your dish, take the ticket to the counter. Counter seating is the norm, eating alone is normal, and a counter seat at a good sushi or tempura place is the best seat in the house because you watch the work.

Queues and reservations

Japan queues for food without embarrassment, and a line of office workers outside a place at noon is the most reliable recommendation in the country. At the other end, the famous omakase sushi counters, kaiseki houses and the small restaurants with a handful of seats take reservations a month or more ahead, often only by phone in Japanese or through a hotel concierge. We book these for guests; do not expect to walk in.

Table manners that matter

Say “itadakimasu” before and “gochisousama deshita” after if you want to be liked. Slurp noodles; it is correct. Do not stick chopsticks upright in rice or pass food chopstick to chopstick. Pour drinks for others, not yourself. Pay at the register, usually with the bill taken from your table, cash on the tray. No tipping.

Convenience stores and depachika

7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart sell onigiri rice balls, egg sandwiches, oden stew, fried chicken, salads and coffee of a standard that has made the Japanese konbini a food destination in itself. And the depachika — the basement food hall of every major department store (Isetan Shinjuku, Takashimaya Kyoto, Hankyu Umeda) — is where the city’s best patissiers, wagashi makers, fishmongers and delicatessens keep counters. A picnic assembled from a depachika is a meal to plan a day around.

Tokyo: the greatest food city on earth

Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants and more Michelin stars than Paris. The range is the point: a AUD 900 sushi omakase in Ginza and a AUD 9 bowl of soba at a standing counter in the same block, both perfect.

Sushi

The Toyosu fish market (which replaced Tsukiji in 2018) has the tuna auction and the sushi counters that open at five in the morning; the old Tsukiji outer market still has the stalls and the breakfast crowds. For a proper omakase, Ginza and Roppongi hold the famous counters (AUD 300–900, booked a month ahead); for the same fish at a third of the price, lunch omakase at the same addresses, or the standing sushi bars (tachigui) in Shibuya and Shinjuku. Conveyor-belt chains (Sushiro, Kura) are AUD 15–25 a head and fun.

Ramen

Tokyo’s style is shoyu (soy) broth, and the city has ramen at every price from the AUD 9 chain bowl to the Michelin-starred Tsuta and Nakiryu. Tokyo Ramen Street under Tokyo Station has eight of the best shops in a row. Ichiran (tonkotsu, solo booths) and Ippudo are the accessible chains; Afuri’s yuzu-shio bowl is the light one.

The rest

Tempura at a counter in Ginza or Asakusa. Tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) at Maisen or Tonki. Monjayaki, Tokyo’s runny cousin of okonomiyaki, in Tsukishima. Unagi (grilled eel) at a century-old house in Asakusa. Yakitori under the tracks at Yurakucho or in the alleys of Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku. Soba in Kanda. Wagyu at a yakiniku grill in Roppongi. Kissaten coffee houses for a morning set of thick toast, egg and pour-over. And the depachika of Isetan, Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya for everything else.

Where to base for food

Shinjuku for the yokocho alleys and Isetan; Shibuya and Ebisu for the young, good restaurants; Ginza for the counters; Asakusa for old Tokyo cooking. Kagurazaka and Nakameguro for a quieter, more local restaurant street.

Sushi, properly

Sushi in Japan is not what arrives in an Australian food court, and the differences matter. Nigiri is a hand-formed piece of vinegared rice with a slice of fish on top, eaten in one bite, fish-side down into the soy if the chef has not already brushed it (at a good counter he has, and the soy dish is decorative). Ginger is a palate cleanser between pieces, not a topping. Wasabi is already under the fish. Hands or chopsticks are both correct. At an omakase counter the chef serves one piece at a time in a sequence from light white fish through the oily ones to the rich tuna belly, egg and a hand roll to finish; you eat each as it arrives, say what you liked, and do not ask for a California roll. Tuna comes in grades — akami lean, chu-toro medium fatty, o-toro fatty — and the last is what the tuna auction is about. Uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), anago (sea eel), aji (horse mackerel) and kohada (gizzard shad) are the pieces that mark a serious counter. Lunch omakase at a good place is AUD 80–150 and the single best introduction; the standing bars at AUD 30 are how Tokyo office workers eat it on a Tuesday.

