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Reading Japanese Menus: Kanji and Phrases for Ordering Food

By JAPN Published

Reading Japanese Menus: Kanji and Phrases for Ordering Food

Essential Food Kanji

The kanji most useful for restaurant navigation: niku (meat), gyu (beef), buta (pork), tori (chicken), sakana (fish), tamago (egg), yasai (vegetables), gohan (rice), men (noodles), miso, shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), teishoku (set meal), oomori (large serving), and nomihodai (all you can drink). Recognizing these 15 to 20 characters transforms menu reading from guesswork to informed ordering.

Set meal terminology: teishoku (set with rice, soup, and sides), don or donburi (rice bowl), soba/udon (noodle type), ramen, curry. Size options: shou (small), chuu (medium), dai (large), tokudai (extra large). Common preparation words: yaki (grilled), age (fried), nama (raw), ni (simmered), mushi (steamed). The phrase osusume wa nan desu ka (what do you recommend) and kore wa nan desu ka (what is this) while pointing handle situations where reading fails.

Using Picture Menus

Most tourist-area restaurants provide picture menus or plastic food displays in windows. Ticket machine restaurants display buttons with pictures and Japanese text. Pointing and saying kore kudasai (this please) works universally. Chain restaurants increasingly offer tablet ordering with English translation options. Google Translate camera mode reads menus through your phone camera, though translations can be approximate.

Essential Menu Kanji

Learning 30 to 40 food-related kanji and katakana words unlocks most Japanese menus. Essential kanji include: meat related (niku = meat, gyu = beef, buta = pork, tori = chicken); seafood (sakana = fish, ebi = shrimp, ika = squid); preparation methods (yaki = grilled, age = fried, ni = simmered, nama = raw); size and quantity (dai = large, shou = small, nami = regular). Katakana menu items include: sarada (salad), suupu (soup), seteeki (steak), piza (pizza), pasutera (pasta), koohii (coffee), juusu (juice), biiru (beer). Set meals (teishoku) typically include a main dish, rice, miso soup, and pickles, while single items (ippin) are ordered individually. Many restaurants display plastic food models (shokuhin sanpuru) in front windows that provide visual ordering without reading, and pointing at the model while saying “kore kudasai” (this please) is a completely normal ordering method in Japan.

The words teishoku (set meal), don (rice bowl), men (noodles), and nomi-houdai (all-you-can-drink) on a menu indicate the format before specific dishes. Price indicators: komi (tax included) versus betsu (tax separate). Size markers: S, M, L (using English letters) or shou (small), chuu (medium), dai (large). Seasonal menus use the word kisetsu-gentei (seasonal limited) to flag items available only during the current period. Photo menus and plastic food displays in windows eliminate reading requirements entirely at many restaurants.

Izakaya and Specialty Restaurant Menus

Izakaya menus expand beyond basic food categories into regional specialties and cooking methods. Sunomono (vinegared dishes) include tako-su (octopus in vinegar) and namasu (shredded daikon and carrot in sweet vinegar). Nimono (simmered dishes) include nikujaga (meat and potato stew) and buri-daikon (simmered yellowtail with daikon radish). Agemono (fried dishes) encompass everything from karaage (fried chicken) to korokke (croquettes) to ebi-furai (breaded fried shrimp). Mushimono (steamed dishes) include chawanmushi (savory egg custard with shrimp, ginkgo nuts, and mushroom).

Drink sections list nama-biiru (draft beer), chuhai (shochu highball with various fruit flavors, ordered as remon-shai for lemon, gurepu-shai for grapefruit), nihonshu (sake, often listed by brand name and temperature preference: reishu for cold, atsukan for hot), shochu (distilled spirit from sweet potato, barley, or rice), and hai-booru (whisky highball). The phrase nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) at 1,500 to 2,500 yen for 90 to 120 minutes is common at chain izakaya and includes most beer, chuhai, and basic cocktails.

This content is for informational purposes only and reflects independent research. Details may change — verify current information before making travel plans.