Tired of agonising over what to pick off a restaurant menu? Leave the world of endless choice and obsessive customisation behind and embrace the Japanese set meal. Most typically composed of rice, soup and several small sides, the teishoku is a beacon of nutritional balance and rich flavours in an ocean of lopsided servings and ultra-processed eats.
In its purest form, the traditional teishoku lunch joint – of which there must be thousands across Tokyo – serves only one meal: the daily special. A shining example is Sakura Honten in Iidabashi, where chef Shigeaki Yoshizawa has been conjuring up a different combination of hearty home-cooked dishes almost every weekday for 24 years.
His tastefully decorated restaurant fills up practically as soon as the doors open, and the day’s 50 meals are often all gone within an hour. No wonder: Priced at a barely believable ¥950, Yoshizawa’s teishoku always feature three carefully crafted sides highlighting quality fish, meat and veg, plus a bowl of filling miso soup, pickles, and unlimited servings of rice.
On their way out, many satisfied patrons make a point of eyeing the sign by the door, which lists the content of tomorrow’s teishoku. This is food you could eat every day – and many do.