🇯🇵 What I Actually Eat at Japanese Izakaya – Series #2

A local’s real favorites you can order in Japan

Japanese izakaya are not just places to drink.

They are places where food and drinks are meant to be enjoyed together, slowly and casually.

In this article, I’ll introduce the dishes I personally order again and again at Japanese izakaya.

These are not tourist-only items — they are everyday favorites that many Japanese people truly love.

If you ever visit Japan, you can show this page to the staff and order directly, because I include the Japanese names as well.

All descriptions are based on my own experience living in Japan for over 46 years.

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🍢 Kushikatsu (串揚げ)

Beef, Onion, Asparagus

Kushikatsu are skewered ingredients coated in batter and deep-fried.

They are one of the most popular izakaya snacks in Japan.

My personal favorites are:

• Beef skewer (牛串)
• Onion (玉ねぎ)
• Asparagus (アスパラ)

The onion is especially amazing.

When you dip the freshly fried onion into Worcestershire-style sauce, the sharp acidity of the sauce and the natural sweetness of the onion melt together perfectly.

It instantly makes your beer taste even better.

Asparagus is also excellent with mayonnaise only, without sauce.

The crisp texture and mild sweetness work beautifully.

Interestingly, for kushikatsu, vegetables are often better than meat or fish.

Some izakaya even serve pickled red ginger (紅生姜) as kushikatsu — the flavor is strong at first, but it refreshes your palate, so I often order it as well.

👉 Kushikatsu is the kind of food that makes you feel like you can drink forever.

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🐟 Namerō (なめろう)

A seasoned raw fish dish

Namerō is a dish made by finely chopping raw fish and mixing it with miso and aromatic herbs.

It comes fully seasoned, which makes it perfect as a drinking snack.

Although it often uses oily fish like horse mackerel, it does not smell fishy at all.

The ginger, green onions, and seasonings balance everything beautifully.

For drinks, this is where Japanese sake truly shines.

My personal recommendation is warm sake (atsukan).

The gentle aroma of warm sake and the rich flavor of namerō create a wonderful harmony that makes you sip again and again.

Dry sake at room temperature also pairs extremely well.

If you see namerō on the menu, I strongly recommend trying it.

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🐠 Grilled Hokke (ホッケの開き)

This is one of the most loved fish dishes in Japanese izakaya.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever met a Japanese person who dislikes hokke.

It’s rich in fat, but not heavy.

The flavor is clean and satisfying.

Hokke is usually served with grated daikon radish.

Add a little soy sauce to the daikon and place it on top of the fish — the taste becomes explosively good.

This dish pairs well with almost any drink:

beer, whisky, sake, shochu, or highballs.

One important detail:

the quality of hokke varies a lot.

An izakaya that serves high-quality hokke is often a very good izakaya overall.

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🍢 Oden (おでん)

Egg, Konjac, Daikon, Kelp, Beef tendon

Oden is a traditional Japanese simmered dish cooked slowly in a light broth.

My usual choices are:

• Egg (卵)
• Konjac (こんにゃく)
• Daikon radish (大根)
• Kelp (昆布)
• Beef tendon (牛すじ)

The flavors are simple, but deeply comforting.

Sometimes it’s so satisfying that I forget to drink and just keep eating.

A useful tip:

order two or three items at a time, slowly.

If you order too much at once, you may get full before you realize it.

For drinks, oden goes especially well with shochu, either hot-water mixed or soda mixed.

The aroma of shochu and the gentle broth of oden create a perfect balance.

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🐟 Simmered Fish (魚の煮付け)

Rockfish (カサゴ) / Mebaru (メバル)

Simmered fish changes with the season, but my favorites are kasago and mebaru.

The flesh becomes soft and flaky, absorbing the sweet-savory sauce.

I recommend enjoying it with the sauce, along with aromatic garnishes.

This dish pairs beautifully with Japanese sake or authentic shochu.

You could eat it with rice — but since this is an izakaya,

I say enjoy it with a drink instead.

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🍶 Final Thoughts

Japanese izakaya are not about rules or formality.

They are about curiosity and enjoyment.

The dishes introduced here are foods that Japanese people genuinely eat and love in everyday life.

If you visit Japan, feel free to use this page to help you order with confidence.

In the next article, I’ll continue sharing what I personally eat at Japanese izakaya, based on real daily experience.

Enjoy Japan — one meal at a time.