Forget 5-star restaurants and celebrity chefs - the best place in Japan to try Japanese food is in a department store
Depachika is a portmanteau of the words for department store (depato) and basement (chika). Most department stores in Japan have them. I visited the Tokyu Food Show, a depachika in the basement of Tokyu Toyoko Department Store that advertises itself as the "Theatre of Food."
The depachika is seen as a way to draw in hungry travelers and convince them to shop in the store's upper floors, otherwise known as the "the Fountain Effect." They offer just about every type of cuisine someone might want. Some depachika offer as many as 30,000 products.
Source: Wall Street Journal
I entered the depachika through what appeared to be a grocery store. There were all kinds of fresh product and packaged goods that looked perfectly ripe.
The depachika is often a place to purchase gifts for friends or family. "Luxury fruit" like these $150 muskmelons are a popular gift. A pair of muskmelons once sold in Japan for $27,000.
Source: Slate
But most food in the depachika is far more reasonable, like these prepared foods at the delicatessen. Depachikas are usually open from 10 AM to about 8PM.
Just about every type of Japanese food is represented at the depachika, including yakitori, tempura, and sushi. There are, of course, takoyaki, balls of octopus dipped in batter and covered with bonito flakes.
And all different kinds of fried foods like tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), tori karaage (fried chicken), and kushikatsu (fried skewered meats and vegetables).
Here's the haul of treats that I bought from the stalls. From left, clockwise: takoyaki balls, yakitori skewer, pork bun, and tuna hand roll. It was all predictably delicious and I was very full. It all cost me less than $15.
Some depachika have sit-down sushi restaurants inside the food hall. But the grab-and-go sushi is usually very high quality. If there's a specialty dish you've been looking to try, like uni (sea urchin), a depachika is good place to do so without breaking the bank.
Depachikas are often attached to train stations to attract harried commuters. They can be a great place to grab a quick bento box before getting on the shinkansen (bullet train). There are an endless number of gourmet bento boxes with specialties like wagyu beef or sashimi, all made that day.
There are a lot of options for onigiri, or rice balls, with all different fillings. The options at many of the food stalls change depending on what is in season.
Japanese food isn't the only cuisine represented at depachikas. I spotted Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, and American food stalls at the Tokyu Food Show,
These Chinese pork buns looked delicious.
There are a seemingly endless number of cakes, desserts, and pastries. Many famous French patisseries and boulangeries like Maison Kayser have opened up stalls in recent years with both traditional Japanese desserts like mochi and red-bean pastries and Western-style desserts.
There are all kinds of treats that are matcha (green tea) flavored. I purchased one of these pastries for later.
About 30 minutes before closing, the prepared foods go on sale and the stalls stop stocking the shelves with new food. Wait too long and you'll be picking over leftovers.
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