Popular Inexpensive Foods

Meal Ticket Restaurants

 Although Japan does have fast food restaurants as those of us from the United States (and perhaps from Europe too) know them such as McDonald’s and KFC, Japan also has their own versions of fast food. These come in forms such as Japanese noodle bars, yatai or rotensho (movable and temporary food stands made for quick meals), or “meal ticket” restaurants. I want to take a look at the last one. Spread throughout the more busy areas of Japan such as bigger cities and train stations, these “meal ticket” restaurants can be found. I had never encountered anything like them.

Before entering the restaurant or just past the entrance, you stop to take a look at the vending machine that sells the meal tickets. The machine has an array of buttons, set up to act like an interactive menu. Each dish is pictured on a separate button, and once you have decided what you would like to eat, you insert money into the machine, press the button that matches the dish you want, and out comes a ticket. You then walk fully into the restaurant and hand your ticket to one of the cooks behind the counter. Most of the ingredients are pre-prepared (though not necessarily pre-cooked) to facilitate a fast cooking process. Depending on the restaurant, you can either pick your meal up from the bar when it is ready or they can bring it out to your table, like the one pictured here.

These types of restaurants usually have an assortment of inexpensive Japanese dishes such as, donburi (a dish with the ingredients cooked with eggs in a soy-sauce like sauce and topped over rice), curry rice, or noodles.  

These restaurants actually seem to be quicker than the American-style fast-food restaurants in Japan. I say this because when you go to McDonald’s, instead of having food pre-cooked and waiting as they do in the States, they cook it fresh each time you order.

焼き鳥 – Yakitori

Yakitori is another popular, inexpensive food in Japan.  These are often found at yatai or rotensho (as I mentioned above), but they can also be found at an izakaya (a Japanese style location that sells alcoholic drinks along with various small dishes to eat), or at a small restaurant that specializes in yakitori. Literally yakitori means “grilled chicken,” and may include a large number of chicken parts. Some that I often see—however these are by no means a complete list—are the following:

ねぎ間Negima – alternating pieces of chicken and leek

つくねTsukune – chicken pieces pressed into meatballs

かわKawa – chicken skin

ハツHatsu　こころ – hearts

レバー(Rebaa) – liver

エレンギ (erengi) – type of mushroom

The setting of the Izakaya (居酒屋) is actually very interesting in itself, but I won’t be able to go into great detail about it in this post. The first kanji居(i) holds a meaning of “sit” or “sitting” followed by 酒(sake/saka-) meaning “alcohol”, and屋 (ya) meaning something like “shop.” All together, an Izakaya is a place where you can sit down and have a few drinks and snacks. It is known that many Japanese “salary men” go for a few drinks after a long day of work where they might talk about how work is going.

お好み焼き – Okonomiyaki

The term breaks down into お好み (okonomi) which translates as “liking” or “preference” followed by焼き (yaki) meaning “fried.” Together お好み焼き(okonomiyaki) literally means something like “fried to your liking.” I find this interesting because it is a simple dish in which from a range of ingredients people put in whatever they like. The base is somewhat like a pancake batter (but the product is not sweet). The necessary ingredient is cabbage, but others may include onions, bacon, octopus, shimp, etc. The ingredients may either be mixed together or layered and fried up in a skillet or a hot cooking surface. In the photo I show here, you can cook it yourself right in front of you on the table. The finished product is usually topped with an okonomi-sauce, mayonnaise, and sometimes crushed のり (nori, which is seaweed) or fish shavings.

Okonomiyaki styles may vary across Japan. The photo I took was taken in Osaka where I understand they mix all of their ingredients before cooking, whereas in Hiroshima, they supposedly layer their ingredients. There is also もんじゃ焼き(mojayaki) in Tokyo, which is sort of a different take on the same idea.