I lived in Japan as a student for over 9-months and best believe I tried as many cheap food chains as possible - here are my favourites!
Out of the big three sushi chains in Japan (Sushiro, Kura sushi and Hamazushi), I prefer Kura! I particularly recommend the tuna, prawn and avocado, yellowtail and beef nigiri, as well as the maguta ku (half tuna half tukuan)
Kurasushi
A delicious and very cheap gyudon restaurant - I prefer Sukiya over Yoshinoya. My go-to is a kimchi gyudon with an added raw egg. You can also get great value sets with added miso and tofu!
Sukiya
Japanese-style Chinese chain restaurant. Incredibly good value set meals highlights being: the gyoza (so delicious), silken tofu, chinese style scrambled eggs, fried rice and mapo tofu!
Renge Shokudo Toshu
Family (cheap and child-friendly) restaurant originating from Kyushu. My favourite of all Japanese family restaurants, I particularly enjoy the ‘Stamina Meal’
Joyfull
Affordable Yakiniku! Something very difficult to find, delicious nonetheless!
Yakiniku Like
I really enjoy Doutor's sandwiches. The food menu is often changing, but in the past I have enjoyed the prawn, salmon and avo and the gyukalbi
Doutor
Delicious udon, which you can add tempura of your choice to
Hanamaru Udon
Best place for doughnuts! I particularly recommend the strawberry ring
Mister Donut
Is Saize real Italian food? No. Is most of it good, honestly…no. However, it is incredibly budget-friendly, and there are some good choices! I recommend the chorizo, prawn salad, chicken wings and for dessert the focaccia with cinnamon sugar!
Saizeriya
Potentially the most popular family restaurant in all of Japan. I mostly enjoy Gusto for its drink bar, buy any meal and add this option for unlimited drinks - I particularly like the matcha latte and milk tea, though they also offer soft drinks
