Specialized Japanese restaurants

Although hotel restaurants and other food places serve many kinds of dishes, be it Japanese of foreign cuisine, many restaurants in Japan specialize in just one type of food.

• Sushi-ya
as the name suggests, Sushi-ya are restaurants which specialize in sushi. Usually, a customer can sit at a normal table, but it is also allowed to sit at the bar where the chef is working.

• Kaiten-zushi
Kaiten-zushi is a place where you can find more reasonably priced sushi. Here, sushi dishes are presented to the customers on a conveyor belt where they can freely pick the dishes that they like. If the food you want is not available on the conveyor belt, you can ask for it from the cook. The number of plates that you used will determine how much sushi you ate. There are usually different colors or patterns that correspond to a certain price.

• Soba-ya
You can find the best soba and udon noodle dishes here. Noodle dishes are served either cooled with a dipping sauce or hot in a soup with different toppings. There are seasons when some dishes are not available and times when certain dishes are more popular such as hiyashi (cold) noodles in summer and nabeyaki udon in winter.

• Ramen-ya
Ramen is Chinese-style noodles that is served with various toppings. Every Ramen-ya has a distinct flavor its ramen, which makes it popular to some people. Other Chinese dishes such as gyoza, is also available where ramen is sold.

• Kare-ya
Kare-ya are restaurants that is usually found inside or near a major railway station. They specialize in kareraisu or rice curry.

• Tonkatsu-ya
Tonkatsu-ya serve tonkatsu, deep fried breaded pork cutlets and other deep-friend dishes such as Korokke.

• Gyudon-ya
Gyudon-ya serve special gyudon or beef domburi.

• Okonomiyaki-ya
A more interactive restaurant, Okonomiyaki-ya serve okonomiyaki and sometimes monjayaki where customers usually prepare okonomiyaki by themselves on a hot plate which is built into the table.

• Yakitori-ya
A favorite among salary men, Yakitori-ya specializes in yakitori or grilled chicken skewers.

• Tempura-ya
Tempura-ya serve the best tempura dishes, such as tendon (tempura domburi) and assorted tempura.

• Unagi-ya
For the more adventurous type, Unagi-ya specializes in unagi (fresh water eel) dishes such as unajuu and unadon (unagi domburi).

• Sukiyaki-ya
Though more expensive, Sukiyaki-ya specialize in sukiyaki and shabu-shabu, dishes which are not easy to find.