Japanese and Western Fast Food Prices
Fast food is another option for dining out in Japan. Customers have a variety of options, including international eateries like McDonald’s and Burger King, Japanese-meets-Western burgers at Mos Burger, and beef rice bowls from chains like Matsuya. These eateries offer menus that are friendly to foreign diners, are informal, and have meals that start at less than 1,000 yen.
Japanese Wagyu Beef and Teppanyaki
For grilled dishes like okonomiyaki, Japanese beef (wagyu), or a filling dinner and beverages, visit a yakiniku or teppanyaki restaurant.
Most yakiniku restaurants require you to choose your meat and cook it over a grill before you can The cost of each meal varies depending on the type and quantity of meat selected, but it typically ranges from 2,000 to 4,000 yen per person. The cost of dinner is somewhat more, with prices ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 yen.
Cooked on an iron griddle, or “teppan” as it is known in Japanese, is tertabashi. Teppanyaki restaurants will sometimes have meat to grill. The menus of the majority feature items like yakisoba, monjayaki, and okonomiyaki, savory pancakes from the Kansai region. You will also find seafood at times. A la carte orders should budget between 600 and 1,000 yen for each item.
While some of these restaurants will have a waiter prepare your meal, most of them have prepared ingredients for you to cook on the iron griddle in front of you.
Izakaya Basics: A “How-To” Guide on Ordering and Etiquette in Japanese Bars: Izakayas are Japanese pubs that serve alcohol and complementary side dishes. Izakayas are very popular nighttime destinations, frequented by office workers on weekday evenings and friend groups on weekends.
It’s customary to order multiple otsumami, or side dishes, at an izakaya to enjoy with your drink. Otsumami dishes are usually from 300 to 800 yen. A typical izakaya menu includes fried food, sashimi, yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers), and vegetable side dishes like edamame. Alcoholic beverages will usually cost between 300 and 600 yen.
At an izakaya, expect to pay at least 2,000 yen for food and beverages. The majority of the products at national chains like Torikizoku are priced at 328 yen each (before tax), making them an excellent choice for people looking to save some money. Some more well-known izakaya chains that provide reasonable costs for food and beverages are Uotami and Shoya.
At least in Japan, a bowl of ramen costs less than 1000 yen, or about $10 USD. Many bowls fall between 7-900 yen. People have referred to American prices as anything from “highway robbery” to legitimately “fucked up” in contrast. Ramen bowls in both NYC and Chicago typically cost $14, if not more. The basic bowl at Ichiran’s NYC location costs $18 without any extras or kaedama. In Japan, their ramen is more like 800 yen.
But I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the cost of ramen in the US. Is there anything people can do to lower the price in the USA? Does the price difference kill the soul of the dish? Does the above even matter? Does this make the price difference okay?
However, I’ve noticed that this question comes up frequently, so I thought it would be appropriate for us to talk about it:
Haven’t posted here in a while, I’ve had a number of projects start this past year. I’ve been running Akahoshi, a ramen popup in the city of Chicago, and started work on a ramen compendium/ebook I hope to share with everyone soon.
This question, in my opinion, fundamentally ignores the structural cultural and economic distinctions between the US and Japan. After doing some research on the American Ramen market, I’ve discovered five factors that contribute to the price difference:
