Forget McDonald’s, Subway et al when you need a snack or meal at an airport in Japan. These 6 pre-plane Japanese foods blow the chain stores out of the sky.
While most international airports are crammed to the brim with multi-national fast food chains that manage to homogenise the whole travel experience to the point where you can’t tell if you are in Dubai, Denver or Charles de Gaulle, Japanese airports are a wonderful exception to the rule.
With nary a McDonald’s in sight, airports like Narita and Haneda in Tokyo and Kansai in Osaka (and any number of regional airports from Akita to Okinawa) proliferate with Japanese restaurants and food that is fast, fabulous and totally unique to the destination. Here are my faves:
Bento: the Japanese lunch box is like a buffet on a plate.
1. Bento
A meal in a box, the ubiquitous bento can contain any combination of rice, pickled vegetables, tempura, salad, cooked chicken or fish, sashimi and fruit. They come wrapped in traditional Japanese style, so they are as pretty as they are delicious; there are usually photographs or illustrations on display showing what’s inside each one if you would prefer it not to be a mystery meal in a box.
2. Onigiri
Triangles of sticky rice filled with everything from tuna and mayonnaise to flaked salted salmon to fish roe to pickled plum, and finished off with a little square of nori wrapped around the bottom providing a handy holding spot. They are convenient, delicious and super cheap: expect to pay the equivalent of $2 each (Y180).
Tonkatsu sandwiches are golden fried pork schnitzels on a sandwich.
3. Tonkatsu sandwiches
Juicy, golden fried pork schnitzels coated in crunchy panko crumbs (tonkatsu) resting between two slices of pillow-soft white bread and drenched in Japanese mayonnaise; they even come complete with the crusts removed, further enhancing their super sandwich status (also known as Katsu Sando).
Most big Japanese airports have at least one good ramen restaurant.
4. Ramen
The perfect way to fill up for the flight ahead, most big Japanese airports have at least one great ramen restaurant. For those who don’t know, ramen is an unctuous, filling soup, with a silky, meaty chicken or pork broth that varies from clear (shoyu and shio) to thick and cloudy (miso and tonkotsu), drenching chewy wheat noodles.
Japanese airport sushi is probably as good if not better than in sushi restaurant in other countries.
5. Sushi
The fact is that Japanese airport sushi is probably better than restaurant sushi anywhere else; if you want super-fast and fresh, stand at one of the small sushi bars and order one dish at a time off the menu and watch it being sliced and presented in front of you.
Soba noodles can be served cold for a surprisingly refreshing summer snack snack.
6. Soba
These buckwheat noodles are served cold in summer (zaru soba), making them very portable and surprisingly refreshing. The chewy noodles can come with various accompaniments or yakumi, such as finely sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds and thin slivers of nori, as well as a light soy and dashi based dipping sauce (soba tsuyu).
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Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.
The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.
1. Easy access to good food
Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.
One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.
In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.
In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.
Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.
At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.
While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.
It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.
2. Better sleep options
Sleep deeply with Novotel.
There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.
For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.
The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.
3. More ways to move
Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)
Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.
At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.
Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.
4. Better connections
Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.
One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.
Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.
A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.
Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.
All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.
