Japanese Fast Food: Popular Options and What to Expect

The majority of the Japanese population does not eat lunch at home and ends up resorting to restaurants or lunch boxes called obento. In this article we are going to talk about the main demand of the Japanese, the restaurants Fast Food.

There are thousands of them in Japan, many of these restaurants and eateries are part of large chains. We can say that Japan is the world of fast food, competing with the US and India.

Fast food in Japan

Those who want fast food in Japan can resort to several options in addition to the traditional restaurants of fast food or hamburger bars like the popular ones in Brazil Mcdonalds and Metro.

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 passes 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.

Fast food in Japan - what are they like? What are the most popular ones?

How is fast food in Japan?

Ever wondered what fast food restaurants in Japan are like? Many restaurants and eateries fast food in Japan they use several ways 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 like the traditional onigiri, some also resort to a karaage, oden or 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.

Traditional international fast food is very successful in Japan. The ones that stand out most are the Mc Donald's, 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.

Fast food in Japan - what are they like? What are the most popular ones?

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 Gyudondish consisting of rice mixed with diced meat and onions, although it may seem simple, it's delicious... I don't know how these Japanese people do it. This is the most popular and also the world's first fast food, founded in 1899. Best of all is the super cheap price!

Matsuya – Another very popular network with over 1000 locations. A fierce competitor to yoshinoya, it offers other options like curry. It is not as popular with foreigners as it lacks English instructions and signage.

Fast food in Japan - what are they like? What are the most popular ones?

Sukiya – Another strong competitor to Yoshinoya with great gyudon bowls and over 2000 restaurants in Japan. The menu also includes other tasty options and you can't miss miso soup. Like most fast food outlets, this one is open 24 hours a day. There are Sukiya networks in Brazil and other countries.

CoCo Ichiban – A large chain of curry and rice restaurants. Fast and with several options to spice up your curry like natto, tonkatsu, chicken, etc.

Tenya – A chain of tempura rice restaurants popular in Tokyo.

Ichiran – Famous chain for the traditional ramen. To buy you don't even need to talk to anyone. Just go to the machine, pay there and enter with ticket. Even if your noodles run out, as long as you have soup, just ask them to refill your bowl.

Fast food in Japan - what are they like? What are the most popular ones?

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Japanese fast food snacks

Freshness Burger – As the name says, they offer hamburgers from small to giant ones, as well as coffee and vegetarian items. He is also famous for a number of exotic sauces.

MOS Burger – A local variation of the famous McDonald's, with juicy and tasty hamburgers. MOS Burger is a Japanese franchise and was founded in 1972 in Tokyo.

lottery – It was founded in Japan in 1972 and expanded to South Korea in 1979. It serves burgers with unique flavors with teriyaki or shrimp.

Jeff – A chain of restaurants on the island of Okinawa, its popular dishes are based on goya, a type of bitter melon.

Fast food in Japan - what are they like? What are the most popular ones?

Pizza-La – One of the biggest and most successful pizza chain in Japan. There are several options with unique ingredients and different from what we are used to, in addition to the traditional ones.

First Kitchen – Popular restaurant in Tokyo famous for selling hamburgers, pizza, noodles 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;
  • Sun Sun;
  • Gyoza no Ohsho;
  • Hotto Motto;
  • Ichibanya;
  • Matsuya Foods
  • Mr 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.

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