8 Best Food Challenges in Japan (2024 Edition)

Gyoza

Kagurazaka Hanten

This is a long-established shop particularly well-known for their giant gyoza, which they even have a display of in the front of the shop! 100 gyoza are compiled together to form one huge gyoza, clocking in at a total of 2.5 kg! The challenge requires you to finish it all within 60 minutes by yourself.

Reservations are required, and there's an advance payment of 9,600 yen. If the challenge seems a bit too extreme for you but you still want to try it, you can order it and share it with a group of friends, but it won't be free even if you finish the meal!

They also have other food challenges, like the 100 pieces of gyoza (9,600 yen), 2.5 kg fried rice and 650 g  Chinese-style soup (5,840 yen), and three bowls of jumbo ramen (1,890 yen), so you have a lot of options to choose from!

Ramen

Hyouri

The Mega Mori (Mega Portion) Challenge here is a whopping 7 kg bowl of spicy ramen that comes with 700 cc of soup, 4 kg of bean sprouts, 4 mega karaage, and 4 servings of noodles. You can get either 50,000 yen or 30,000 yen if you finish everything up to the very last drop within 20 or 30 minutes respectively! Another important thing you consider: you're not allowed to get up from your seat during the challenge!

Curry

Kanazawa Gold Curry Main Branch

This curry shop has 5 levels of food challenges: LARGE SIZE, GOD SIZE, KING of HELL SIZE, SPACE SIZE, and ULTIMATE KILLER SIZE.

All of these meals are comped if you complete the challenge within the designated amount of time, and you get an additional reward, too!

While most of their stores are located in or around Ishikawa Prefecture, they also have branches in Thailand and Tokyo!

Fujiyama Dragon Curry Akihabara Branch *CLOSED

This curry restaurant serves up many creative curry dishes topped with various toppings. The same goes for their food challenge item, which is a 2,500 g platter of curry topped with a multitude of different meats and a raw egg on top! Finish it within 20 minutes to get a free meal!

Donburi (Rice Bowl Dishes)

Fukkatsu! Kalbi-Don Kasuganomichi Branch

With 1,500 g of rice and 500 g of kalbi, this restaurant is a meat lover's paradise! Their Challenge-Don (Chousen-don) costs 3,000 yen, but you'll get the meal for free if you finish it within 29 minutes. In addition to the flavorsome slices of meat and rice, you get some kimchi, shredded cabbage, and seaweed soup.

HAGI

This izakaya (Japanese pub) has a giant oyako-don (chicken and egg rice bowl) challenge that consists of 1 kg of rice, 0.5 kg of chicken, and 10 eggs for a total of 2.3 kg. This equates to roughly 5 servings, and the challenge has to be completed under 15 minutes or you'll have to pay 4,000 yen! It comes with soup, salad, pickled vegetables, and unlimited miso soup to help you wash it all down.

The challenge is only available at lunchtime (from 1 pm) once per day. Reservations are required as well, so make sure to call in before going! 

If oyako-don isn't your cup of tea, they also have a karaage challenge on Saturdays that you can check out as well.

Parfait

You might have seen some really big parfaits from Japan before, but can you imagine eating one all by yourself? This cafe serves gigantic parfaits of various sizes that you can share with friends, but they also have a Mystery Collab Parfait, a cup weighing a grand total of 4.58 kg in sweets! Eat it all within 30 minutes, and not only will it cost you nothing, but you'll also get 5,000 yen worth of baked desserts! 

Citron Praline *CLOSED

Pancakes

Butter Pancake Bay Quarter Yokohama Branch

This 10-layer pancake tower can be ordered and shared with friends, or you can order the challenge by yourself and get it free by finishing it in under 20 minutes! The challenge is available on Tuesday and Friday from 5 pm, and the pancakes are topped with seasonal fruits, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream!

Japan has many spots offering eating challenges, so it's great for those looking to have some fun by seeing how much they can eat, or even those who are looking for a really filling meal where they can eat to their heart's content! While you're at it, you might even be able to get a free meal or an extra prize out of it! The presentation in itself is pretty impressive too. Pick up one of these challenges while you're in Japan if you're feeling up to it!

 

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