The Best 20 of Japanese Casual Dishes

First, I recommend Katsudon. It is a bowl of steamed hot rice topped with slices of deep-fried pork bound with beaten egg and slices of onions cooked in a broth with a sweet soy sauce base. It is one of the Japanese favorites. Most young Japanese, and even seniors, love to eat it for lunch.

Next, Tonkatsu is a pork cutlet, deep-fried breaded pork fillet. We eat it with a special sauce. The thickness of the pork in both dishes is 10 to 15 mm. The restaurant serves it with steamed rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickles like cucumber, Chinese cabbage, and Japanese radish. The price for the Katsudon and Tonkatsu is about 800 to 1,500 yen each.

2-1. Inari-zushi

Inari-zushi is a rice ball seasoned with vinegar wrapped in a bag of fried bean curd simmered with soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar.

Una means Unagi, namely eel. Don is an abbreviation of a bowl in Japanese. Then Una-don is a cooked eel on hot rice. The tableware is lacquered and rectangular. It is very delicious because of the secret sweet sauce of the restaurant, mixed with sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. The mirin is a kind of cooking sake(wine). The dish is expensive, so we eat it on a particular day. However, it is a typical Japanese cuisine, so I recommend you to try to eat it one time when you stay in Japan. The restaurant serves the dish with clear soup of eel’s liver. We can buy cooked and frozen Unagi at a supermarket. Restaurant Price: 2,000-5,000 (Japanese eel), 1,000-3,000 (Chinese eel).

Ten is an abbreviation of Tenpura. Don means a bowl. Tendon is a bowl of hot rice topped with some tenpuras of vegetables, fish, and shellfish. The tenpura is a widespread home-cooking item in Japan. There are two styles of eating tenpura. One is a ten-don style. Another, is a style served tenpura and rice separately. When you come to a tenpura specialty restaurant, you have to pay 2,000 yen and more for the tendon per person. However, you can eat it for less than 1,000 yen if you come to a casual restaurant, like Tendon-Tenya.

Takoyaki is a flour-based snack in the shape of golf balls containing a piece of octopus. They cook it in a special molded pan(picture). Takoyaki originally comes from fairs, but now we can buy it in town. The price would be around 600 yen for six balls.

It comes from the Tokyo area. They make the soup with shoyu (soy sauce) and chicken.

Even though it is called salt ramen, it is not so salty and has a thin salty taste and is very tasty.

It comes from the Hokkaido island area(North of Japan). They make the broth with miso (fermented soybean paste made from soy sauce), pork, and chicken. Some people want to put a piece of butter and cooked corn. Those are specialty products of Hokkaido.

These days, however, they can be found all over the country, including in Tokyo.

They make the soup with salt, chicken, and fish. We can eat it at every ramen restaurant in Japan. Shio is a Japanese name for salt.

Even though it is called salt ramen, it is not so salty and has a thin salty taste and is very tasty.

Ton means a pig, kotsu is a bone. They make the soup from pig bone. It comes from Kyushu island(South west Japan). When you ate the noodle up, and the soup remains, you can ask for only the noodle. It is a unique system only for the Ton-kotsu ramen.

The typical toppings for the ramen are char-siu(pork stewed in soy sauce and sugar), memma(seasoned bumboo shorts), boiled egg, laver, long onion, and moyashi(bean sprout), corn, and butter.

In summer, a type of ramen called “Hiyashi Chuka,” which consists of chilled soup and noodles, becomes popular. Hiyashi Chuka comes in two flavors: soy sauce and sesame sauce. Both flavors contain a bit of vinegar to enhance the refreshing taste. It is very delicious.

It is a Japanese hodgepodge consisting of ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon, tofu(fermented bean curd), konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth.

It’s very delicious in the winter season with Japanese hot sake. You can eat it at Izakaya or Oden specialty restaurant in the evening.

You can buy them at a convenience store in the daytime at a low price on one item basis and take them out or eat them in the store. The price would be around 700 yen per dish.

For easy preparation at home, we can buy a set of ingredients and a soup for stewing from supermarkets.

Teriyaki is a dish using a mixed sauce of sugar and soy sauce. We use the sauce for chicken, fish, and other materials.

Misoni is a cuisine of mackerel simmered with miso and sugar. Miso is a fermented paste of soy sauce. It is so delicious to eat Teriyaki of something and Misoni of some fishes with hot steamed rice.

Those are Japanese favorites. You can eat them at a Japanese restaurant as a meal or nibbles when drinking at Izakaya. The price of a set menu, including a bowl of hot rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickles, would be around 1,000 yen.

It is a Japanese deep-fried chicken thigh, similar to KFC. The taste is different depending on home and restaurant.

You can try it at most Izakaya which is a Japanese-style casual restaurant and bar. You can enjoy all kinds of drinks and food there. The price is about 500-1,000 yen per dish with 5 or 6 pieces.

It is a ginger grilled pork. Buta means a slice of pork. Shoga is ginger. Yaki is a grilling.

We add flour to the pork and cook it with soy sauce and sugar.

You can eat it at a casual restaurant where students and young adults come at a lunch time. Japanese young people love to eat so much, especially for lunch. The price is about 1,000 yen with miso soup and pickles.

It is a classic Japanese stir fry noodles dish with pork and vegetables like cabbage, onion, carrot, sweet green pepper, and so on.

People season it with a sweet and savory sauce similar to oyster sauce. It is an ubiquitous meal among the Japanese.

