Popular rice restaurants in Japan are the top choice of not only tourists but also international students or busy company employees. These popular rice restaurants have become so popular because the food here is quite delicious and the price is very cheap compared to other stores. Furthermore, the food at these popular restaurants in Japan is also easy to eat and suitable for most foreigners. Food is served within a short time from when you order, thus saving you a lot of time. Let's find out 4 chain stores that sell the best popular rice in Japan.
Yoshinoya
Yoshinoya started selling popular rice in 1899 and is the oldest popular rice restaurant chain in Japan.
The store's main dish is Gyudon, a dish consisting of white rice on the bottom and Japanese-style beef stir-fried with onions on top.
In addition to the dish, there are many other options such as crispy fried chicken rice (karaage), eel rice, curry rice, fried fish rice, etc.
You can order any single dish (tanbin) or order a set of many dishes (teishoku). If you order a set, you will save more than ordering a single dish.
At Yoshinoya there are 4 meal sizes you can choose from: small（小盛）, normal（並盛）, large（大盛）, and super large（特盛 ）.
The restaurant also serves breakfast sets from 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at very cheap prices, only from 70,000 VND on average for a basic meal.
Depending on the season, the menu will add some dishes. For example, in winter, there will be an additional hot pot dish (sukiyaki) for one person.
In particular, Yoshinoya allows you to order meals in advance using the phone application or call directly between 10:00 ~ 20:00 and come pick up between 10:00 ~ 21:00. Waiting time is zero and being able to order just one meal is no problem.
Sukiya
A popular rice restaurant chain that is equally famous as Yoshinoya is Sukiya. This is a chain of stores with a history since 1982 that serves the main dish Gyudon.
Regarding the Gyudon menu, Sukiya's is more diverse and in my personal opinion, Sukiya's Gyudon is much better than Yoshinoya's.
On top of a regular Gyudon, there will be kimchi, cheese, grated radish, green onions and raw egg yolks... etc. depending on the meal you choose.
You can choose from 6 different meal sizes including: S, M, M-extra, L, XL and MEGA depending on your needs.
Depending on the type of Gyudon and size, the price of a Gyudon meal also changes. In addition to Gyudon, Sukiya also serves curry rice, seafood rice, and desserts.
At Sukiya you can also order single dishes (tanbin) or in sets (teishoku). In addition, the restaurant also serves breakfast from 5 am to 11 pm.
If you have small children, you can absolutely order a meal specifically for them with just enough and very cute portions.
Sukiya also allows you to pre-order takeout between 9:00 and 20:00 and the time to pick up the ordered food is one hour after placing the order.
Matsuya
Matsuya is a popular rice restaurant chain in Japan founded in 1980. Although not as famous and popular as Yoshinoya or Sukiya, this is also the choice of many Japanese as well as foreigners when coming to Japan.
The main dish at Sukiya is still Gyudon like Yoshinoya or Sukiya. The food at Matsuya is also very diverse as you can order dishes such as curry rice, hot pot for one person, tofu soup with kimchi, udon noodles..etc.
Like Yoshinoya and Sukiya, Matsuya also serves breakfast from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Food can also be ordered in sets (teishoku) or single dishes (tanbin).
There are only 4 options for meal size: small（ミニ盛）, normal（並盛）, large（大盛）and super large（特盛）.
The children's meals at Matsuya are small and cute, you can order them to try when you come here.
Matsuya also allows you to pre-order takeout food if you request.
Nakau
This is also one of the four popular rice restaurants in Japan that are loved by many people. The food at Nakau is different from the three popular rice restaurant systems above.
Instead of Gyudon like the above three restaurant systems, the main dish at Nakau is Donburi. Donburi refers to dishes in a large bowl with white rice on the bottom and food covered on top.
The most famous dish in Nakau is Oyakodon, which translated into Vietnamese means chicken mother rice. This name comes from the ingredients that make this dish. Oyakodon is made from chicken with eggs and sauce. It's delicious when poured over rice.
In addition, the popular Nakau restaurant system is also very famous for its udon noodles and curry rice. You can also enjoy breakfast here at a very cheap price but with extremely good quality.
At Nakau, instead of calling the staff to come and order food as usual, you have to buy food vouchers first at the vending machine next to the entrance of the restaurant. After that, a staff member will come to get the food voucher and then bring your food. called after a short time.
If you are busy and want to take home to eat, you can order a take-home meal so the staff can wrap it up for you.
Conclude
In Japan, there are many restaurants and you are free to choose, but above are 4 popular restaurant systems in Japan that you should try if you have the opportunity to travel to Japan.
Each restaurant has its own characteristics with different dishes. Please combine the article content with the menu in the attached link to choose the most suitable restaurant for you.
There are two ways to find the closest popular restaurant in Japan to your location: search on Google Map or go directly to the homepage of the system you choose and search for the nearest restaurant.
Wishing you delicious and nutritious meals that are cheap and save money while traveling or living in Japan.