Ramen, properly

Four broths — shoyu, shio, miso, tonkotsu — and a hundred regional variations: Sapporo miso with corn and butter, Hakata tonkotsu with thin straight noodles you can order extra (kaedama), Tokyo shoyu, Kitakata’s wide curly noodles, Wakayama’s soy-pork, tsukemen dipping noodles served separate from a thick broth. The ticket machine asks noodle firmness, broth richness and toppings; when in doubt, take the default and add a soft egg (ajitama). Eat it fast, because the noodles soften, slurp it loudly, and drink the broth if you like it. AUD 9–16, and the best shops have queues at 11 am and sell out by two.

Wagyu, properly

Wagyu means “Japanese cattle”, and Kobe, Matsusaka, Omi and Hida are regional brands of it, graded A1 to A5 on yield and 1 to 12 on marbling. A5 is the most marbled and the most expensive; it is also so rich that 100 grams is a meal and a full steak is a mistake. The three ways to eat it well: yakiniku, where thin slices come to your table and you grill them yourself over charcoal for seconds a side (the most fun and the best value, AUD 60–120 a head); teppanyaki, where a chef cooks it on a steel plate in front of you, the classic Kobe experience (AUD 150–300); and sukiyaki or shabu-shabu, where it is simmered at the table in a sweet soy broth or plain dashi and dipped in raw egg or ponzu. Buy it at a depachika counter for a hotel-room feast and it is half the restaurant price. Real Kobe beef is served only in certified restaurants with the bronze cow statuette; anything cheap calling itself Kobe is not, and the beef you eat in Kyoto or Osaka labelled Omi or Matsusaka is every bit as good and usually better value.

Osaka: Japan’s kitchen

Osaka’s culinary reputation is for konamon — flour-based street food — and for eating as entertainment. Dotonbori, along the canal, is the epicentre: takoyaki octopus balls from the stands with the giant octopus signs, okonomiyaki (cabbage and batter pancake, Osaka-style with everything mixed in) at Mizuno or Chibo, kushikatsu (breaded, deep-fried skewers, and never double-dip the sauce) in Shinsekai, kitsune udon, and the famous kani-doraku crab. Kuromon Ichiba market is the morning stop for sea urchin, wagyu skewers and fruit. The city also has some of the best-value sushi in Japan, a great Korean quarter in Tsuruhashi, and Osaka’s own high-end scene around Kitashinchi that is a fraction of Tokyo’s prices for the same standard.

Osaka tips

Eat standing at the takoyaki stand and move on. Kushikatsu in Shinsekai at Daruma. Okonomiyaki as a late lunch, when the queues are shorter. Kuromon before ten. And leave room, because Osaka is the city where three dinners in one evening is a reasonable plan.

Kyoto: the refined table

Kyoto’s food is the opposite of Osaka’s: restrained, seasonal, beautiful. Kaiseki, the multi-course cuisine that grew out of the tea ceremony, is Kyoto’s gift to the world — a dozen small dishes following the season, served in a tatami room, at AUD 150–400 a head at dinner and half that at lunch, booked weeks ahead (Kikunoi, Hyotei and Kitcho are the names; there are dozens of superb lesser-known houses). Shojin ryori, the vegetarian temple cuisine, is served at Tenryu-ji and other temples and is the best vegetarian food in the country. Yudofu (simmered tofu) at Nanzen-ji. Obanzai, Kyoto home cooking, at small counters in the backstreets. Nishiki Market, five blocks long, is the city’s pantry: pickles, tofu skin, matcha everything, dashi tasting, knives. And the tea: Uji, twenty minutes south, is where Japanese green tea is grown, and a matcha parfait in a tea house there is a small pilgrimage.

Kyoto tips

Kaiseki at lunch is the value play. Pontocho alley for dinner with river views in summer. Book anything with fewer than twelve seats. And the machiya restaurants in the Gion backstreets are where the city eats when it is not being watched.

