Food was easily one of my favorite parts of traveling through Japan. Of course, I was excited about the ramen and sushi before we even arrived, but what I loved most wasn’t necessarily one particular dish. It was the whole experience around eating in Japan.

Sometimes we had no idea how to order. Sometimes we couldn’t read a single thing on the menu. We cooked our own food at the table, ate sushi standing up, translated bakery labels with our phones and once had another restaurant guest casually become our translator for the evening.

And somehow, those moments became some of my favorite memories from Japan.

So rather than giving you a huge list of every Japanese dish that already exists, I want to share some of the foods and food experiences I genuinely loved – and would absolutely recommend trying on your first trip to Japan.

1. Eat Ramen in a Tiny Ramen Shop

If there’s one thing I could happily eat over and over again in Japan, it’s ramen. Especially the rich, meaty bowls topped with slices of pork.

One of my favorites is chashu, the tender slices of pork you’ll often find on top of ramen. But one of the things I remember most about our ramen experience wasn’t even the ramen itself – it was trying to figure out how to order it.

At some ramen restaurants in Japan, you don’t sit down and order from a waiter. Instead, you first use a ticket vending machine, choose your ramen and any extras, pay, and receive a little ticket. You then hand that ticket to the staff.

Simple enough once you know how it works.

We didn’t.

It took us a moment to understand what everyone else was doing, but once we’d figured it out, it suddenly made perfect sense. And somehow that little bit of confusion is part of what made eating ramen in Japan so memorable.

2. Try Shabu-Shabu and Cook Your Own Dinner

Another meal I loved was shabu-shabu, a Japanese hot pot where you cook your own ingredients right at the table.

Our restaurant had a much more traditional atmosphere. We took off our shoes and sat at a low table, with the hot pot in front of us. With shabu-shabu, thin slices of meat – often beef or pork – are cooked for just a short time in the hot broth. You can also add vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and other ingredients.

Shabu-shabu isn’t just about what you eat; the whole process of sitting around the pot and cooking everything yourself is part of the experience.

3. Ask for a Seat at the Sushi Counter

We obviously couldn’t travel to Japan without eating sushi.

One of our best meals was at a sushi restaurant where we specifically asked if we could sit directly at the counter. If we hadn’t asked, we would have been seated somewhere else – and I’m so glad we did.

Sitting at the counter meant we could watch the sushi chef prepare everything right in front of us while we ordered individual pieces of sushi.

It also led to one of those random travel encounters you can’t really plan.

A Japanese man was sitting next to us and we eventually started talking. Whenever communication with the sushi chef got a little difficult, he would help translate between us.

Suddenly, what could have simply been a really good sushi dinner became a much more personal experience.

If you visit a traditional sushi restaurant in Japan and there are seats at the counter, ask if you can sit there. Being able to watch the chef work and interact with the people behind the counter can make the experience so much more special.

Personal recommendation: We went to Sushi Dining Tsuruoka in Asakusa for this special experience.

4. Try Standing Sushi for Something Completely Different

Not every sushi meal needs to be an event, though. At another point during our trip, we ended up at a standing sushi restaurant – known as tachigui sushi.

And I loved it for almost the exact opposite reasons. You stand at the counter, order your sushi, eat and continue with your day. There isn’t much ceremony involved and you don’t need to make a whole evening out of it.

It was quick, easy and really good. If you’re sightseeing all day and want something delicious without spending ages in a restaurant, a standing sushi bar is such a fun option to try.

5. Have Breakfast at a Japanese Bakery

One of the unexpected highlights of our trip was something much more ordinary: our neighborhood bakery.

We had a Japanese bakery just around the corner and ended up going there for breakfast again and again.

The selection was incredible. There were sweet pastries, savory breads and all sorts of things we couldn’t immediately identify. Even better, it felt like there was something new to discover every day.

Our morning routine basically involved walking around the bakery with the live translator on our phones, trying to work out what everything was before deciding what to buy.

Sometimes we knew what we were getting. Sometimes we didn’t. That was half the fun.

Japanese bakeries are something I wouldn’t have thought much about before visiting Japan, but they’re now one of those everyday experiences I would tell other travelers not to overlook. Don’t only search for famous foods you’ve already seen online. Walk into a local bakery, have a look around and try something that sounds interesting.

You might end up going back the next morning. And the morning after that.

6. Eat Futomaki Somewhere Very Local

Our last lunch in Japan ended up being one of the funniest.

We went into a very local restaurant where the menu was in Japanese and we could understand almost nothing.

We eventually decided on futomaki – thick sushi rolls filled with several ingredients – but we had absolutely no idea what kind of portion we were about to receive. Thankfully, the waitress eventually managed to explain to us that one order would be more than enough for the two of us.

Good thing we listened.

When the futomaki arrived, the pieces were enormous. We’re talking roughly hand-sized in diameter. At that point, it became very clear why she had stopped us from ordering more.

But the food was only part of what I remember about that experience. Sitting right next to us was an older Japanese lady who very much seemed to be in charge. We couldn’t understand what she was saying, but she spent a good portion of the evening energetically directing a younger woman – who appeared to be her daughter – around the restaurant. We didn’t need a translation to understand the dynamic.

It was local, slightly chaotic, funny and completely unplanned – and it ended up being such a fitting final dinner in Japan.

Don’t Be Afraid of Not Knowing What You’re Doing

Looking back, there’s a common theme running through quite a few of my favorite food memories from Japan: we didn’t always know what we were doing.

We didn’t immediately understand the ramen ticket machine.

We needed our phones to decipher the labels at our local bakery.

We relied on another restaurant guest to translate between us and a sushi chef.

And on our final day, we nearly ordered far too much futomaki because we couldn’t understand the menu.

But none of that made the experience worse. Quite the opposite.

Translation apps make traveling around Japan much easier, and in our experience, people often tried to help when we clearly had no idea what was going on.

So yes, go to Japan for the ramen, sushi and all the other incredible food. But don’t worry too much about doing everything perfectly.