'Cheap' Japanese food?

[Qayin]

In the other hand, is it cheap to buy from the basement of the department store (like basement of Odakyu in Shinjuku), I mean department store's supermarket (I'm not sure that I'm correct, but you know what I mean right?)

[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Originally Posted by Qayin

In the other hand, is it cheap to buy from the basement of the department store (like basement of Odakyu in Shinjuku), I mean department store's supermarket (I'm not sure that I'm correct, but you know what I mean right?)

Lol, yeah I can kinda see what you mean, that department stores have sections dedicated to スーパー, Okay, I'll look for that too! Thanks! All these are very helpful!

[steven]

One last thing... I think I mentioned it before, but just in case I didn't...

Udon, soba, yakisoba, and tofu can be had for riduculously cheap prices. If I get certain local brands, I can get pretty much any of those for under 30円 for a package. One package should be just about enough for a meal (in Tofu's case, you could put one pack into miso soup for about half a week if you're the only one eating it).

It gets extremely dull eating zaru soba (or cold soba) every day in the summer, but you can use it to balance things out. If you have zaru soba (or udon) twice a week or three times a week, you can kind of justify spending a little extra on a couple of meals a week in my opinion.

I'm just starting to realize this myself-- but if you are careful you can have good complete meals day after day inexpensively. It's a bit of a hastle, but if you make more things, you only have to make small amounts of each thus lowering the cost. So you can make a potato/macaroni salad that lasts a week by using it as a small side dish every night. You can get a head of cabbage and shred it up and kind of "garnish" your dishes with it (you can eat it with Sushi-no-su, squeezed lemon, mayonaise, or even dry if you use it as a bed for meat). Or you can buy a package of tofu to eat it as is (with a little soy sauce on top). You can do the same thing with things like Buta-kimuchi (pork and kimuchi)... if you change the main dish and swap out some of the side dishes you can have quite a variety of food for a small cost. It just takes a little more time... mostly spent on planning out your meals.

And for people living long term in Japan-- if you live in the countryside, you might find friends who happen to be in families that make certain food (like tofu or rice and stuff like that) and you might be able to get some for free or for a cheap price (provided they are close friends).

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by steven

On the topic of nutrition, I was always under the impression that microwave food wasn't nutritious

You come to Japan?
Don’t worry!!
You will be able to nutritious bentoh here.
Do you know what bentoh is?
お弁当メニュー: ほっかほっか亭
There are many bentoh shops. And most supermarkets and convenient stores sell bentoh.
In supermarkets, you would be able to buy bentoh without saying a word.

If you want to drink out, I really recommend Watami（和民）.

http://interco.mobi/watami_book/wtm_gu/east/index.html

[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

You come to Japan?
Don’t worry!!
You will be able to nutritious bentoh here.
Do you know what bentoh is?
お弁当メニュー: ほっかほっか亭
There are many bentoh shops. And most supermarkets and convenient stores sell bentoh.
In supermarkets, you would be able to buy bentoh without saying a word.

If you want to drink out, I really recommend Watami（和民）.

http://interco.mobi/watami_book/wtm_gu/east/index.html

Hey Yuri! Thanks for replying! Yeah, I know was obento is, but I didn't know it was microwaved, maybe I'm being ignorant here, but I always thought it was freshly cooked >_< But yeah, the link looks delicious! And the drinks, even though the words all look like gibberish to me, they look SO good! But, I won't have much money to spend on drinks...I can hardly afford two meals a day, lol! ^_^ Hopefully I can save up some more money before I go~

[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Originally Posted by steven

I'm just starting to realize this myself-- but if you are careful you can have good complete meals day after day inexpensively. It's a bit of a hastle, but if you make more things, you only have to make small amounts of each thus lowering the cost. So you can make a potato/macaroni salad that lasts a week by using it as a small side dish every night. You can get a head of cabbage and shred it up and kind of "garnish" your dishes with it (you can eat it with Sushi-no-su, squeezed lemon, mayonaise, or even dry if you use it as a bed for meat). Or you can buy a package of tofu to eat it as is (with a little soy sauce on top). You can do the same thing with things like Buta-kimuchi (pork and kimuchi)... if you change the main dish and swap out some of the side dishes you can have quite a variety of food for a small cost. It just takes a little more time... mostly spent on planning out your meals.

