Finding cheap eats

If you can find cheap eateries in Omote-sando and Shibuya, two of the most expensive parts of the capital, you can find them anywhere in this city. It just takes a little strategy.

Coffee shops: If that hotel breakfast seems overpriced, it probably is. Savvy Tokyoites head to local coffee shops called kissaten for the moningu setto (morning set). Typically, $3.75-$5.45 buys you a cup of coffee or tea, toast, some kind of egg and a small green salad. Coffee chains such as Doutor also serve reasonably priced breakfasts.

Family restaurants: Japanese families have the same problems as some American families: Mom wants a salad, Dad wants noodles, Daughter hasn’t eaten anything but curry rice for a month and Son wants only a hamburger.

The fami-resto comes to the rescue. Family restaurant chains offer wide-ranging picture menus and reasonable prices. They won’t win style points, but fami-restos are good options if you have kids in tow. Look for Royal Host, Skylark and Jonathans, as well as one you may have heard of — Denny’s.

Department stores: For a more gourmet experience, try the food floors on the basement levels of department stores around major train stations, like Shinjuku and Shibuya, and in the department store mecca of Ginza. They’re well-lighted, workmanlike, spotless and impressive for everything, including pickles, tempura, fresh fruit and desserts. Many department stores also have midprice restaurant floors on upper levels, with plastic models in the windows.

Convenience stores: If all else fails, head to a convenience store. When in Japan I visit them virtually daily for budget classics such as packaged onigiri (seaweed-wrapped rice triangles with a treasure inside like salmon or kelp), yogurt, juices and desserts and full lunches of rice, meat or fish, and vegetables served in plastic bento boxes. There seems to be a Family Mart, Lawson, Sunkus or, yes, 7-Eleven and AM-PM on virtually every block in Tokyo.

— Andrew Bender