Food and Restaurants in Japan...

[cross-platform]

I have been curious about this for a while. In the U.S, we have a lot of different types of restaurants, such as Mexican, Italian, Chinese, or just a plain old American place with burgers and fries. In the cities, there are even whole sections dedicated to certain types of food, such as in Detroit, we have Greektown and Mexican Town. What is the selection like in Japan? Are there a lot of places that serve food other than Japanese? Can you get ground beef at the grocery store to make burgers with?

 

[misa.j]

There are lots of restaurants other than Japanese one in Japan.

A lot of Chinese, Italian, French, Indian and Korean, some Thai, Brazilian, Jamaican etc., but I can't remember going to or seeing good old American restaurants.

You can get ground beef @ any supermarkets, steaks in restaurants in Japan, though beef tend to be a little more expensive than how it is in the U.S..

 

[Golgo_13]

What's great about restaurants in Japan is they have display cases outside with wax replica/samples of the dishes they serve. So you can see what they look like before you order it. When it comes time to order, if you can't read the menu you can just drag the waitress outside and point at the dish you want to eat.

 

[Buddha Smoker]

You can get ground beef @ any supermarkets, steaks in restaurants in Japan, though beef tend to be a little more expensive than how it is in the U.S..

I'm actually in the beef business myself. Lots of reasons contribute to the high beef prices in Japan. The Import/Export taxes, the grade of beef, what kind of beef, etc.

 

[mad pierrot]

Yeah, but....

Italian food in Japan tastes a little ........different... to me.



Also, good luck trying to find good mexican food in Japan outside of Osaka and Tokyo. That aside, I've has some damn good Chinese and Korean food in Japan.

 

[cross-platform]

I am trying to talk my girlfriend into at least visiting Japan with me, and she is a very picky eater, along with the fact that she doesn't eat seafood at all. One of her big arguments for not going was "Well, Japanese food is mostly seafood", so hopefully I can show her this and talk her into going.

One thing I hear Americans complain about when travelling abroad is quality of pizza in other countries. I don't know if anyone here has seen this article on Something Awful. When my mom went to Finland, she said that pizza there was just awful. Is there any truth to this? Are there any good pizza joints in Japan?

 

[lineartube]

Quote of the day:

"I'm sorry, neither one of us has ever made a pepperoni pizza before. I don't think we have the technology."

 

[misa.j]

I am trying to talk my girlfriend into at least visiting Japan with me, and she is a very picky eater, along with the fact that she doesn't eat seafood at all. One of her big arguments for not going was "Well, Japanese food is mostly seafood", so hopefully I can show her this and talk her into going.

One thing I hear Americans complain about when travelling abroad is quality of pizza in other countries. I don't know if anyone here has seen this article on Something Awful. When my mom went to Finland, she said that pizza there was just awful. Is there any truth to this? Are there any good pizza joints in Japan?

Japanese people do eat a lot of seafood, but it's not the only food they eat. You will be able to find most of the cooking materials they have here at the Japanese supermarkets. Tell your girlfriend that she will enjoy the variety of cuisine she sees as long as she stays openminded about food.

Pizzas in Japan may seem small and sometimes Japanized if you like the ones in the U.S., of course it's more expensive to have them delivered.
I used to go to a pizza buffet where they had one w/ pickeled ginger and seaweed as toppings which I thought was quite good at the time, but I wouldn't go back to that now.(>_<)

 

[Golgo_13]

Strict vegetarians ("vegans") might have a hard time eating in Japan unless they are willing and able to cook themselves.

 

[Buddha Smoker]

Strict vegetarians ("vegans") might have a hard time eating in Japan unless they are willing and able to cook themselves.

Why do you say that? If anything, I think it might be easy. Just my opinion. I was thinking the opposite, especially with Tofu, salads, rice, etc..

 

[mdchachi]

In every city in Japan, you can get Chinese and Italian foods or some semblance thereof. In most cities you can also get Indian. In the biggest cities such as Tokyo you can get just about anything. Even ayashii Mexican food.

All the pizza chains sell basic American-style pizzas. Though they do have a habit of piling on a bunch of crap, you should be able to find an edible pizza from their list or order pepperoni only. Pizzas in Italian restaurants are generally very nice. Very thin crust & crisply. Yum.

Well Japan has a bunch of fast food & McDonalds, just like America, so worst case you can go to Mickey D's every meal. Seriously there's enough variety to satisfy even the most picky eater. Though, obviously, you're missing a lot if you avoid seafood completely.

I agree that strict vegans will have difficulty eating out since many of the sauces/soups contain dashi (fish stock). And because most Japanese don't really understand the concept. You tell them you don't want meat, they say no problem, and you end up with bacon bits in your salad. Most vegetarians I know cooked at home. When they ate out it was either at Indian restaurants or Italian. The former always have some vegetarian dishes. The latter usually has arrabiata spaghetti if nothing else.

So, not to worry. She'll be fine. If you tell us exactly what she doesn't like, we can even steer you to acceptable Japanese foods.

 

[mad pierrot]

It must be posted!

The BEST pizza place in ALL of Japan:

Shakey's Pizza in Kyoto !

All-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, fried potatoes, and salad bar for 850 yen!



Plus, you can drink beer there! And the pizza ain't half bad, either. It's at the end of Tera-machi, near the Kiehan Sanjo stop.

 

[cross-platform]

So, not to worry. She'll be fine. If you tell us exactly what she doesn't like, we can even steer you to acceptable Japanese foods.

Heh, there isn't enough room in this forum for me to tell you what she doesn't like.

Seriously though, I think I can talk her into visiting with me now, now we just need money, heh. Now accepting donations to the "Send Adam to Japan Fund!"

 

[Buddha Smoker]

Heh, there isn't enough room in this forum for me to tell you what she doesn't like.

Seriously though, I think I can talk her into visiting with me now, now we just need money, heh. Now accepting donations to the "Send Adam to Japan Fund!"

Just wait for the check in the mail from me...sent it two weeks ago

 

[cross-platform]

Just wait for the check in the mail from me...sent it two weeks ago

:nuts: Awesome! But remember, I only accept multiples of $100!

 

[metqa]

Once my friend took me to a fancy restaraunt in Tokyo, and the waiter offered me a choice of salad appetizer called "taco salad" . It'd been a year since I'd had good mexican, so I was excited. Only a moment before she served me did I remember that most of my students couldn't even pronounce "mexican" and I scoured my memory for vocabulary. Just as she place the salad before me I remembered "takoyaki" meant FRIED OCTOPUS! So I ended up with Baby Octopus Salad! I loved it.

 

[Buddha Smoker]

:nuts: Awesome! But remember, I only accept multiples of $100!

Then just send it back after you receive it..