The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word RAMEN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
R
A
M
E
N
More clues leading to the result RAMEN
- Dish on Japanese menu? Head of restaurant has the final word
- Starter in restaurant? So be it!
- Japanese food: a little clementine marked ‘From the East’
- Remain hiccups lead to immediate falls in what’s made from Tokyo stock?
- Soup containing what dangles from its end
- Recipe with the last word in noodles
- Start of refection, so let it be soup
- Noodles in a bowl? Right, you said it
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Japanese food" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case japanese food = ramen.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does RAMEN mean?
RAMEN noun- Soup noodles of wheat, with various ingredients (Japanese style)
- A type of instant noodles.
- (Pastafarianism) amen