Japanese Izakaya Guide — What to Order and How to Eat

An izakaya is the Japanese pub — but that translation undersells it. British pubs serve beer with crisps and sometimes food. An izakaya serves alcohol alongside a serious menu of small plates, skewers, sashimi, and cooked dishes, in a social atmosphere that encourages two to three hours of eating and drinking together.

The word combines iru (to stay/be present) and sakaya (sake shop). An izakaya is a place to stay at the sake shop — a place for lingering.

The Structure of an Izakaya Visit

Otoshi: In Japan, sitting down at most izakayas automatically incurs a small cover charge (usually ¥300-600) and a small plate of food called otoshi — an automatic appetizer you didn't order. This is the Japanese equivalent of a bread basket, but you pay for it. At izakayas outside Japan, this may or may not apply.

Ordering style: Izakayas are not set-menu restaurants. You order as you go — a few dishes to start, more as the evening continues. The food arrives as it's ready, not in courses. Multiple dishes arrive simultaneously.

The first order: As soon as you're seated, the server takes a drink order. The first round is almost always beer — the Japanese ritual torikaezu biiru (とりあえずビール), "first, beer," is one of the most encoded phrases in the izakaya experience.

The Menu Categories

Tsukidashi / Otoshi: The automatic small appetizer. Often pickles, a small salad, or edamame.

Edamame: Always first. Boiled and salted green soybeans in the pod. Simple, perfect with cold beer. Free or very cheap.

Sashimi: Raw fish. An izakaya will have a daily sashimi selection — ask what's fresh.

Yakitori: Grilled chicken skewers with tare or shio seasoning. The definitive izakaya food. Essential.

Karaage: Fried chicken. Standard at most izakayas. The lemon-squeeze and Kewpie mayo presentation is the standard.

Agedashi tofu: Fried silken tofu in dashi broth. Light, elegant, a good palate reset between heavier dishes.

Gyoza: Pan-fried dumplings. Often decent at izakayas because the fryers are busy and the technique is consistent.

Salads: Japanese potato salad, green salad with Japanese dressing.

Tsukemono: Pickles. A small plate of various pickled vegetables.

Noodles/rice: Ordered toward the end of the evening — izakaya meals traditionally end with a carbohydrate. Ochazuke (rice in green tea), omurice, or a light ramen.

What to Order First

For 4 people starting an izakaya evening:

1. Edamame (always)
2. Sashimi selection (ask for seasonal recommendation)
3. 6-8 yakitori skewers, mixed (thigh, negima, tsukune)
4. Karaage (one plate)
5. Agedashi tofu

Second round:

• More yakitori
• Grilled fish (often whole, seasonal)
• Japanese-style potato salad
• Pickles

End of evening:

• Ochazuke or light noodles

The Drinking

Beer: The default opening drink. Most izakayas serve Sapporo, Asahi, Kirin, or Suntory draft.

Highball (ハイボール): Whisky and soda water. Extremely popular at modern izakayas. Goes with food better than beer for a long meal.

Shochu: Distilled from sweet potato, barley, or rice. Stronger than sake, often drunk with soda water (shochu soda) or straight on ice.

Sake: Hot sake (atsukan) in cold months, cold sake (reishu) in summer. Ordered in tokkuri (ceramic flasks) and drunk from small cups.

Umeshu: Plum wine. Sweet, lower alcohol. Good for those who don't want spirits.

The Izakaya Timeline

A proper izakaya evening in Japan:

• 6:00-6:30pm: Arrive with colleagues after work
• Immediately: beer + edamame
• 6:30-8:00pm: Progressive ordering — yakitori, sashimi, fried dishes
• 8:00-9:30pm: Later dishes, conversation, perhaps more rounds
• 9:30pm: Final noodle/rice dish
• Leave for karaoke or second venue (nijikai, 二次会)

The Japanese have a specific word for going to a second location after the first bar: nijikai. The izakaya is just the beginning.

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Outside Japan, izakaya-style restaurants have become a significant dining category in major cities. The best ones replicate not just the food but the ordering culture — the progressive accumulation of small plates over a long, convivial evening. That's the experience.