Hokkaido: seafood and dairy

The northern island is Japan’s larder. Sapporo has miso ramen (Ramen Yokocho alley), soup curry, jingisukan (lamb grilled at the table, named for Genghis Khan), the Sapporo Beer Garden, and crab — hairy crab, king crab, snow crab — in restaurants where you choose it from the tank. Hakodate’s morning market serves kaisendon (sashimi rice bowls) with uni and ikura piled high. Otaru is sushi street and the glassworks. And the dairy: Hokkaido milk, butter, soft-serve ice cream and the Shiroi Koibito biscuits that are the omiyage of the island. In summer, the melons of Yubari and the corn and potatoes of Furano; in winter, everything from the sea.

Hiroshima and the west

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is layered rather than mixed, with noodles inside, and the Okonomimura building in the city centre has three floors of stalls serving it. Oysters from the bay, grilled on Miyajima’s main street. Momiji manju maple-leaf cakes. Further west, Fukuoka in Kyushu is the home of tonkotsu ramen (Ichiran and Ippudo both started here) and the yatai street stalls along the Nakasu river are the most sociable eating in Japan; mentaiko spicy cod roe and motsunabe offal hotpot are the local specialities.

Regional dishes worth travelling for

• Kanazawa: Omicho market’s kaisendon, nodoguro (blackthroat perch), and gold-leaf ice cream.
• Takayama: Hida beef, the morning markets, and mitarashi dango.
• Nagoya: miso katsu, hitsumabushi eel, and tebasaki chicken wings.
• Kobe: the beef, at a teppanyaki counter; and the Nada sake breweries.
• Nara: kakinoha-zushi (mackerel sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves) and Miwa somen.
• Nagasaki: champon noodle soup and castella sponge cake, both from the Portuguese and Chinese trading era.
• Okinawa: goya champuru (bitter melon stir-fry), Okinawa soba, rafute pork belly, and awamori spirit.
• Sendai: gyutan grilled beef tongue.
• Shikoku: Sanuki udon in Kagawa, the best udon in Japan, at self-service shops for AUD 4 a bowl.

Food experiences to book

Market walks with a local guide (Tsukiji outer market, Nishiki, Kuromon) turn stalls into stories. Cooking classes — sushi, ramen, home cooking, wagashi sweets — run in every city at AUD 80–150 and are a good half-day. Sake brewery tours in Fushimi (Kyoto), Nada (Kobe) and Niigata. Tea ceremony in Kyoto or Uji. Whisky: the Suntory Yamazaki distillery near Kyoto and Nikka’s Yoichi in Hokkaido, both booked ahead. Wagyu: a yakiniku dinner where you grill it yourself, or a teppanyaki counter in Kobe. An izakaya crawl through a yokocho alley with someone who knows which curtain to lift. And the ryokan kaiseki dinner, which is not a restaurant but is the best meal on most trips.

Eating by season

Japanese cooking is organised around shun — the moment a food is at its peak — and menus change with it. Spring brings bamboo shoots, mountain vegetables (sansai), sakura-flavoured everything, the first bonito (katsuo) and strawberries so perfect they are sold individually. Summer is cold somen noodles, eel (unagi) on the Day of the Ox in July, hamo pike conger in Kyoto, edamame and cold beer, kakigori shaved ice and the peaches of Okayama. Autumn is the great eating season: matsutake mushrooms, sanma Pacific saury, chestnuts, persimmons, new-crop rice (shinmai), and the first crab in November when the Sea of Japan season opens. Winter is hotpot — nabe, shabu-shabu, sukiyaki, oden — fugu pufferfish in Shimonoseki, snow crab in Kanazawa and Kinosaki, yuzu, mikan oranges and strawberries again by January. Plan the trip by what you want to eat and the season chooses itself.

