Cash, Closing Days and Otoshi: The Tokyo Restaurant Rules

Drank too much last night? Here’s where to eat. Before any of that, though — here is everything about eating in Japan that nobody tells you.

Japan is one of the easiest countries in the world to eat well in, and one of the easiest to get caught out in. Not because anything is hidden — because the assumptions are different. Here is everything that has tripped me up, drawn from the eighteen Tokyo and Kyoto restaurants covered on this site.

1. Cash Is Still King, Except When It Is Banned

The stereotype is that Japan is cashless now. The reality is that it is split, unpredictably, and the split does not follow price. A ¥8,800 tempura counter in Ginza takes every card there is. A ¥1,000 ramen shop takes none.

Carry ¥10,000 in cash per person per day. The one place that refuses cash entirely is a doughnut shop, which is exactly the sort of reversal that makes this hard to predict.

2. Closing Days Will Ruin an Afternoon

Almost nothing in Japan closes on Saturday, and a great deal closes on Sunday or Monday. Check before you build a day around a restaurant.

• Closed Sundays: Tempura Kondo, Konakara, Robata Musashi, Misoza Tamayura (also holidays), Goto (also holidays)
• Closed Mondays: Nodaya, Marugo (also Tuesdays), Kokochi (also Tuesdays)
• Closed Tuesdays: Maguro-tei
• Closed Thursdays: Koyanagi, Yamamoto Menzou (and the 4th Wednesday)
• Irregular closing days: Naraya — check its social media before you make the trip

There is also the afternoon break. Many restaurants shut between roughly 14:00 and 17:00. If you land at 15:30 hungry, your options narrow sharply — which is when the Chinese food court in Ikebukuro (10:00–22:00) and Nakamoto (10:00–23:00) become genuinely valuable.

3. Reservations Follow Three Different Systems

• Book weeks ahead: Tempura Kondo wants about a month, even for lunch.
• Book online in English: Yamamoto Menzou releases off-peak seats three days ahead at midnight through TableCheck — no Japanese phone call needed. Most visitors never find this and queue instead.
• No reservations at all: Marugo, Nakaji, Robata Musashi, Maguro-tei, Koyanagi. Turn up early or accept the queue.

One more trap: Naraya in Ikebukuro takes bookings, but not for weekend or holiday lunch — and has said it will not take bookings from people who are not drinking.

4. Smoking Is Still Allowed in Some Places

Most restaurants are non-smoking now, but the older, more atmospheric ones frequently are not — and the atmosphere and the smoke come from the same era. Robata Musashi and Kokochi both allow smoking throughout. If that is a problem, they are not for you, however good the food is.

5. Otoshi Is Not a Scam

At an izakaya, a small dish you did not order will arrive and appear on the bill. This is otoshi, and it functions as a cover charge for the seat. It is usually a few hundred yen. Refusing it is not really done. At Sake Pachi Pachi it was grated daikon with spicy cod roe and worth having; at Robata Musashi it was a dumpling I had no use for at a grill counter. Either way, it is the price of sitting down.

6. Portions and Ordering Quirks

• Ask for fewer noodles. Ramen shops will usually halve or quarter your portion for the same price — Nakamoto will even serve a bowl with none at all.
• Order down, not up. “Large” at Maguro-tei means a full bowl of rice plus a full plate of sashimi.
• The cheaper grade is sometimes identical. At Koyanagi, both eel grades use one whole eel — the ¥550 difference is extra rice.
• Two people can split grades. At Nodaya you can order two different eel farms and halve them; they have a printed liner for it.
• Signature dishes are sometimes not in the course. Kondo’s famous sweet potato tempura is an add-on to either lunch course, not part of them.

広告

一蘭 とんこつ カップ麺

¥504 前後 Amazon 楽天市場

日清 完全メシ カレーメシ セット

¥2,187 前後 Amazon 楽天市場

7. You Can Eat Well Without Any Japanese

Several of the best experiences on this site need no language at all. At Robata Musashi the ingredients are laid out in front of the grill and you point. At the Ikebukuro Chinese food court you point at photographs. At yakiniku you cook it yourself. Sushi Muku has an English menu and English-speaking staff, which makes it the softest possible introduction to an omakase counter.

8. Tipping, Tax and Getting Cash

Three things every visitor asks, and none of them are on a menu.

• Do not tip. Not in restaurants, not in bars, not in taxis. Leaving money on the table will get it returned to you, or the staff will chase you down the street with it. Service is included in the price and the staff are paid a wage. This is not a modest custom to be overcome — it is simply not done.
• Prices are tax-inclusive. Since 2021 restaurants must display the price you actually pay, so a menu reading ¥1,100 costs ¥1,100. Older handwritten boards occasionally still show pre-tax figures, and a few places add a 10 percent service charge in the evening — both are rare, and both must be posted.
• Get cash from a convenience store. Most Japanese bank ATMs reject foreign cards. The reliable ones are inside 7-Eleven (Seven Bank), Lawson and FamilyMart, they run in English, and they are open when you need them. A 7-Eleven is never far away.
• QR payment is mostly not for you. PayPay, Rakuten Pay and the rest generally need a Japanese bank account or phone number. When a shop says “no cards but QR is fine”, read that as cash only and plan accordingly.

The Short Version

• Carry cash. Assume the cheap places refuse cards.
• Check the closing day before you plan the day.
• Beware the 14:00–17:00 gap.
• Turn up at opening time for anywhere with a queue.
• Order one size smaller than you think.
• Pay the otoshi and stop worrying about it.
• Never tip. Get cash at a 7-Eleven.

Eat well, drink better, and see you at the next hangover.

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