Japan - Restaurant Recommendations: Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama, Kurashiki, Nagoya

Hi, Looking for recommendations NON touristy small restaurants that won't break the budget and where they understand some English (we speak no japanese) to have a good meal. Except for Kurashiki we are generally staying near the main train station but don't want to eat IN the station. Appreciate suggestions that are not too $$ but (unless truly exceptional) not noodle shops. We'll have our fill of noodles, I'm sure. Thanks.

If you've never been to Japan, you cannot imagine how many restaurants they have, especially non-touristy ones.

In urban commercial areas, there are literally several on each block.

The typical department store has an entire floor or two devoted to restaurants specializing in various kinds of foods as well as a gourmet food department in the basement with more restaurants tucked away in the corners. (My favorite place to get sushi and sashimi is in a sushi bar adjacent to a department store fish sales counter.)

It's not like Europe. The "destination" restaurants in Japan are usually very expensive, multi-star Michelin type places. That doesn't seem to be what you're looking for. Even the more moderately priced restaurants that are reputed to be "especially good" for a particular type of food are not necessarily the best of their kind.

Don't worry about not speaking Japanese. My personal rule is that if a restaurant doesn't have either plastic models of the food in the window or a menu with photographs, both with prices marked, I probably can't afford it. Japanese people don't necessarily expect you to speak Japanese, so they will be very accommodating if you just point to something in the window or on the menu.

Everyone in Japan under the age of about 65 has studied some English in school, even if they've forgotten most of it, so in a pinch, try writing things down in simple terms in block letters.

Naturally, some restaurants are better than others, but in 34 years of traveling in Japan, I've rarely had a bad meal.

If you can find the book "Eating Cheap in Japan," old but still the best description of standard menu items around, get hold of it.

I don't really like Japanese food. I go for the gyoza and beer. Surprisingly on my last trip I didn't gain weight.

I wanted to try Japanese beef and looked on FT for recommendations. Steak Ron in Osaka is terrific and terrifically expensive. When we were there, there were only Japanese present. The entire dinner was a Zen experience. Dinner for two was $300 (including two glasses of wine and an order of vegetables).

I know you're looking for cheaper places to eat, but Steak Ron is a fantastic experience.

I concur with ksandness. I just go out for a walk and slip into whichever restaurant looks interesting. I have only been disappointed once, with the singularly worst bowl of ramen I have ever had in a tiny shop manned only by a single old obaachan in Kurashiki. On the contrary, I have stumbled across some back-alley places that I now seek out on return trips to the area. I never remember names but often remember which alley.

This is the wrong forum for your kind of question. You should try chowhound.com

This is the wrong forum for your kind of question. You should try chowhound.com

I second that suggestion. (Also their Japan board is good for just browsing around - you're sure to find something interesting.)