Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2010

Ever gone to a fancy restaurant only to find portions more suitable for birds, and a bill that makes you want to cry? Well, wipe those tears away and tuck in at one of Tokyo’s new eateries specializing in huge, delicious meals for astonishingly cheap prices. Restaurants like Curry-Ya Toyo-P (1-17-3 Ueno, Taito-ku; 03-5688-1890) in Ueno-Hirokoji are proving popular amongst oyaji salarymen on tight budgets: try a donburi-sized chicken curry for ¥700 or pork and omelet curry for ¥900. That’s as dear as it gets. Heading towards Ikebukuro, Hara Hachibunme (1-24-4 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku; 050-5815-2060) is a specialty karaage spot that offers a sake bottle-sized mountain of its “legendary” fresh-fried chicken (below), as well as a super-spicy version (¥419); the restaurant also has branches in Shinjuku, Shibuya and Koenji, where all dishes are just ¥280. Over in Ryogoku, you’ll find a long-running cheap-eats Mecca in the form of Steakhouse Kamaro (3-12-5 Chitose, Sumida-ku; 03-3633-1129). The lunch set includes 100g of steak, rice, salad and miso soup for just ¥650; add another 100g and the price goes up to just ¥952. No suit and tie required.