How do I get a table at an izakaya, and what is the dish I didn't order?
A small dish arrives with your first drink that nobody ordered. It is the otōshi, it is the seat charge, and it will be on the bill at roughly ¥300–¥700 a head. It is not a scam and sending it back does not remove it. You order drinks first, then food in rounds, and one bill is paid for the whole table at the front.
The ritual, in order
What actually happens, from the door to the register
Say how many of you there are
The first thing said to you at the door is nan-mei sama desu ka? — how many people. Holding up fingers answers it completely. You may then be asked counter or table; either answer is fine, and the counter is usually free sooner.
Answer the all-you-can-drink question
Many izakaya offer nomihōdai — a fixed price for unlimited drinks, commonly ¥1,500–¥2,500 for 90 or 120 minutes, with last orders 20 or 30 minutes before the end. It is a commitment for the whole table, not per person. Irimasen declines it.
Order a drink before you order any food
This is the convention that trips people up: everyone orders a drink first, the drinks arrive together, and food is ordered after. Toriaezu nama — 'a draft beer to start' — exists precisely because ordering the first round fast is the expected move.
The small dish that arrives is the otōshi
It comes unordered with the first drink and it is the seat charge. It is not a free appetiser, it is not a mistake, and it will appear on the bill as お通し. Eat it or leave it; the charge is identical either way.
Order in rounds, not all at once
Dishes are small, shared, and arrive whenever they are ready rather than in courses. Order three or four things, eat them, then order again. Raising a hand and saying sumimasen is how you get attention — some tables have a call button instead.
Ask for one bill and pay at the front
O-kaikei o onegai shimasu gets you a slip. The bill is per table, not per person, and you carry the slip to the register by the door. Splitting is possible but slow — it is easier to pay once and settle between yourselves outside.
What they will ask you
Four questions, all of them in the first two minutes
These come at the door and at the table, quickly, before you have taken your coat off. None of them are complicated once you know they are coming.
| You’ll hear | It means | Say |
|---|---|---|
| 何名様ですか？Nan-mei sama desu ka? | How many people? | 二人ですFutari desu — two of us |
| お飲み物は？O-nomimono wa? | What would you like to drink? | 生ビールNama bīru — draft beer |
| 飲み放題はいかがですか？Nomihōdai wa ikaga desu ka? | Would you like the all-you-can-drink deal? | いりませんIrimasen — no thanks |
| これはお通しですか？Kore wa otōshi desu ka? | Is this the otoshi — the seating dish? | わかりましたWakarimashita — understood |
The otoshi
The dish you didn't order, and why it is on the bill
Within a minute of your first drink arriving, a small dish lands in front of each person — pickled vegetables, a spoonful of stewed something, a cold tofu. Nobody ordered it and nobody explains it. It is the otōshi, and it is a seat charge dressed as food. Expect ¥300–¥700 per person, occasionally more in Tokyo, and expect it to be the line on the bill you cannot identify.
It is not a scam and it is not aimed at foreigners. Japanese customers pay it every night without comment, and the shop treats it as the cover charge that keeps a table from being occupied for two hours by one beer. Sending the dish back does not remove the charge, because the charge is for the seat. Refusing it politely will usually be accepted, and the bill will look the same.
The two places you can avoid it are worth knowing: standing bars and large chain izakaya often have no otōshi at all, and the menu or the door will sometimes say お通しなし. If you want certainty before you sit down, the card at the top of this page asks the question outright, and the answer will be a yes or a no rather than a conversation.
Don't send the otoshi back to get the charge taken off. You are paying for the seat, not the dish — refusing it leaves you with an empty table and the same ¥300–¥700 on the bill.
Money and time
What the bill will look like
Carry more cash than feels reasonable. Card acceptance is far better than it was, but ticket machines, small counters and IC-card top-ups are still routinely cash-only, and the reliable foreign-card ATMs are in convenience stores.
An izakaya bill is per table and it is settled at the register by the door, the same pattern as paying at any restaurant. Budget ¥3,000–¥5,000 a head for drinks and a spread of small dishes, plus the otōshi. A late-night service charge exists in some places and is usually printed on the menu rather than announced.
There is no tipping anywhere in this. Not in restaurants, not in taxis, not for housekeeping. Money left behind is treated as money you forgot, and someone will come after you with it.
Questions
The things people ask after their first izakaya bill
What exactly is otoshi, and can I refuse it?
It is a small dish that arrives unordered with your first drink, and it functions as a per-person seat charge of roughly ¥300–¥700. You can decline the food politely with irimasen, but the charge stays on the bill because it is paid for the seat. It appears on the receipt written as お通し.
Is the otoshi charge legal, or am I being overcharged?
It is a long-standing and completely normal practice, and locals pay it nightly. If a shop does not have one it will often say so on the door as お通しなし. The number to watch is the per-person figure: ¥300–¥700 is ordinary, and anything far above that in a tourist district is worth checking on the menu before you sit.
Do I have to order a drink first?
In practice, yes. Staff take the drink order before the food order, and food often will not be started until the drinks are in. Toriaezu nama — a draft beer to start — is the standard opener, and a soft drink or oolong tea works exactly the same way if you are not drinking.
What is nomihodai and is it worth it?
All-you-can-drink for a fixed period, usually ¥1,500–¥2,500 for 90 or 120 minutes, ordered for the whole table rather than per person. Last orders are called 20 or 30 minutes before the clock runs out, and the table itself is often time-limited too. Three drinks in two hours is roughly where it stops paying for itself.
Will they make us leave after two hours?
Often, yes. A 90 or 120-minute table limit is common on busy nights and is usually stated when you sit down, not when time is up. You will get a warning at the 10-minute mark. This is standard practice rather than a complaint about you.
How do we split the bill?
The slip is per table and you pay it at the register by the door. Betsubetsu de asks to pay separately, and a small shop on a busy night may say no. The usual move is one card or one set of notes at the register and settling between yourselves afterwards — see paying the bill.
Should I tip for good service?
No. There is no tipping in an izakaya and money left on the table will be carried out to you in the street — the tipping page covers why. A service charge, where one exists, is printed on the menu — commonly 10%, and charged per person alongside the ¥300–¥700 otōshi.
Can I eat here if I don't eat fish?
It is difficult. Dashi — fish stock — is in most savoury dishes including the vegetable ones, and the otōshi arrives before you can ask about it. Dashi wa haitte imasu ka? asks whether a dish contains it. The allergies page is the fuller answer.