And for people living long term in Japan-- if you live in the countryside, you might find friends who happen to be in families that make certain food (like tofu or rice and stuff like that) and you might be able to get some for free or for a cheap price (provided they are close friends).

Interesting, kinda do a tapas thing by eating small portions of a larger dish, and saving money that way...I don't know if a refrigerator will be available at the hostels, but I can double-check.

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping to do, if I make friends, I can hopefully have a few free meals >_< not that I want to bum off people!

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by MuRaSaKiiNkI

Hey Yuri! Thanks for replying! Yeah, I know was obento is, but I didn't know it was microwaved, maybe I'm being ignorant here, but I always thought it was freshly cooked >_< But yeah, the link looks delicious! And the drinks, even though the words all look like gibberish to me, they look SO good! But, I won't have much money to spend on drinks...I can hardly afford two meals a day, lol! ^_^ Hopefully I can save up some more money before I go~

Hi, MuRaSaKiiNkI!
When will you come to Japan??

You will eat two meals a day?? Really!?

The link is of shops called “Hokkahoka tei”. Hokkahoka means the food is hot or warm. When you buy bentoh at Hokkahoka tei, you need to wait while they cook your bentoh. They start cooking when you order.
So, you always get hot food.
The cheapest “Nori ben” costs only 330yen. I think you can eat three meals a day.
“Nori ben” has fried fish, chikuwa,nori and a little vegetables.
Nori is really good for your health. It‘s food high in folic acid as you know!

Chikuwa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



There are many simillar bentoh shops.
http://www.honkekamadoya.co.jp/menu/menu.html#basic

[Dayanx]

I can't remember how often a pack or two of ramen or rice and a bit of ingenuity can result in tasty-contented-oneness.
I'm not talking Niea_7's peapod sushi, just a quick pan fried noodle or fried rice with whatever you have, including canned veggies and SPAM. You can fill two people to the bursting point with what it would cost for a fast food run.

[steven]

Originally Posted by MuRaSaKiiNkI

Hey Yuri! Thanks for replying! Yeah, I know was obento is, but I didn't know it was microwaved, maybe I'm being ignorant here, but I always thought it was freshly cooked >_< But yeah, the link looks delicious! And the drinks, even though the words all look like gibberish to me, they look SO good! But, I won't have much money to spend on drinks...I can hardly afford two meals a day, lol! ^_^ Hopefully I can save up some more money before I go~

Just for some clarification-- bento's are not traditionally microwaved. As far as my understanding goes, bentos were around far before microwaves. I can't say "usually" in terms of everyone, but usually when I eat bentos they are freshly made (when my wife or I make them). I'd bet that some people make their bentos fresh the night before they eat them and microwave them before eating. As far as "bento-shops" go, I think that they make their bentos fresh as well (i'd hope so anyways!). If you go to a conbini (convenience store), their bentos will be in the refridgerated section. They'll ask if you want it hot or not. If you answer yes, they'll throw it in their microwave for you.

To be honest, I don't even own a microwave anymore. I've heard lots of things about microwaves being unhealthy etc etc. I've also read that somethings are HEALTHIER when microwaved... All I know is that microwaves are kinda big so I don't want one in my apartment. I also don't like the way things taste microwaved. They do have certain tupperware that you can use in microwaves or ovens now though-- they're really interesting. (they're made out of a rubbery-like material). They look kind of flimsy though so I don't know about using them as a bento-box. Has anyone tried this?

However, if you're gonna be living in and moving through hostiles, it just be easier to eat at places like Yuri was talking about.

"If you want to drink out, I really recommend Watami（和民）."
I've never heard of that... It looks like a chain-izakaya. I'm kind of a non-chain snob to be honest. The non-chain places around here are WAY better than the chain places. I think one of the reasons is because the local places use a lot of the food from the area making it a bit fresher. It costs a little more but there's quite a quality-gap. Not only that, local places will do more custom-orders for you. I'm proud to say that I've had something I've special ordered put onto the menu of one of the places I go to-- not only that, but it has a picture and everything!

But yea, MuRaSaKiiNkI... if you're gonna be travelling it'd be hard to find local places to eat (and sometimes they can be hit or miss, or really expensive) so chains are the safest bet in those situations.