The markets

Tsukiji outer market, Tokyo: the stalls survived the fish market’s move; tamagoyaki, tuna skewers, sea urchin, knife shops, 6–10 am. Toyosu, Tokyo: the new wholesale market, tuna auction viewing from 5.30 am by ballot, sushi counters on the fourth floor. Nishiki, Kyoto: 400 years old, pickles, tofu, tea, sweets, from 10 am. Kuromon, Osaka: uni, wagyu, fugu, fruit, from 9 am. Omicho, Kanazawa: the Sea of Japan on ice; kaisendon breakfast. Hakodate morning market: squid you catch yourself and sashimi bowls, from 5 am. Nakasu yatai, Fukuoka: the evening street stalls by the river. Kanazawa, Takayama and Sapporo all have morning markets worth the early rise. In every case, go early, go hungry, and eat at the stalls rather than photographing them.

Bringing it home

Japan’s food souvenirs (omiyage) are an art form and the airports and stations sell the best of them: Tokyo Banana, Shiroi Koibito from Hokkaido, Kyoto’s yatsuhashi, matcha in every form, regional KitKats, wasabi peas, senbei rice crackers, and beautifully boxed wagashi. Knives from Kappabashi in Tokyo or the Aritsugu shop in Nishiki go in checked luggage. Sake and whisky within the 2.25-litre Australian allowance. Australian biosecurity is strict: commercially packaged, shelf-stable food is generally fine, but declare all of it; fresh fruit, meat products and anything with seeds or dairy will be inspected or confiscated. When in doubt, declare — the fine for not declaring is the expensive option.

Drinks

Beer first: Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory dominate, the craft scene is strong in Tokyo and Osaka, and a draught nama-biru in a bar is AUD 6–9. Sake (nihonshu) is served hot or cold, dry or sweet, and a good izakaya will guide you; junmai daiginjo is the top grade. Shochu, the distilled spirit, is the drink of Kyushu. The highball — whisky and soda — is the national bar drink and Suntory built an empire on it. Japanese whisky is now among the world’s most collected; a dram at a Ginza bar is the way to try it. Umeshu plum wine is the sweet option. Coffee is excellent: kissaten for the old style, specialty roasters (Blue Bottle, Onibus, Glitch) for the new, and canned coffee from a vending machine for AUD 1.50 at 6 am, which is its own pleasure. Tea, everywhere, free with every meal.

Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergies

Honest answer: Japan is harder than Thailand or India for restrictive diets, and getting better fast. Dashi stock is fish-based and is in almost everything, including “vegetable” dishes; soy sauce contains wheat. Vegetarians and vegans do well at temple shojin ryori restaurants, at the growing number of vegan cafes in Tokyo and Kyoto, at Indian and Nepali restaurants, and with a card in Japanese explaining the restriction (we provide one). Gluten-free travellers should carry tamari and the card, and rely on sushi, sashimi, rice bowls without sauce and grilled meat. Serious allergies need the card and, ideally, restaurants chosen in advance. Halal food is available in the main cities. Tell us and we build it into the plan.

A working menu glossary

What it costs

Convenience-store breakfast AUD 5, ramen or teishoku lunch AUD 12–18, izakaya dinner with drinks AUD 40–60, a nice restaurant AUD 60–100, omakase or kaiseki AUD 150–400. A food-focused traveller eating one special meal a day and ordinary meals otherwise spends AUD 120–200 a day; a traveller happy with the ordinary spends half that and eats magnificently. The costs guide has the full picture.

A food-lover’s twelve days

1. Tokyo, four nights: Toyosu or Tsukiji breakfast, a Ginza sushi counter, Tokyo Ramen Street, yakitori under the Yurakucho tracks, a depachika picnic in Shinjuku Gyoen, an izakaya crawl in Omoide Yokocho, a kissaten morning set.
2. Hakone, one night: the ryokan kaiseki.
3. Kyoto, four nights: kaiseki lunch, Nishiki Market, shojin ryori at a temple, yudofu at Nanzen-ji, a matcha afternoon in Uji, sake in Fushimi, obanzai counter dinner in Gion.
4. Osaka, three nights: Kuromon in the morning, Dotonbori takoyaki, kushikatsu in Shinsekai, an okonomiyaki lunch, a Kitashinchi dinner, and the last night at a yakiniku grill with the best wagyu you can afford.

When you are ready, the things to do page places these alongside the temples and the trains, and the Japan tours page shows how a food-led itinerary is built.

Frequently asked questions