We've seen several of these vending machine restaurants while walking along the streets of Akihabara. In fact, we dined in one of those ramen houses after a tiring day of shopping and touring. These types of restaurants use the machines as their ordering system. The whole restaurant menu is displayed in the big vending machines outside the establishment using either pictures or plastic food replicas together with their corresponding prices in Japanese Yen.
We only have the food representation of as a guide on what to expect because all the names were written in Japanese. Customers would then pay with coins on the slots provided and a piece of paper comes out. Only then will you enter the restaurant to hand that piece of paper to the waitress who will have your order prepared and served to your preferred table.
It is commonly cramped inside these restaurants but the food serving is really large. The size alone and the rich authentic flavors compensate for the hefty price. Food is quite expensive in these restaurants. Some single dishes were priced as high as 1,800 - 2,000 Yen. Because we're on a budget, we ordered the cheapest medium-sized bowl of ramen with roasted pork, priced at 680 Yen. Still, the serving was too large for us.
One piece of advice - if you are to eat in an authentic ramen house and you don't have a huge appetite, share the serving of ramen with someone. The servings in the malls are smaller and way cheaper. It's the experience that we paid for; and we did not regret it at all. If given the chance to go back to Japan, we'd do it again, but we'll be more prepared.
© content and photos by Athena Goodlight