By Steve Corless

Tokyo is a foodie paradise. The city is home to more than 160,000 restaurants, many of which are world renowned. The 2010 Michelin Red Guide, a respected guide to the world’s best restaurants, lists 197 starred restaurants in Tokyo, more than three times as many as New York and twice as many as Paris.  But for the budget traveler, a visit to one of the food theme parks can be just as enjoyable and quite a bit easier on the pocketbook.

Fans of ramen  flock to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum to deepen their knowledge of the cuisine and taste some of the many styles of ramen that have developed in Japan over the years. Ramen, originally a Chinese creation, has grown in popularity since the 1950s. The Ramen Museum features a dozen ramen shops with regional flavors from different parts of Japan in a 1950s shitamachi (old style downtown) setting. Visitors can learn about the history of ramen and then enjoy some of their favorite noodles while strolling through the replicated neighborhood. Admission is 300 yen. Tickets for ramen are purchased from a vending machine in front of each shop.

Another 1950s-themed food park is the Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium. This is located in Namjatown inside the Ikebukuro Sunshine City shopping complex. Entry to Namjatown is 300 yen.  Here you can stroll through recreated Tokyo street alleys of past decades and taste the many styles of gyoza, another Chinese dish that the Japanese have wholeheartedly embraced. 

Save some room for dessert, though. Namja Town is also home to Ice Cream City, an ice cream lover’s dream.  With 300 flavors of ice cream to taste, there are sure to be a few new flavors here to discover.  If the freshwater eel (unagi) or oyster ice cream seems a little bit too weird, you can always settle for something less exotic like the beef tongue or chicken wing ice cream.

Osaka is renowned for its inexpensive and tasty casual foods such as okonomiyaki and takoyaki.  Naniwa Kuishinbo Yokocho, located inside the Tempozan Marketplace shopping mall, showcases Osaka’s variety of native dishes and specialties, all set in a 1970s street scene.  Naniwa Kuishinbo is a good spot to stop by for a bite after visiting the wonderful Osaka Aquarium located nearby.

Finally, the Osaka Takoyaki Museum, near Universal Studios Japan, is a great place to deepen your knowledge about what may be Osaka’s most famous contribution to Japan’s rich street-food culture.  Some of Osaka’s most famous makers of  takoyaki (ball-shaped bites of fried octopus) have stores here each serving their own unique style of the dish.

Steve Corless is an independent travel consultant based in Seattle.  Steve spent 15 years in Japan working in sales and marketing and as a US foreign service officer in Tokyo and Osaka. He lives in Lynnwood with his wife and daughter.