What my young, pick eaters ate in Japan

I really thought my kids would do okay. They like noodles, rice, and edamame... but all they ate were POTATOES. Just kidding... but really not. I was shocked at the sheer amount of french fries at restaurants. Even Sushi Kara, the sushi conveyor belt restaurant, had french fries.

Mornings

Mornings are difficult because there really isn't a lot of options open before 11am. If you can, I would opt for a hotel that offers hotel breakfast or buffets. This really helped because a lot of them open as early as 6:30am. 

Some family restaurants are open pretty early so check them out too! See the lunch options below for more info. For example, Royal Host in Shinjuku opens at 8am.

For the jet lagged, a great option are the conbinis or convenience stores like 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, or Lawrences. Many of them are open 24 hours and most offer a wide array of snacks and food. Our kids' breakfast mostly consisted of fruit, which I was okay with since this may have been the only fiber they were getting. The conbinis may differ depending on which one you went to but we found bananas, apples, white peaches, and mandarin oranges. If your kids like bread (unfortunately ours don't), there are always a wide variety of bakery options.

I didn't look at many grocery stores but at the MEGA Don Quijote in Shibuya, I saw many cereals found back home such as KIX, Cocoa Puffs, Chex, and Trix (no Cheerios, which is what I usually gave my kids when they were younger). 

At Tsukiji Market, they didn't eat much offered there. We did find some skewers that they chowed down on (chicken and something that looked like hot dogs but tasted like sausages). There were also plenty of vendors selling fruit so they chowed down on a basket of strawberries! If your kids are willing to eat rice, then maybe hit one of the onigiri stands?

Snacks

Like I mentioned, conbinis are great for snacks. My kids only ate the standard potato chips and Pocky but there are great options for flavors you can't find at home. Of course there are Japanese snacks and chocolates too but if you need something familiar, there's American snacks like Pringles and chocolates like Snickers and Kit Kats. 

Lunch

Unfortunately, my kids mostly ate fries... 

But there are lots of family restaurants that offer a wide variety of foods! Each location may have a slightly different menu so make sure you search for the correct location to look at the menu. Japan is a bit confusing because it's grouped by regions (ex. Tokyo is in the KANTO region). 

• Royal Host
• Gusto
• Jonathan's - chicken nuggets and fries on the kids menu! The one at Shinjuku also had robot waiters which my kids loved!
  
  
  
  
  
• Saizeriya - my kids ate Margherita pizza and Spaghetti here. There was also some green peas that were quite tasty.
  
  
  
  
  
• Denny's - quite expensive but they offered a HUGE menu with lots of variety. They also had grilled cheese which we hadn't seen anywhere else!
  
  
  
  
  

Dinner

• Ramen was "okay" for us because my kids are willing to eat noodles but most places are small and do not offer tables. We saw that Ippudo had the most options for tables. Unfortunately they don't offer much else so my kids would only eat a little bit of noodles.
• Sushi places like Sushi Kara has stuff like french fries and popcorn chicken.
• Chinese was a great option for us because they serve rice and noodles, which my kids love to eat. 
• Uber Eats was a great option because it allowed us the flexibility of eating in our room but also choose whatever we wanted to eat. I would only suggest it if your hotel room has a nice table to eat on. I just wouldn't do it often because it causes a lot of trash. Hotels don't have large trash cans in your room because Japan has some strict trash rules. 
• Department store eateries! Department stores usually have a floor with some eateries (usually top floors) and those have tables. Of course, it isn't food that's usually sought out ... but it's a great option for tables that aren't very crowded. It's Japan so it's still delicious but might not be the Japanese food that you wanted to get. We found this lovely Trattoria in Kyoto that had really lovely Al Dente pasta.
  
  
  
• Department Store basements. Unlike the eateries on the upper floors, some basements sell a variety of food meant for people who take it home to eat. Word of caution though. It is incredibly intimidating. Lots of people walk around and most speak only Japanese. There are usually lines and it's hard to tell where they start. There may not be a lot of options for kids but it's a nice area with a huge variety.
  
  
  
  
  
• Conbinis have food to heat up as well. The nice part is, a lot of the conbinis offer to warm it up or there is a microwave there (in case your hotel doesn't offer one). We found noodles and fried rice here too. Also, be sure to check out all the little "side dishes" as we found some marinated bamboo shoots, which my daughter likes. 
• Fast food was a last resort but was awesome because they had tables, offer easy takeout, and have familiar foods. There was McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, and we've even had Taco Bell there before.

NOTE: Most restaurants offered orange juice. Some offered apple juice as well. Jonathan's was the only place I saw that offered milk. If your kids are picky drinkers too, better hit up a conbini before going to a restaurant. Hopefully they are okay with you bringing a drink for a young child. 

I certainly hope your kids are more adventurous than mine but hopefully this helps give you an idea of what is offered. There are places to eat but it takes some time and effort to find them. Give yourself PLENTY of time to search for an option because most places are small and have a queue during busy times.