Dining out at Japanese restaurants

Japanese restaurants in Australia are welcoming places, and you don't need to know every custom to enjoy them. These guides explain the main types of Japanese restaurant, the etiquette that makes meals smoother, the words you'll see on menus, and sake and other Japanese drinks.

Guides in this section

• Types of Japanese restaurants Sushi bars, sushi trains, ramen, izakaya, teppanyaki and omakase.
• Japanese dining etiquette Chopsticks, soy sauce, slurping, sharing and paying.
• Japanese menu terms explained A plain-English glossary.
• Sake and Japanese drinks Types, serving, etiquette and drinking responsibly.

Choosing a restaurant

Many Japanese restaurants specialise in one type of food. JNTO describes izakaya as casual pubs, compared to an Irish pub or a tapas bar, where food is meant to be shared. At conveyor-belt sushi, JNTO says you can take plates freely but should never put one back. Omakase counters serve a chef's-choice menu, usually by booking.

Etiquette

JNTO's etiquette guide names the two biggest chopstick no-nos: standing chopsticks upright in rice and passing food from chopsticks to chopsticks. Say "itadakimasu" before eating and "gochisosama desu" after, pour only a little soy sauce, and feel free to slurp your noodles.

Reading the menu

Once you know a few words for cooking methods, such as yaki (grilled), age (fried), ni (simmered) and mushi (steamed), most Japanese menus become much easier to read. Our menu decoder can help.

Sake

JNTO explains that most sake is around 15 percent alcohol and can be served chilled, warmed or at room temperature. The NHMRC recommends healthy adults drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 on any one day.

Telling staff about your needs

Whatever kind of restaurant you choose, tell staff about allergies, coeliac disease, pregnancy or other dietary needs before ordering, and for omakase menus, when you book. See our eat safely guides.

Five things worth knowing

1. Sushi is about the rice, and doesn't have to contain raw fish.
2. Dip the topping, not the rice, and never stand chopsticks upright in a bowl.
3. Dashi usually contains fish, and most soy sauce contains wheat.
4. Eat store-bought sushi straight away, and avoid raw fish if you're pregnant or have a weakened immune system.
5. Always tell staff about allergies before ordering. Menus don't have to list allergens.

A simple way to explore Japanese food

If you're new to Japanese food, start with dishes that are familiar in shape: a bowl of udon or ramen, a donburi rice bowl, karaage or a bento set. Then try a few pieces of nigiri with cooked toppings such as prawn, eel or tamago, before moving on to raw fish. At an izakaya, order several small dishes to share, so everyone can try a little of everything. At a counter restaurant, ask the chef what's in season. Over time, the menu words will become familiar, and you'll find the styles you love most.

Common mistakes to avoid

A few mistakes come up often. Pouring a big pool of soy sauce and soaking the rice drowns the flavour and makes sushi fall apart. Mixing a large amount of wasabi into soy sauce hides the taste of the fish. Leaving takeaway sushi in a warm bag for hours increases food safety risks. Assuming a vegetable dish is vegetarian can be a problem, because dashi stock usually contains fish. And assuming a dish is gluten free because it's rice-based overlooks soy sauce, which usually contains wheat. Each of these is easy to avoid once you know.

Japanese food in Australia

Japanese restaurants are found in every Australian capital city and in many regional towns, from food courts and shopping centres to dedicated ramen bars, izakaya and fine dining counters. Many restaurants adapt dishes to local tastes and ingredients, such as rolls with avocado, chicken or Australian seafood, while others aim to recreate the food of a particular region of Japan. Both have their place. Our guides focus on what the dishes are, how to enjoy them and how to eat safely, rather than on particular restaurants.

Questions to ask staff

Staff at Japanese restaurants are usually happy to explain dishes. Useful questions include: what do you recommend, and what is in season? Which dishes are raw and which are cooked? Does this contain dashi, soy sauce, sesame or egg? Is this made to order? Can it be adapted for my dietary needs? Asking is never rude, and it often leads to a better meal.

About these guides

Japanese Restaurants is an independent information site about Japanese food and dining in Australia. We aren't a restaurant, booking service, directory or health authority, and we don't review, rank or recommend restaurants. Our guides are general information written in our own words, with official sources listed on every page. They're not medical, dietary or allergy advice.

How we keep these guides current

We review each guide against its sources and show the date it was last checked. Food safety advice and allergen rules are updated from time to time. If you notice something out of date, please tell us through our contact page, and we'll check and correct it.

Try the menu decoder

Our free menu decoder explains more than 50 common Japanese menu words in plain English. It runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.