Today we did some searching on Google Maps (good luck, it’s in Japanese, I don’t know what’s going on there). Within walking distance of where I live there are approximately 1056 Izakayas (most offer ‘all you can drink’ specials) and 470 Ramen Shops (the food of awesomeness). Pretty crazy! I heard that an Izakaya is a great place to relax and practice speaking Japanese with people. I plan on doing that some day… when I can speak more than 10 words. Nice!

Estimated expenses:
At the Izakaya you’ll spend about 3,000 Yen for food + all you can drink. Some place have specials such as all you can drink for 2 hours for 1,500 Yen per person if you’re with a group.
At the ramen shop you can eat for 400-650 yen. You can get noodle refills in Fukuoka (just say “kae dama kudasai”) for 50-150 yen.

An izakaya is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. The food is usually more substantial than those offered in other types of drinking establishments in Japan such as bars or snacks. They are popular, casual and relatively cheap places for after-work drinking.

Ramen is a Japanese dish of noodles served in broth that originated in China. It tends to be served in a meat-based broth, and uses toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweed, kamaboko, green onions, and even corn. Almost every locality or prefecture in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu ramen of Kyushu to the miso ramen of Hokkaido.

Photo credits: izakaya-all-you-can-drink.jpg by w00kie http://flickr.com/photos/w00kie/1062155634/

This entry was posted on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 9:04 pm and is filed under Food, Life in Japan, More in Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.