Cheap Eats in Tokyo Categorised by Types of Japanese Food

There are many cheap eats in Tokyo, so I made a list of types of Japanese food with restaurants you can visit.

Table of Contents

Gyukatsu Motomura

One of Japanese dish you have eat visiting japan is Gyukatsu.

It is because you can easily find good sushi or tonkatsu or ramen in anywhere in the world. But it is not easy to find a good Gyukatsu especially with reasonable price.

So everytime I go to Tokyo I go to Gyukatsu Motomura.

It is a chain, so you can go to where ever you are closest to.

Because it is a chain, I thought there would be no line, but there still was at 4:00PM.

You can have an amazing meat at 1,300 Yen.

Soba House Konjiki-Hototogisu

Among all the ramen restaurants in Tokyo, there is only three ramen shop that got a Michelin star.

It is Soba House Konjiki-Hototogisu, Ginza Hachigou Nakiryu.

But Ginza Hachigou starts from 3,000 Yen and Nakiryu is not close to most of tourist attractions.

So I chose Soba House. It is also cheap eats in Tokyo even with a Michelin star.

It only cost 1,000 Yen.

How to Order at the Ramen Machine

One thing you should know is that the line is insane.

I went 30 minutes before opening and still got the second round seating.

You order at the machine.

Below is the machine and on the right is the English.

1, 2, 3 is ramen and 7, 8, 9 is side menu.

The most famous ramen is Shio Soba.

I ordered Shio Soba and extra egg.

Now you get the ticket and will have to give it to the waiter.

Udon Shin

Udon is an easy food you can get anywhere.

But not Udon Shin, because it is a fusion udon a.k.a. carbonara udon.

There are reasonable udon that starts from 900 Yen, but if you plan to go to Udon Shin, you have to get the Carbonara udon.

It is a bit more expensive than the other udon, but it is worth it.

Udon Shin Menu & How to Reduce Waiting Time

The menu is like this.

The Carbonara udon is on the first image (Num 15). It includes deep fried bacon, parmesan cheese, butter and pepper. It doesn’t say carbonara.

For me I accidently ordered num. 20 which I was confused with fried cheese as cheese.

Even though I didn’t get the carbonara udon, butter udon was also amazing.

Personally fried cheese was bit too much.

Waiting is insane. I went at 3:00PM and still had to wait 2 hours.

I think the best is to go before opening.

Harajuku Gyoza Lou

This is one of the best cheap eats in Tokyo.

They just sell gyoza.

6 gyozas would cost about 300 Yen. I ordered everything on the menu and almost blew up my stomach lol.

Omoide Yokocho

This is a street where all the Izakaya restaurants are at.

Apparently the Japanese government spent a lot of money to protect this street.

The food is cheap. The drinks are cheap. And it really gives the best Japanese vibe.

Golden Gai

It is similar to Omoide Yokocho but more focused on drinking.

There are many tourists and locals and great place to drink like Japanese.

I absolutely loved it here and went every night.

It is a very narrow alleyway so be prepared to be crowded.

Butagumi

I know Mai-Sen is the most famous Tonkasu restaurant, but I prefer Butagumi.

It is really good.

Rotating Sushi Oedo Shinjuku Nishiguchi Shop

Ok. since we are in Japan we do have to eat sushi. And what better ways to do it with conveyer belt.

After doing some research on Reddit, people say Genki Sushi is the most popular one.

And if you want fresh and cheap sushi, Tsukiji fish market is a great place (Although the market moved to different location now).

Zundou-ya

I know many people don’t like this ramen restaurant, but I do love it cause it is so greasy lol.

It is always a good place after you drink too much.

They open 24 hours on the weekends. There are many locations, so you can check it here.

Coco Ichibanya vs. Gogo Curry

Where do you go for Japanese curry.

Two of the most famous ones are Gogo Curry and Coco Ichibanya.

There are two types of people. People who like Gogo Curry or people who like Coco Ichibanya.

I prefer Coco Ichibanya cause you can make it super spicy.

Ichiran Ramen

I didn’t know but apparently Ichiran ramen shops are all closing down now.

But it was one of the most sensational ramen restaurant when they opened in NY (because you were not allowed to talk to loud).

They only have one person seats.

Below is how to order.

After you order, they give you ramen through the door.