photo by E
What is your impression of Japan? One of the most commonly heard comments about Japan from tourists is that the food, especially eating out, is cheap and delicious. It is true that Japan has a well-developed restaurant industry, and you can choose from a wide variety such as Western, Chinese, and Italian as well as Japanese cuisine. Compared to the genuine one, the taste may be modified for Japanese liking, but it is still well commented by tourists. This column will introduce chain restaurants that offer the same taste anywhere in Japan, and are delicious, cheap, and fast.
Saizeriya
When it comes to restaurants where you can have quick snacks at a low price, many people in Japan would think of Saizeriya. The menu consists mainly of pizza, pasta, and meat patties, and most of them are priced at less than 500 yen. They also offer plenty of side dishes such as salads and soups. They have more than 1,500 stores across Japan, and Saizeriya exists in almost every town in Japan. It is a convenient restaurant that you can quickly go when you want to take a break while traveling, when you want to kill time while waiting for next activity, or when you want to have a little bite.
Marugame Seimen
Along with ramen, udon is also a popular Japanese noodle dish. Marugame Seimen has 1,000 stores nationwide. In addition to independent stores, you can often find them in food courts. What is good about Marugame Seimen’s is that noodles are freshly made at each store, so you can enjoy the taste the best of their noodles. Making an order is easy, tell the type of udon, size, and cold/hot, receive the udon, take topping of your choice from the trays along the counter, then pay at the cash register at the end of the counter. The udon itself starts at about 400 yen, and the topping tempura is 110 yen to 190 yen. Above all, it only takes a few minutes from ordering and receiving udon to payment, surprisingly fast!
Nakau
Nakausa is a chain restaurant with donburi dishes (e.g. oyakodon, katsudon) and udon noodles as the main menu. This Japanese-style fast food chain has 460 stores nationwide, and you can eat in and take away. The daytime main menu is also reasonably priced at 500 yen to 700 yen, but the best part is the breakfast menu. For example, white rice, miso soup, with fried egg and bacon for 360 yen, and natto set meal for 360 yen. You can quickly eat it even in the busy time of the morning. Due to the nature of the business, which is targeted at office workers and students, it is often near the station, so it is convenient to stop by in between trips.
Katsuya
As you can tell from its name, Katsuya is a chain restaurant with tonkatsu as its main menu. They have 492 stores across Japan. Tonkatsu, which is fried pork in a crispy batter, is a very popular Japanese dish even in other countries. In the UK, katsu curry was booming for a while. At Katsuya, you can enjoy a hearty tonkatsu menu for less than 1,000 yen, starting at 590 yen for katsudon bowl, 730 yen for a tonkatsu set meal, and 730 yen for katsu curry. It’s a pretty good deal for tonkatsu dishes, which tend to be relatively expensive.
Gyoza no Osho
When it comes to chain restaurants where you can stuff your stomach at a low price, Gyoza no Osho would be the first to come up. The name of the restaurant says gyoza (dumplings), they offer many other Chinese dishes that are popular in Japan. There is a wide variety of dishes, from yum cha style food such as dumplings and spring rolls, to main dishes such as Babaocai and sweet and sour pork, rice dishes, and desserts. The price is 310 yen for 6 dumplings and 480 yen for crab and egg, which is a great deal. In addition, everyone’s favorite ramen is also one of the popular menus. If you want to have a quick bite of Chinese food, Gyoza no Osho is the best choice.
Bon Appétit!
Eating out is one of the attractions of traveling to Japan. You have no trouble to find a place for dining out, and there are so many varieties. However, since you often eat out when traveling, food costs are much higher than when you are at home. If possible, you want to keep food costs down, but it is quite inconvenient to carry food with you all the because you are basically on the move. In such situations, large chain stores like the one introduced this time are really handy option. They are reasonably priced, fast, and delicious. Of course, there are many other restaurant chains that are expanding nationwide. If you are traveling and want to keep your food costs as low as possible, why not take advantage of these restaurants?
