I went to Japan hungry. Not just for food, but for flavour. For texture. For those strange, unforgettable mouthfuls that make your eyes close, and your shoulders drop. I wanted that feeling you get when something tastes both completely new and somehow like a memory – even if it’s not your memory. On every corner, there was something sizzling, bubbling, steaming. Skewers crackling over charcoal, soft buns puffed full of cream, fish-shaped waffles dripping hot custard down my fingers. I didn’t go looking for fine dining – I was after the smoke, the queues, the sauce stains on my clothes. In Japan, street food doesn’t sit quietly on the side of the table. It announces itself in smells and sounds and queues that snake around the block. I tasted ten of these dishes: loud, proud little bites that hold entire histories in a single mouthful. From molten takoyaki to too-hot-to-handle taiyaki, here’s how I ate my way through Japan’s backstreets, one perfect snack at a time.

1. Taiyaki

Directly translated to “baked sea bream”, these warm, custard-filled, fish-shaped sweet treats are such a quintessentially Japanese snack. I ate them hot off the press and the warm custard oozed out as I bit into them. Think of it like a stuffed waffle. A light batter (similar to pancake or waffle mix) is poured into a hot, fish-shaped mould, the filling (commonly either custard, chocolate or red bean paste) is added, and more batter tops it off before it’s closed and cooked until golden and crispy on the outside. Why the fish shape? Sea bream is a symbol of good luck and celebration in Japan, so the shape is more than just cute, it’s auspicious. Taiyaki became popular in the early 1900s and hasn’t gone out of style since.

2. Ten-yen coin cheese bread

Sometimes in life, you just have to eat the viral thing that everyone is talking about. I was in Dotonbori, the designated food strip of Osaka, and luckily stumbled upon this stall. Made from a sweet, fluffy batter reminiscent of castella cake( Japanese honey cake), it's filled with a generous portion of stretchy mozzarella cheese. When baked, the result is a crispy exterior encasing a gooey, melty centre, creating a delightful contrast in textures. It was so rich, like a sweet, toasted cheese sandwich.

3. Spam musubi

I was introduced to musubi on my big convenience store run (more on that later). Spam musubi emerged during World War II, when American military rations collided with Japanese rice traditions brought by plantation workers. The result? A brilliant example of cultural adaptation that turned wartime scarcity into a comfort food staple. It’s simply a slab of spam on a block of rice, wrapped in nori, and my favourite version is stuffed with tuna mayonnaise. Whew! So darned delicious. This snack may not look like much, but it’s one of the things that kept me tethered my entire trip. I definitely took some to eat on the flight back home.

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4. Hanami dango

I was determined to eat all the foods I’d only ever read about, witnessed in movies or seen as emojis. This was not what I had initially expected! Dango is a slightly sweet confection made of glutinous rice flour balls on a skewer. The pink, white and green trio is often eaten during cherry blossom season, which I was luckily around for. Each colour represents a different element: spring blossoms, purity and new growth. They’re bouncy, chewy and have a solid fanbase in Japan. Other variations are mitarashi dango, which is dango that is grilled over the fire and basted with a salty-sweet soya reduction. I also tried anko dango, which is dango filled with red bean paste and fresh strawberries. Ngl, the bean paste wasn’t really my jam – but I get the appeal. To be fair though, I had the convenience store version, so it wasn’t as great as it could potentially be.

5. Udon

At Ueno train station, there’s an udon joint called Honba Sanuki Udon Oyaji no Seimenjo. A whole entire mouthful. This poorly kept secret is in the heart of the station and is one of the most highly rated udon restaurants in the area. These were unlike any noodles I’d ever eaten. Thick, chewy, slurpy, flavourful and hot. Mine were served simply with aburaage (deep-fried tofu) in a chicken broth. My travel companion, Solveig, had hers cold with a fresh squeeze of lemon. This was the fastest I’ve ever eaten anything!

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6. Takoyaki

Guys, I can finally say I burnt my tongue on piping-hot takoyaki! Takoyaki literally means “grilled octopus”. These are small, savoury balls made from a wheat flour-based batter and typically filled with boiled octopus pieces. Some versions also include pickled ginger, spring onion and sometimes crunchy tempura scraps known as tenkasu.

They’re cooked in a special cast-iron pan with half-sphere moulds and flipped with chopsticks or skewers until they become golden brown orbs with irresistible molten centres. Once cooked, they’re usually smothered in takoyaki sauce, which tastes a lot like a tangy BBQ sauce, Japanese mayo, dried seaweed and bonito flakes (which I want to sprinkle on everything from now on, by the way!). The mix of textures and flavours is wild: gooey, creamy, salty, crispy, chewy – and somehow, it all works. They are sublime.

7. Sashimi

I know, you can have sashimi pretty much anywhere, but having it in Japan is something special. I went to Tsukiji Fish Market in direct pursuit of fresh seafood, and I got it GOOD. I had a choice between salmon and tuna and chose thick slices of buttery salmon served on a stick and dunked in a vat of light soya sauce. Easily the most delicious thing I ate while in Japan.

8. Unagi (or unadon when served with rice)

This is barbequed freshwater eel basted with tare (a soya-based glaze) and it’s delicious! People are normally icked out by the concept of eel, but I would beg you to give unagi a chance. It’s deliciously prepared, tender and flavourful – then draped over steamed rice. It’s the perfect meal. I had unagi on more than one occasion: first at Tsukiji Fish Market where it was included in a little lunchbox with pulled beef, salmon and rice, and once at Asakusa where it was served on skewers without rice. It’s savoury, sweet and umami with a slight smokiness. Due to overfishing, eel has become an endangered species, and Japanese chefs are finding sustainable alternatives or sourcing ethically farmed eel. So, it’s a real treat and a delicacy that should be enjoyed thoughtfully.

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9. Ramen

My cousin Viwe took me to an out-of-the-way ramen shop with no sign, which, I kid you not, is literally called Unnamed Ramen Restaurant. We placed our orders on a machine and sat at the small counter while we watched the two gentlemen caringly prepare our food – huge, steaming bowls of roast pork belly, a deep, delicious duck-and-chicken broth, ramen and piles of spring onion were set before us. Was this about to be better than Ramenhead? I’m not gonna say anything more. I sat in slurpy silence and wolfed these noodles down like I’d never seen food before.

10. Okonomiyaki

No hyperbole, this might be one of the best things I have ever eaten. I mean that! A distant cousin to takoyaki, these two distinctly different foods have a few things in common, one being that Osaka is the best place to eat them. I suppose the toppings are similar too: okonomiyaki sauce, which tastes similar to takoyaki sauce (I suspect they may be the same thing?), a generous pile of bonito flakes that appear to dance on top of the hot okonomiyaki, and a squeeze of Japanese mayonnaise. All on a flavourful, savoury type of pancake. A few years ago, before I ever knew I would travel to Japan, I made okonomiyaki for a print story – it has the essence of okonomiyaki, but nothing beats eating the real thing. If you’d like to try a rendition of okonomiyaki, here’s my recipe. 

Japan might seem like a distant dream, but I promise it’s worth looking into – the food is good EVERYWHERE. And it’s surprisingly affordable if you know where to look. (Start with my finds above!)