Japan Restaurant Tips by dlandt

Restaurant Name: MOS Burgers

These may be small but they sure are good. Mos serves burgers more tailored to the Japanese taste than anything I am used to, garnishing it with soy paste and serving the sandwich on a very different style of bun that you kind of fold over. Everything is fresh, and they do manage to make the little burgers taste good. Be prepared to have more than one because they aren't very large.

MOS burgers will run you about $4 apiece, but I can't make comparisons to McDonalds in Japan because I didn't visit one.

Trivia: MOS stands for Mountain Ocean Shore

Favorite Dish: I liked MOS burgers in general, but would not advise eating one of their sausage sandwiches. They tie the sausage up into a round shape so it sits neatly on the bun, and they have the garnishes done right, but the sausage itself, like a lot of foods that are western in origin, isn't very good, strictly a low level mass consumer quality too salty and fatty to be good.

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Theme: Fast Food
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: A chain, all over the place

Restaurant Name: Standard Japanese fare in typical setting

Sit down, formal restaurants in Japan can be kind of expensive, but food overall does not have to be. I actually ate a $73 steak in Japan. In Chicago, I don't think I could even find one over $50 if I looked, but let me tell you, that was one good steak. It is OK to splurge a little, but the Japanese also eat sensibly as they go about their day to day business. Noodle shops and bento sellers cater more to the standard fare, but what I recommend you eat in is a standard Japanese restaurant.

Places like the one I show in the picture are pretty common, and where they aren't ultra ultra, they generally offer good value for your money. They tend to serve food cafeteria style, with some food under heat lamps and others in refrigerated cases, but with their main offerings in the serving trays of steam tables. to our way of thinking, this sounds cheap, but the Japanese tend to be quite quality conscious with their food, allowing you to raise your expectations. Whatever you order doesn't go righ ton your plate, they take it and reheat or treat the food so it is quite good.

Prices vary, but these are a pretty standard commodity and don't go outside of a certain range thanks to competition. A meal should be about $10. You will need to know how to eat with chopsticks.

Favorite Dish: I usually like the tonkatsu, which is deep fried meat, seafood, or vegetables. The quality is consistent and the food is quick, tasty, and known quantity.

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Theme: Japanese/Sushi
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter