Food in East Asia

Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city, but the everyday food is the bigger draw: sushi breakfasts at the outer market of Tsukiji, yakitori under the train tracks, and the basement food halls (depachika) of department stores in Ginza and Shinjuku. Osaka calls itself the nation’s kitchen; eat takoyaki and okonomiyaki around Dotonbori in Namba and kushikatsu in Shinsekai. Kyoto is the home of kaiseki, the seasonal multi-course meal, and of temple tofu cooking, with Nishiki Market for pickles and snacks.

Fukuoka invented Hakata tonkotsu ramen and keeps about 100 licensed yatai, open-air stalls with a counter and a few stools, mostly in Nakasu, Tenjin and Nagahama. Sapporo has miso ramen, soup curry and Hokkaido crab, and Hiroshima layers its okonomiyaki with noodles. A chain lunch costs 800 to 1,200 yen (about 5 to 8 USD) and kaiten sushi 1,500 to 2,500 yen. More in our Japanese food guide, Tokyo food guide and Osaka food guide.

Korean meals come with banchan, small side dishes refilled for free, and the classic night out is barbecue: pork belly (samgyeopsal) or marinated beef grilled at the table, wrapped in lettuce with garlic and ssamjang, for about 20,000 won (14 USD) a head. A bowl of kimchi stew costs about 10,000 won. In Seoul, Gwangjang Market is the place for mung-bean pancakes, mini gimbap and raw beef, and every neighbourhood has a fried chicken and beer (chimaek) joint.

Busan eats from the sea: raw fish at Jagalchi Market on the harbour and dwaeji gukbap, a milky pork-and-rice soup. Jeonju serves bibimbap in brass bowls with a spread of banchan for 15,000 to 20,000 won, and Tongyeong is known for oysters. See our Korean food guide.

Taiwan may be the cheapest good eating in the region: a bowl of noodles or braised pork rice costs NT$40 to 150 (about 1 to 5 USD). In Taipei, Shilin and Raohe night markets sell oyster omelettes, pepper buns, stinky tofu and shaved ice, and the city’s other icons are red-braised beef noodle soup, xiaolongbao and bubble tea, which was born in Taiwan. The Michelin Bib Gourmand list for Taipei includes many market stalls.

Tainan, the old capital, has the deepest snack culture on the island: danzai noodles, milkfish soup and beef broth poured over raw slices at breakfast. Taichung claims bubble tea and Keelung has a covered seafood night market. More in our Taiwan food guide and Taipei food guide.

Hong Kong is the best place in the world for Cantonese food, and much of it is cheap. A basket of har gow at a dim sum hall costs HK$30 to 60 (about 4 to 8 USD), roast goose on rice HK$70 to 150, and a milk tea and pineapple bun at a cha chaan teng, the city’s Western-style cafes, under HK$40. Eat dim sum in the morning, wonton noodles in Central and late-night seafood in Kowloon around Yau Ma Tei and Sham Shui Po. Our Hong Kong food guide has addresses.

An hour away by ferry or bridge, Macau mixes Portuguese and Cantonese cooking: Portuguese egg tarts, pork chop buns, African chicken and minchi, a Macanese mince with potato. The old villages of Coloane and Taipa have the best family-run Macanese and Portuguese restaurants.

China has eight classic regional cuisines, and the big cities cover most of them. In Beijing, Peking duck carved at the table costs 250 to 400 yuan (35 to 55 USD) for the bird at a well-known restaurant. Shanghai is sweet and soy-braised, with xiaolongbao soup dumplings and red-braised pork; Hangzhou adds Longjing tea and West Lake fish. Guangzhou is the home of Cantonese morning tea (yum cha), and Chaozhou and Shantou are known for beef hotpot.

Mongolian food follows the herding year. In Ulaanbaatar and roadside guanz canteens, the staples are buuz (steamed mutton dumplings), khuushuur (fried mutton pastries) and tsuivan (fried noodles with meat). In summer, herding families offer airag, fermented mare’s milk, and dairy snacks such as dried curds. The feast dish is khorkhog, mutton cooked in a sealed can with hot stones. Vegetarians struggle outside the capital, where most restaurants are.

Tipping is not expected in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, mainland China or Mongolia. Hong Kong and Macau restaurants add a 10% service charge. In Japan, izakaya add a small seating charge with a starter (otoshi), and slurping noodles is normal. Across the region, never stand chopsticks upright in rice, which recalls funeral offerings. In Korea, leave your rice bowl on the table; in Japan, lift it.

Food is good all year, but seasons shape menus: autumn brings hairy crab to Shanghai and matsutake to Kyoto, winter is hotpot and crab season in Hokkaido, and summer brings cold noodles everywhere. Mongolian airag is a summer drink, best around the Naadam festival in July.

For more ideas see Food and cuisine in Southeast Asia and Food and cuisine around the world.