How to Read a Menu in Japan Without Speaking Japanese
An izakaya menu can look like a wall of unfamiliar characters. Here's how to recognise the dishes you actually want — and how to order them without making a mess of it.
There's a particular flavour of panic that hits the first time you walk into a Japanese restaurant that isn't tourist-facing. You sit down, the waiter brings tea, and the menu is a single laminated sheet covered in kanji, hiragana, and katakana with no pictures and no English.
This guide won't make you fluent. It'll teach you to spot the dishes you probably want, decode the categories you'll see on almost every menu, and avoid the few things that catch travellers out.
The three Japanese scripts, in 30 seconds
You don't need to learn them, but it helps to recognise them:
- Kanji (漢字) — borrowed Chinese characters. Used for nouns, verb stems, and most dish names. Looks dense and complicated.
- Hiragana (ひらがな) — soft, curvy script. Used for grammar and for words written without kanji.
- Katakana (カタカナ) — angular script. Almost always used for foreign words, including most Western foods. Pizza is ピザ, coffee is コーヒー, hamburger is ハンバーガー.
If you see a lot of katakana on a menu, the restaurant probably serves Western or fusion dishes. If you see mostly kanji, it's traditional Japanese.
Categories you'll see on almost every menu
Most Japanese menus are grouped into sections. Recognising the section headers is half the battle.
- 前菜 / お通し (zensai / otōshi) — appetisers. Otōshi is often a small dish brought automatically with your first drink, and it's not free; it's effectively a cover charge of ¥300–600.
- 刺身 (sashimi) — raw fish, sliced.
- 寿司 (sushi) — sushi, in all its forms.
- 焼き物 (yakimono) — grilled dishes. Yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) lives here.
- 揚げ物 (agemono) — fried dishes. Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), tempura, tonkatsu.
- 煮物 (nimono) — simmered dishes.
- 麺類 (menrui) — noodles. Ramen, udon, soba.
- ご飯物 (gohanmono) — rice dishes. Donburi, curry rice, onigiri.
- デザート / 甘味 (dezāto / kanmi) — desserts.
If you can spot which section a dish is in, you already know roughly what to expect.
Twenty dishes you'll see again and again
Memorising even five of these will change your trip.
| Dish | Japanese | What it is | | --- | --- | --- | | Yakitori | 焼き鳥 | Grilled chicken skewers, often with several cuts (thigh, skin, gizzard) | | Karaage | 唐揚げ | Crispy bite-sized fried chicken, marinated in soy and ginger | | Gyoza | 餃子 | Pan-fried pork dumplings | | Edamame | 枝豆 | Boiled green soybeans, salted. Standard izakaya snack | | Tempura | 天ぷら | Battered, deep-fried seafood and vegetables | | Tonkatsu | とんかつ | Breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet | | Sashimi moriawase | 刺身盛り合わせ | Mixed sashimi platter — usually the best-value sashimi order | | Chirashi | ちらし | Bowl of seasoned rice topped with assorted sashimi | | Unagi | 鰻 | Freshwater eel, grilled and glazed. Usually over rice (unadon) | | Sukiyaki | すき焼き | Hot pot of beef, tofu, and vegetables in a sweet soy broth | | Shabu shabu | しゃぶしゃぶ | Hot pot where you cook thin slices of meat in boiling broth | | Okonomiyaki | お好み焼き | Savoury cabbage pancake with various toppings | | Takoyaki | たこ焼き | Round battered balls with octopus inside, Osaka classic | | Ramen | ラーメン | Wheat noodle soup. Many regional styles | | Udon | うどん | Thick wheat noodles, usually in dashi broth | | Soba | そば | Buckwheat noodles, hot or cold | | Oden | おでん | Winter dish: various items simmered in a clear dashi broth | | Yudofu | 湯豆腐 | Tofu simmered in light broth, Kyoto specialty | | Tamago kake gohan | 卵かけご飯 | Raw egg over hot rice with soy sauce | | Anmitsu | あんみつ | Traditional dessert with agar jelly, sweet bean paste, fruit |
Things that catch travellers out
Otōshi (お通し). This is the small dish placed in front of you the moment you order a drink at an izakaya. It's not a gift. It's effectively a seat charge, usually ¥300–600 per person. Refusing it is awkward; just accept it.
Set meals (定食 / teishoku). A teishoku is a complete meal: a main, rice, miso soup, pickles, sometimes a small side. Better value than ordering à la carte for lunch.
Servings are smaller. A "main" at an izakaya is closer to a tapas portion. Order 3–5 small dishes per person, then add more if you're still hungry.
Tipping is not done. It can actively offend. Don't tip.
Cash still rules in many older restaurants. Modern places take cards; small izakaya and ramen shops often don't.
The bill comes to the table in big restaurants, but in many small ones you take the slip to the register near the door and pay there.
Polite phrases that go a long way
- Sumimasen (すみません) — "Excuse me." Use it to call the waiter.
- Onegaishimasu (お願いします) — "Please." Tag it onto the end of an order.
- Kore o kudasai (これをください) — "This one, please." Combine with pointing.
- Gochisousama deshita (ごちそうさまでした) — "Thank you for the meal." Said when leaving.
The shortcut
Realistically, even with this guide you're going to face menus where you can't read most of what's on the page. That's why we built Menufy: point your camera at the menu, get every dish translated with a real description, allergens flagged, and a one-tap order to show the waiter in Japanese.
It won't replace the experience of asking the chef what's good — but it will keep you from accidentally ordering chicken cartilage when you wanted thigh.
Get Menufy free before your next trip to Japan.