A really interesting discovery on our first trip to Japan, was about the food portions at various restaurants and convenience stores; some places have giant portions, some places have tiny portions and some familiar food stuffs are smaller. After a few trips, it’s easier to figure out how much food a restaurant is going to serve based on style of food, like ramen, curry, sushi, or desserts. One thing that is true across the board is that the portions sizes are all smaller in Japan than in the US no matter what you are buying.

On our latest trip, I took a few pictures to compare the differences as it struck me with two containers of the same food – a can of Pringles. Lee bought a can of Pringles at LAX to snack on the plane and it got stuck in his bag until we got to the hotel. The next day, he bought one at 7-11 in the lobby of our hotel. Here they are side by side:

As you can see, no pun intended, the Japanese Pringles are slightly smaller in diameter and slightly shorter in height. A good size snack, but not quite as large as the American version. They also taste the same, in case you were curious, yummy, powdery sour cream and onion dip.

The same goes for many, many other items. Ramen and curry shops generally have fairly large portion sizes everywhere you go. Dessert shops and cafes usually have small size portions; themed cafes like the Square Enix or Animate are small but very pretty.

Fast food restaurants are all fairly predictable as well. Servings are still going to be smaller but closer to what you are used to for small combo meal. McDonalds is always McDonalds but even the large looks like an American small. I am absolutely not complaining about Japanese sizing, I think American restaurants serve food portions that are too large.

My Ebi Filet-O from the McDonalds in Shibuya – as you can see is a good size. If you want a specific, familiar amount of food I recommend one of the American chains you can find in Japan.

Have you had adventures in food on your travels?