How to read a Japanese menu

How a Japanese menu is laid out

The quickest way to learn how to read a Japanese menu is to know that most restaurants do one thing well, so the menu is short and organised around that one thing. A ramen shop lists broths, a tonkatsu shop lists cuts, and a sushi bar lists fish. Izakaya (居酒屋, pubs with food) are the exception: their menus run to pages, grouped by cooking method (grilled, fried, simmered) rather than starter and main.

What you'll usually see:

• Set meals first. 定食 teishoku is a main dish with rice, miso soup and pickles. Lunch sets (ランチ ranchi) are the best value of the day.
• Pictures and plastic models. Many casual places show photos, and the window display of plastic food (食品サンプル shokuhin sampuru) tells you what a dish looks like and costs before you go in.
• Ticket machines. At ramen, soba and curry shops you often buy a ticket (食券 shokken) from a machine by the door, then hand it to the cook. The top-left button is often the house speciality.
• Tablets and QR codes. Chains increasingly take orders on a table tablet, often with an English setting.
• Portion words. 並 nami (regular), 大盛り ōmori (large), and sometimes 特盛り tokumori (extra large). At many noodle and rice-bowl shops a large costs only a little more, sometimes nothing.
• Prices and tax. Prices shown must include consumption tax (税込 zeikomi). Some menus also print the pre-tax price (税抜 zeinuki). Takeaway (お持ち帰り o-mochikaeri) is taxed at a lower rate than eating in (店内 tennai), so the two prices can differ.
• Market price. 時価 jika means the price changes with the catch, common for sushi and seafood. Ask before you order.

Reading the script

Japanese uses three scripts at once, and each one tells you something. Kanji (Chinese characters) carry meaning: 牛 is beef wherever it appears. Hiragana (rounded characters) handle grammar and softer, everyday words, so えび and 海老 are both prawn (shrimp). Katakana (angular characters) spell foreign loanwords, so カレー is karē (curry) and ハンバーグ is hambāgu (a hamburger steak, no bun). Sounding out katakana often gets you to an English word.

Cooking methods

The cooking method is usually the last character of a dish name, so 鶏の唐揚げ is "chicken, fried" and 焼き魚 is "grilled fish".

Meat, seafood and key ingredients

These are the characters worth memorising, because they tell you what you're eating and what to avoid.

Allergy and diet watch-outs

Dashi is the hidden ingredient that catches most visitors: it is made from bonito flakes (鰹節), dried sardines (煮干し niboshi) or kelp (昆布 kombu), and it goes into miso soup, udon and soba broths, simmered dishes, chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し, savoury egg custard), rolled omelette (玉子焼き tamagoyaki) and many dipping sauces. A plate with no visible fish can still contain fish, which also means plain-looking vegetable dishes are often not vegetarian. Some broths add clams or dried shellfish, a molluscs risk.

Other ingredients to ask about:

• Soy sauce contains wheat. Standard Japanese shōyu is brewed from soybeans and wheat, so gluten turns up in glazes, marinades, dipping sauces and ramen tare. Barley miso (麦味噌 mugi miso) and wheat gluten pieces (麩 fu) in soups add more. Tamari (たまり) is made with little or no wheat, but most restaurants don't stock it. Soy is in almost everything.
• Buckwheat. Buckwheat is in soba noodles, and many soba shops boil udon in the same water. Some restaurants serve buckwheat tea (そば茶 sobacha) instead of green tea, so check what's in your cup.
• Batter and coatings. Tempura batter is wheat and often eggs. Fryers are usually shared, so tempura vegetables can pick up crustaceans from the prawns.
• Sesame. Sesame seeds, oil and sesame dressing (ごまだれ goma-dare) appear on salads, cold noodles, shabu-shabu and spinach goma-ae.
• Egg and dairy. Mayonnaise tops okonomiyaki and takoyaki. Japanese curry sauce is thickened with wheat flour and often contains milk, and cream croquettes contain both.
• Pork and alcohol. Ramen broths are often pork-based, gyōza are usually pork, and mirin and sake go into sauces and simmered dishes. That matters for halal diners.

