Most of the Japanese population does not have lunch at home and ends up relying on restaurants or lunch boxes called obento. In this article, we will talk about the main choice of the Japanese people, Fast Food restaurants.
There are thousands of them in Japan, many of these restaurants and snack bars are part of large chains. We can say that Japan is the world of fast food, competing with the USA and India.
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Fast food in Japan
Those who want fast food in Japan can turn to various options beyond the traditional fast food restaurants or hamburger ts like the popular ones in Brazil Mcdonalds and Subway.
As lunch hours are limited and the number of Japanese people having lunch on the street is huge, many restaurants tend to be fast, even those that serve common foods such as rice, soba and ramen.
You can also go to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and simply go out and grab the sushi that es quickly on the conveyor belt without worrying about preparation or ordering.
Another alternative is to go to a convenience store (konbini) and buy a lunch box or whatever. The fact is, fast food options abound in Japan.
How is fast food in Japan?
Have you ever wondered what fast food restaurants in Japan are like? Many restaurants and fast food ts in Japan use various methods to speed up and not waste the customer's time.
Others have a vending machine at the entrance where the person already pays and takes his ticket for the dish he wants, delivers it to the cook, and some already receive the food within seconds of ordering.
Other restaurants, such as soba, allow the customer to choose what to put on the plate and which side dishes they want. Some even have the customer prepare the dish themselves.
The fast food market in Japan moves more than 5,000 billion yen per year. The most popular are fast food from convenience stores such as obento.
In addition to lunchboxes, some foods are considered fast food such as the traditional nikuman.
The interesting thing about restaurants and fast food in Japan is the huge amount of options on the menu, totally different from what we are used to. There are several different ingredients, sauces, seasonings and flavors, seasonal, giant or bizarre.
International fast food chains are very popular in Japan. The most prominent are McDonald, KFC, Burger King, Subway among others.
Best of all, they're cheap and often cost less than half an hour's work. I would like to say the same about Brazil, but here we pay almost a day's work to eat at places like McDonald's.
The best Fast Foods in Japan
Now let's see a list of the best and most famous Japanese fast food in Japan:
Yoshinoya - A famous Japanese fast food chain where the main dish is the famous world's first fast food, founded in 1899. The best part is the super cheap price!
Matsuya - Another very popular chain with over 1000 locations. A fierce competitor of yoshinoya, it offers other options like curry. It is not as popular among foreigners because it does not have instructions and signage in English.
Sukiya - Another strong competitor of Yoshinoya with excellent gyudon bowls and over 2000 restaurants in Japan. The menu also includes other tasty options and a miso soup is a must. Like most fast food, this one is open 24 hours a day. There are Sukiya chains in Brazil and other countries.
CoCo Ichiban - A large chain of curry and rice restaurants. Fast and with various options to enhance your curry such as natto, tonkatsu, chicken, etc.
Tenya - A chain of tempura rice restaurants popular in Tokyo.
Ichiran - A famous network known for its traditional ramen. To buy, you don’t even need to talk to anyone. Just go to the machine, pay there, and enter your ticket. Even if your noodles run out, as long as you have soup, just ask, and they can refill your bowl for you.
Japanese fast food snacks
Freshness Burger - As the name suggests, they offer burgers ranging from small to giant, as well as coffee and vegetarian items. It is also famous for a variety of exotic sauces.
MOS Burger - A local variation of the famous McDonald's, with juicy and tasty burgers. MOS Burger is a Japanese franchise and was founded in 1972 in Tokyo.
Lotteria - It was founded in Japan in 1972 and expanded to South Korea in 1979. It serves hamburgers with unique flavors like teriyaki or shrimp.
Jef - A chain of restaurants from the island of Okinawa, its popular dishes are based on goya, a type of bitter melon.
Pizza-La - One of the largest and most successful pizza chains in Japan. There are various options with unique ingredients different from what we are used to, in addition to the traditional ones.
First Kitchen - Popular restaurant in Tokyo famous for selling burgers, pizza, pasta, and fried chicken.
Other Fast Food from Japan - List
To end the article, we will leave a short list of other Fast Foods that deserve to be highlighted:
- Ajisen Ramen;
- Aoki's Pizza;
- Beard Papa's;
- Dipper Dan;
- Dom Dom;
- Gyoza no Ohsho;
- Hotto Motto;
- Ichibanya
- Matsuya Foods;
- Mister Donut;
- Pepper Lunch;
- Yogen Früz;
- Beard Papa's
Is that you? What do you think of Japanese fast food? We appreciate the comments and shares.
