Cheap Eats in Tokyo

23 June 2003, 19:14

In spite of some evidence to the contrary, Japan doesn’t have to be a prohibitively expensive place to eat.

When we first arrived in Tokyo, we were overwhelmed by the apparent inaccesability of many Japanese eateries. Firstly, a lot of the more traditional places are simply a paper and bamboo screen door with no store sign let alone a picture menu. We weren’t very confident with our Japanese at the time and the menus are almost always in kanji, sometimes obscure kanji. And unfortunately, a lot of the more covert restaurants are still not accustomed to having foreigners flounce in, demanding to be fed, and the staff can be a bit prickly.

Secondly, I am a stubborn fusspot when it comes to food and was unaccustomed to the Japanese “palate” (not much has changed). I found myself in the early days eating what appeared to be white flubbery stuff suspended in a fishy slop. Turns out it was miso soup, that the entire Japanese eating experience hinged on it and I had better get a taste for it or be damned.

Thirdly, we were broke. Japan is an expensive place to set up and the Aussie dollar was crucifying us at the time (not so much the case now we want to send money home… bastards) so we couldn’t chance the anonymous eateries should we be lumped with a 10,000 yen bill at the end. These days 10,000 yen is a mere piss in the ocean, but when you’re starting out it can mean the difference between eating and not eating for a week.

Of course, if you just want to fill-up on western-style burgers, there are plenty of Makudonarudo, Wendys and KFCs around, but if you are starting out in Tokyo, and like us, don’t want to resort to mass-produced crap you could eat anywhere, here are some of your “cheaper” options;

• Cocos Ichibanya – Curry House. Japanese curry has a taste quite unlike say, Indian or Malaysian curries and a big plate of Spinach Pork Curry and rice, will set you back a paltry 650 yen.

• Matsuya – fave with a wide demographic. Pork and beef stir fried stews, chicken curries, mabo (eggplant and pork stew). Few things on the menu are more than 500 yen, the chicken curry is 390 yen. The lovely thing about Matsuya is the ticketing system – you put your money into a vending machine, press a button for what meal you want, get your ticket and give your ticket to the waitress. Perfect for those bashful foreigners who aren’t quite ready to unleash their Japanese on the world.

• Yoshinoya – beef, beef, beef. If you like beef, cheap beef (and don’t mind flirting with mad cow), check out Yoshinoya.

• Tenya (japanese only website) – Tempura. A lot of tempura restaurants are expensive with all the trimmings. At Tenya you get your tendon bowl of tempura shrimp, veges and rice for next to nix.

• Mos Burger – Fast food. Yes, its a burger chain but there’s enough about Mos Burger to make it quite Japanese, including Rice burgers and Nori (seaweed) burgers. Cheap too – a burger’s about 400 yen.

• Fukushin (only Ikebukuro and surrounds). Gyoza and Ramen. We love eating at these places – large circular bars with stools around the rim, facing in towards the waitress and the chefs. Even though Fukushin is only in the Ikebukuro area, you can’t go wrong eating at one of the ma and pa ramen and gyoza places. Just look for the katakana “ramen” sign on nearly every corner. A big bowl of soup will set you back 800 yen tops.

• Gyukaku (Japanese website only). The Japanese, in spite of constant battles with their northern neighbours, go not-so-secretly nuts over the Korean BBQ. And rightly so, too. Tasty morsels of meat, meat, meat, with the occasional spud thrown into the mix, and then cooked over hot coals at your table, is a winning recipe in Tokyo. And it won’t break the bank, even with a slew of Sapporo drafts on the tab.

• For a cheap night out, you can’t go past the izakaya chains, Wara Wara and Shirokiya (both owned by the Monteroza group) and Watami. They are everywhere, have picture menus of both western and Japanese style foods with prices and enough beer on tap to sink the Titanic. We like the Wara Wara in Kabukicho the best, but most of the izakaya chains have ambiently lit atmospheres with both private western style booths and traditional sunken seat pits. No Japanese required, although if you do speak it, there will be resounding cries of “oooh, your Japanese is sooooooooo good!”

The Japanese have made an art out of flattery and if you fling out a few “Biiru mo hitotsu onegaishimasu” (one more beer please) by the end of the evening you will be made to feel like the master of the Japanese speaking kingdom…

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