The price would be 700-1,000 yen. You can eat it at a casual restaurant. You can also buy instant yakisoba at a supermarket or convenience store with a price ranging from 100 – 300 yen. You pour hot water into the instant yakisoba container and put the lid on. After three minutes, you can eat it.

Katsukare is a Japanese dish that has a pork cutlet, which is served with rice and curry.

Young Japanese love to eat it at lunch. The price would be around 1,000 yen.

It’s an omelet stuffed with rice. Sometimes there are also chicken and vegetables inside. We usually put ketchup on it. It’s popular with kids. The price would be around 1,000 yen.

It is a rice cake made from glutinous rice with a sticky consistency. Making mochi used to be a good family program. The family’s parents pound the steamed rice in a mortar and make it flat round cakes(radius about 50 cm) or flat square sheets(about 49x60cm). The thickness is about 15mm. Nowadays, the young family uses an electric machine for steaming and pounding. Just after pounding, my younger sisters loved to eat it with a mixed powder of sugar and yellowish soybean powder or sweet soybean paste. The size is about like an egg.

We also make a Zoni with the mochi. We eat it during the New Year holidays. It is a special soup with rice cake, chicken, or fish-paste cake slices and vegetables, topped with trefoil leaves and citron peel for flavor. Shiruko is another dish. It is a sweet bean-paste soup with a piece of mochi or rice-flour dumplings. You can eat it at a traditional Japanese sweet restaurant. Yakimochi is simple cooking. We cut the mochi into a small size, about business name card. We can store it for approximately a month at room temperature. People bake it and dipped in soy sauce and eat it wrapped with a laver.

Daifuku is a traditional Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with a sweet filling, most commonly anko (sweetened red bean paste). The outer layer is soft and chewy, while the filling provides a contrasting texture and flavor. There are also variations with different fillings such as fruit, custard, or chocolate.The price of one Daifuku is about 100 – 500 yen.

A yakiniku is a Japanese term that literally means “grilled meat.” It refers to a popular style of cooking and eating meat, typically beef, pork and chiken that is sliced into small pieces and grilled at the table. The concept is similar to Korean BBQ, but with its own unique Japanese twist.

Japanese people love yakiniku, and it can even be considered a national dish. During lunchtime, you can have a satisfying meal for around 1,000 yen per person.

The yakiniku is not just about the food; it’s also a social experience. It’s common for friends and family to gather around the grill, enjoying the cooking process together. It’s a leisurely meal that encourages conversation and bonding.

The raw meat is brought to the table and cooked by the diners themselves. This interactive experience allows people to cook their meat to their preferred level of doneness.

After grilling, the meat is often dipped in various sauces. The most common is a soy-based sauce called tare, which is sweet and savory. There might also be other sauces like garlic or sesame.

The grilled meat is usually shared among everyone at the table. Since you cook the meat yourself, you can take your time and enjoy the meal at a relaxed pace.

The Japanese are skilled at modifying and improving things in their own unique way. The Japanese hamburg steak introduced here is an example of this, originally derived from the American hamburger patty, but enhanced with various ingredients and flavors. It is often served as a set menu with white rice and soup.

You can enjoy this dish in any type of restaurant, from casual eateries to high-end establishments.

I used to think this dish originated from abroad. However, after guiding many foreign tourists, I realized that this dish doesn’t exist in other countries. Even if it does, it’s not as juicy, tender, and delicious as the Japanese hamburg steak. Foreign tourists visiting Japan are often pleasantly surprised by how tasty it is.

When you visit Japan, this is a dish you should definitely try. In a casual restaurant, it would typically cost between 800 and 1,500 yen per serving. The Japanese pronunciation is “hambergu.”

Known for its gyudon (beef bowl), Sukiya offers a variety of rice bowls, curry, and other dishes. There are 1,941 locations nationwide.

Famous for its gyudon, Yoshinoya also serves a variety of Japanese-style rice bowls and set meals.

The taste of Yoshinoya’s beef bowls is very similar to that of sukiyaki. The taste of beef bowls from other chains is almost identical.

There are 1,197 locations nationwide.

 

Matsuya offers a wide range of Japanese dishes, including gyudon, curry, and set meals with miso soup.There are 1,003 locations nationwide. 

The Coco Ichibanya specializes in Japanese curry rice with a variety of toppings and spice levels to choose from.

These restaurants are popular among locals and tourists alike for their quick service and affordable prices.There are 1,200 locations nationwide. 

Syabuyo is a specialty shabu-shabu restaurant where you can enjoy all-you-can-eat delicious meat and fresh vegetables. You can enjoy unlimited servings within a time limit. The meat selection includes beef, pork, and chicken, with various cuts available for each type of meat.

You can freely choose your own broth, sauces, and condiments for the meat.

You can also select fresh vegetables for your salad. Additionally, there is a wide range of side dishes, drinks, and sushi.

The desserts you can make yourself are also popular.

Prices vary depending on whether it is a weekday lunch, weekday dinner, weekend lunch, or weekend dinner. The prices also vary based on the type of meat you choose, ranging from approximately 1,600 yen to 5,000 yen. Weekday lunch prices are the most affordable.

There are 280 locations nationwide. Deatails are here.

We can call it a Treasure Trove of Traditional Japanese Dishes.

Japanese supermarkets offer a wide variety of traditional dishes and ingredients, making it easy to enjoy Japanese cuisine at home. Some popular items include.

Japanese supermarkets are a great place to discover new dishes and ingredients, and they often have a wide range of products to suit different tastes and dietary preferences.