Eating out in Tokyo: the basics

How ordering works

Three systems cover most meals. At ramen, gyudon, curry and soba counters, a ticket machine by the door takes your money first: feed in cash (increasingly also an IC card or credit card), press the picture of what you want, take the ticket and hand it to the staff. Many machines have an English button; if not, the top-left item is usually the house specialty. At table-service restaurants, a touchscreen tablet or a QR code on the table replaces the waiter; call “sumimasen” when there is neither. At the end, take the bill slip to the register near the door and pay there, not at the table. Restaurants do not split bills; sort it out among yourselves.

Lunch is the bargain. A teishoku set with main, rice, miso soup and pickles runs ¥1,000 to ¥1,500 at places that charge double at dinner. Water and tea are free. There is no tipping.

Izakaya, sushi, depachika and konbini

At an izakaya, the small dish that arrives unasked is the otoshi, a cover charge of around ¥300 to ¥600 per person. It is not a mistake and not optional. Order in rounds, start with a drink, and expect a two-hour limit at busy places.

Conveyor sushi chains (Sushiro, Kura, Hama-zushi) are cheap, good and foreigner-proof: order on the tablet, plates arrive on a track, pay per plate from around ¥120. Counter sushi with a chef is a different world, ¥10,000 to ¥40,000 for omakase, and needs a reservation.

Depachika are the food halls under department stores: Isetan Shinjuku, Takashimaya Nihombashi, Mitsukoshi Ginza. Bento, tempura, sweets and salads at retail prices, with discounts from about 7pm as closing nears. Take it to a park or your hotel.

Konbini food is genuinely good. Onigiri at ¥150 to ¥250, egg sandwiches, fried chicken, oden in winter, and a microwave at the counter. 7-Eleven, Lawson and FamilyMart are open 24 hours and this is how locals eat half their meals.

Allergies, vegetarian and vegan

Be realistic: dashi (fish stock) hides in miso soup, noodle broths, sauces and most vegetable dishes, and the concept of vegetarian is loosely applied. Say “bejitarian” and you may still get bonito flakes on top. Strategies that work: shojin ryori (Buddhist temple cuisine), dedicated vegan restaurants found on HappyCow, Indian and Nepali restaurants, and chains that mark menus clearly (CoCo Ichibanya has a vegetarian curry, Ippudo a plant-based ramen). Carry a card in Japanese stating exactly what you cannot eat; “no fish stock, no meat” in writing gets better results than a conversation.

For allergies, the main eight (wheat, egg, milk, shrimp, crab, buckwheat, peanut, walnut) are labeled on packaged food, and chain restaurants publish allergen charts. Independent restaurants cannot always rule out cross-contamination, and soba shops cook udon in the same water. Severe allergies deserve a printed card and a conservative choice of restaurant.

Reservations and etiquette

Famous places fill weeks or months ahead. Tabelog has an English site and takes online bookings for many restaurants; Omakase and TableCheck handle the high-end ones; some only take phone bookings in Japanese, where a hotel concierge earns their keep. Deposits and cancellation fees are increasingly common because no-shows by tourists became a problem. For everything else, walk in before 7pm or after 9pm, or join the queue with everyone else.

A few habits: do not linger at a ramen counter once you have finished, since someone is waiting for the seat. Finish your rice. Slurp your noodles. Say “gochisosama deshita” on the way out; it means thanks for the meal, and it lands.