Japan Restaurants

Japanese take their cuisine very seriously. This can be seen all over in Japan, from the popular television show lron Chef (where famous chefs battle it out) to a popular comic-book (mange) series featuring a chef and his cuisine. This love for fine food is reflected in the wide variety restaurants in Japan.
On the low end of the price scale are the ramen Japan restaurants from 500yen to 1,000yen. Large fast food chains are also scattered throughout Japan, especially near the train stations, so you’re set if you ever get a craving for McDonalds’ French fries (in Japan called “Mac fry potato”). Many restaurants display plastic replicas of their offerings in their windows, so you can see what they serve before you enter. This also makes it easier to order if you do not speak Japanese. Higher-priced restaurants usually do not have plastic displays, but menus (with prices) are often displayed by the door.
Make sure you check the prices before entering a Japan restaurant because some are unbelievably expensive, and prices may be (confusingly) written in kanji rather than Arabic numerals. Japanese aced variety of items at a lower price. If you do not like the set menus you can order a la carte. Although Japan has excellent foreign restaurants such as Chinese, Italian, Korean, Indian, French, and American, do not ignore the local cuisine. There are all different kinds of Japanese dishes at all different price ranges, so experiment a little and try something you have never seen before.
The service you get at Japanese restaurants is usually prompt and gracious, even at the fast food places. Additionally, there is no tipping at Japanese restaurants! There is, however, a 5 percent sales tax; the more expensive restaurants and upscale bars may also charge a table fee.

Popular Restaurants in Japan

1. More affordable restaurants abound in downtown office building basements, the dining floors of department stores, urban shopping centers, and the underground malls of the busiest railway stations.
2. At lunchtime, office workers crowd these dining spots. Many order teishoku, a low-priced complete meal on a tray. Most restaurants in the moderate to inexpensive price range have realistic plastic models of their dishes, with prices, in a showcase outside the entrance. If you don't know what to order, point to the dish you want to try. Some restaurants have bilingual (Japanese and English) menus, and you can use JNTO's Tourist's Handbook as a handy phrase book for dining out. Paperback guidebooks to inexpensive Japanese dishes are available at major bookstores.
3. For people in a hurry, noodle stands, coffee shops, fast-food outlets and vending machines provide a variety of food and drink at very low cost.
   At most restaurants, you receive a bill and pay as you leave. A few have you buy a meal coupon in advance and hand it to the waiter or waitress. Payment is made in cash except when credit cards are accepted. Inexpensive restaurants, coffee shops and fast-food outlets accept cash only. No tipping, please.
   
   
4. Other places to eat Japanese Dishes
5. ·Box lunches, some unique to a particular area, are sold aboard trains.
6. ·Dinner on a cruise ship during an evening bay cruise lets you see city lights from the water.
7. ·Street side yatai stalls, some with stools, offer inexpensive taste treats.
8. ·Dinner-shows at deluxe hotels combine fine food and live entertainment for an evening you'll never forget.
9. ·Convenience stores have sandwiches, box lunches and other cooked dishes you can take out.
10. ·Department store basements are great places to sample many kinds of food for free.
11. ·Kaiten Sushi: Customers sit at a round counter and receive low-priced sushi on a circling conveyor belt.