Japan's allergen labelling law covers packaged food, not restaurant dishes. Big chains often publish an allergen chart (アレルギー表示 arerugī hyōji) in store or online, so ask for it. In smaller places, show a written card in Japanese, and carry any medication you have been prescribed, following your doctor's plan.

Useful phrases

The polite -masu and -desu forms below work in every restaurant, and Japanese has no gendered forms for these phrases.

Ordering and paying

You don't tip in Japan, prices include tax, and you usually pay at the till on the way out. The details:

• Calling staff. Raise a hand and say "sumimasen". Many tables have a call button (呼び出しボタン yobidashi botan). Staff won't keep checking on you unprompted.
• Free on the table. Cold water (お冷 o-hiya) or green tea and a wet towel (おしぼり oshibori) come free.
• Cover charges. Izakaya usually bring an otōshi starter and charge for it per person; in Kansai it's called tsukidashi. Bars may add a seat charge (チャージ chāji or 席料 sekiryō). Some izakaya chains add a late-night surcharge (深夜料金 shin'ya ryōkin).
• Service charge. Hotel restaurants and some upscale places add a service charge (サービス料 sābisu-ryō), shown on the menu or bill. Ordinary restaurants don't.
• Tipping. Don't. Money left on the table is usually treated as forgotten.
• Paying. Take the bill slip (伝票 denpyō) to the register (レジ reji) by the door. Place cash or a card in the small tray rather than handing it over. Cards and IC transport cards are widely accepted in cities, but small and rural places can be cash only.
• Sharing. Izakaya dishes are made for sharing, so order a few at a time. Splitting the bill is called 別々 betsubetsu, but busy places may prefer one payment.

Dishes to know

• Ramen (ラーメン): wheat noodles in a pork, chicken, fish or miso broth.
• Sushi (寿司): vinegared rice with raw or cooked toppings, seasoned at the counter with soy sauce.
• Tempura (天ぷら): seafood and vegetables in a light wheat batter.
• Tonkatsu (豚カツ): breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet with a thick fruity sauce.
• Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き): savoury cabbage pancake with sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes.
• Soba (蕎麦): buckwheat noodles, hot in broth or cold with a dipping sauce.
• Takoyaki (たこ焼き): batter balls with octopus, topped like okonomiyaki.
• Miso soup (味噌汁 misoshiru): dashi and miso, served with most set meals.
• Oyakodon (親子丼): chicken and egg simmered in dashi and soy sauce over rice.
• Yakitori (焼き鳥): chicken skewers, ordered with salt (塩 shio) or sweet soy sauce (タレ tare).

Questions

What is the otōshi charge at a Japanese izakaya?

Otōshi (お通し, called tsukidashi 突き出し in the Kansai region) is a small appetiser brought to your table when you sit down, and it appears on the bill as a per-person charge. Think of it as a cover charge rather than a free snack. If you would rather not have it, ask as you are seated, though many places charge it regardless.

Do you tip in Japanese restaurants?

No. Tipping is not part of eating out in Japan, and staff may run after you to return money left on the table. Some hotel restaurants and upscale places add a service charge (サービス料 sābisu-ryō), which is printed on the menu or bill.

Are prices on Japanese menus tax-inclusive?

Yes. Since April 2021 businesses that show prices to consumers must show the tax-inclusive price (税込 zeikomi). Some menus also print the pre-tax price (税抜 zeinuki) next to it, sometimes in larger type, so check which number you are reading.

Is Japanese food a problem for a fish allergy or a vegetarian diet?

Often, yes. Dashi stock made from bonito flakes or dried sardines is the base of miso soup, noodle broths, simmered dishes and many dipping sauces, so a dish with no visible fish can still contain it. Ask what the dashi is made from, and look for shōjin ryōri (精進料理), Buddhist temple cooking that is traditionally free of meat and fish.

Sources

1. Japan National Tourism Organization: Tipping in Japan
2. National Tax Agency (Japan): Tax-inclusive price display (総額表示)
3. Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Allergen labelling on processed foods in Japan
4. Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia: Translated chef cards for travelling
5. ASCIA: Travel checklist for people at risk of anaphylaxis

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.