Reading Japanese restaurant menus: 50 essential food words
Walking into a Japanese restaurant where the menu is all in Kanji can be intimidating. The good news: 90% of menus reuse the same 40–60 words. Once you know those, you can order almost anything in Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto without pointing at pictures. This guide gives you the essential words by category.
1. Cooking methods you'll see on every menu
Most Japanese dishes are described as "(ingredient) + cooking method." Recognize the cooking method and you can guess the rest.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|
| 焼き | yaki | grilled / pan-fried (e.g. 焼き魚 = grilled fish) |
| 揚げ | age | deep-fried (e.g. 唐揚げ = fried chicken) |
| 煮 | ni | simmered (e.g. 肉じゃが = simmered meat & potato) |
| 蒸し | mushi | steamed (e.g. 茶碗蒸し = steamed egg) |
| 炒め | itame | stir-fried (e.g. 野菜炒め = stir-fried vegetables) |
| 刺身 | sashimi | raw (sliced fish) |
| 生 | nama | raw / fresh |
2. Proteins
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|
| 肉 | niku | meat (general) |
| 牛肉 | gyūniku | beef |
| 豚肉 | butaniku | pork |
| 鶏肉 | toriniku | chicken |
| 魚 | sakana | fish |
| 鮭 | sake | salmon |
| 鮪 | maguro | tuna |
| 海老 | ebi | shrimp |
| 蟹 | kani | crab |
| 卵 | tamago | egg |
3. Staples and side dishes
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|
| ご飯 | gohan | rice / meal |
| 麺 | men | noodles |
| うどん | udon | thick wheat noodles |
| そば | soba | buckwheat noodles |
| ラーメン | rāmen | ramen |
| 定食 | teishoku | set meal (rice + main + sides) |
| お味噌汁 | omisoshiru | miso soup |
| 漬物 | tsukemono | pickles |
| サラダ | sarada | salad |
| パン | pan | bread |
4. Drinks
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|
| 水 | mizu | water |
| お茶 | ocha | tea (usually green) |
| コーヒー | kōhī | coffee |
| ジュース | jūsu | juice |
| ビール | bīru | beer |
| 日本酒 | nihonshu | sake (rice wine) |
| ワイン | wain | wine |
| ソフトドリンク | sofuto dorinku | soft drink |
5. Ordering & paying — phrases you'll actually use
| Phrase | Reading | Meaning |
|---|
| すみません | sumimasen | excuse me (also "thank you" in this context) |
| これをください | kore o kudasai | this one, please |
| おすすめは? | osusume wa? | what do you recommend? |
| メニュー | menyū | menu |
| 注文 | chūmon | order |
| お会計 | okaikei | the bill / check |
| カードで | kādo de | by card (paying) |
| 現金 | genkin | cash |
| 美味しい | oishii | delicious |
| ごちそうさま | gochisōsama | thanks for the meal (after eating) |
| いただきます | itadakimasu | let's eat / I gratefully receive (before eating) |
6. Pro tips for menu reading
- Many menus put a Katakana name in parentheses next to a Kanji name — that's free pronunciation help.
- The price column ¥ is always on the right. If you don't know what something is, look at the price first to see if it's a main, side, or drink.
- The word 定食 (teishoku) on a menu is your best friend — it's a complete set meal.
- Conveyor-belt sushi often has plate colors mapped to prices. Color = price tier.
- If you have allergies, the words you absolutely need: アレルギー (arerugī, "allergy"), 卵 (tamago, "egg"), 牛乳 (gyūnyū, "milk"), 小麦 (komugi, "wheat"), 蕎麦 (soba, "buckwheat"), えび (ebi, "shrimp"), かに (kani, "crab"), 落花生 (rakkasei, "peanut").
7. Try it now
Open a Japanese restaurant photo on Google Images and try to read at least 5 dish names. Count any you recognize. If you can read 5/10, you're already at functional travel level. To pad your menu vocabulary further, use the Basic Vocabulary module's food category, then move on to the JLPT N5 module.
These 50 words cover the vast majority of any Japanese menu. Drill them, and your next visit to a 居酒屋 (izakaya) will feel a lot smoother.