'Cheap' Japanese food?

[WingsToDiscovery]

Japan can be cheap as hell for eating. Just eat what the Japanese eat and you'll be fine. If you want to go out, there are places like Yoshinoya where you can get beef bowls for like 250 en. Granted, don't be expecting even 3 star dining, but it's completely doable to eat cheaply here.

[IonFortuna]

If I am ever able to go to Japan I know I'm gonna eat like the Japanese!!

Right now I usually eat ramen for lunch every day, I'm sure the ramen in Japan is better

[steven]

I wouldn't think that eating ramen every day is a good thing... maybe once a week. It has a lot of salt and often times a lot of fat/oil in it.

After being in Japan for a while I thought there was no such thing as bad ramen. That is until two weeks ago-- I had the worst ramen of my life (it was at a chain place). Then a week later I got ramen at a matsuri and that was some pretty rank ramen.

Having travelled around a lot of Japan I can safely say my town has some of the best ramen in the country. There was one ramen that I had in Tokyo, though... it was like yakiramen or something (but it had soup and stuff like that). I had taken a night bus there and had literally 12+ hours to kill, so I just walked around for a while and took a bunch of trains trying to get lost. During that time I found some of the best ramen I'd ever had! If I can find that place again I'd be quite grateful.

As much as I say Ramen is unhealthy, it has become my Japanese version of a cheeseburger. It's very nice to have ramen every now and then. It's quite filling and leaves you really satisfied (if you get the good stuff). There are many different kinds of ramen-- I discovered 冷やし中華 while in Japan... and I also figured out how to faithfully make it myself. It's quite good and I'd imagine it to be much healthier than regular ramen. It is also one of the easiest things to go out and eat alone in Japan. Making good ramen is an art-- if you've ever tried you probably know what I mean. With all the good ramen places in Japan though you'd think it was easy to make.

[IonFortuna]

Where I live at in America I can only get ramen from grocery stores, and there are no Japanese grocery stores anywhere near where I live, I would like to visit one

[steven]

I don't really eat cup ramen-- I know Japan has like a billion different cup ramens. I think the ones in America are quite different usually. I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you ever have the real deal in Japan!!!

The basic types are:
"ramen"
Miso (red and white types)
Shoyu (soy sauce)
Black Ramen
Tonkotsu Ramen
Seabura (pig's back fat?) ramen

You can get other types with special toppings and stuff like that too, like different styles of eggs.

Side dishes that will often come with it are: Gyoza, Kara age (fried chicken), chahan (fried rice).

It is something that a lot of people like to eat after a night out drinking! I don't recommend eating it when you're hung over the next day though .

[Qayin]

I think 1000円　is enough for "normal & casual" meal such as burger set (Mc quality), ramen (except the more expensive like shellfish ramen), Gyudon (I think 600-700円 is enough) and many cheap yoshoku (western style Japanese food like napolitan pasta).

[RickOShay]

Originally Posted by MuRaSaKiiNkI

I'm planning on traveling abroad to Japan to study Japanese, but I hear food is so expensive there, and I'm worried (I only have $2,000 and my friend who went last semester went with $5,000~I'm not rich!). I love trying new food, but due to my poor man's budget, I don't think I'll be able to afford many things beyond ramen, 助けってください！

P.S. I'm looking for a meal from 500円-1,000円

As long as you are not a pig, you could swing every single meal for 500 yen or less. Just go to the right places, or as others have said, get yourself in a situation where you can cook for yourself.

[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Originally Posted by steven

That's true! I didn't think of that... I've also seen some apartments with a "kitchen" in the entry hall way... which is something I wouldn't call a kitchen. That'd be a nice place to make tea for people when they come over, but I couldn't imagine cooking a meal in one of those.

To be honest, I'd pay an extra 1万-2万　a month for a place with a kitchen, as it would probably cost more than that to eat out every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If you're stuck with a certain apartment or マンション though, then I guess you just have to bite the bullet.

So OP, as Sashimister has pointed out, whether or not you have a usable kitchen will make a difference in your eating habbits.

I hope that you get a kitchen!

Yeah, I'm backpacking, so I'll be in hostels--most have kitchens... but like I said, I'm not the best cook...

[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Originally Posted by cranks

Cooking is definitely the best option but it's kind of hard especially when you live alone... I like cooking but lately I mostly buy frozen microwave dinner kind of things. It's just cheaper and more nutritious.

uwah~I don't want to eat frozen meals like in America, I'm looking for something more...home-cooked and fresh! It's not everyday you get to go to Japan, are the microwave meals better than American ones??

[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Originally Posted by steven

I don't really eat cup ramen-- I know Japan has like a billion different cup ramens. I think the ones in America are quite different usually. I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you ever have the real deal in Japan!!!

The basic types are:
"ramen"
Miso (red and white types)
Shoyu (soy sauce)
Black Ramen
Tonkotsu Ramen
Seabura (pig's back fat?) ramen

You can get other types with special toppings and stuff like that too, like different styles of eggs.

Side dishes that will often come with it are: Gyoza, Kara age (fried chicken), chahan (fried rice).

It is something that a lot of people like to eat after a night out drinking! I don't recommend eating it when you're hung over the next day though .

Yah, I don't like eating too much ramen either... which is why I was looking for suggestions to alternatives... I know fast food isn't nutritious, even in Japan, but I gotta eat something without spending all my money on the first four days in Tokyo!