Tsukuba's dining scene is more varied than you might expect from a planned science city. The large foreign researcher population — particularly around AIST and KEK — has generated genuine demand for international food, and you will find Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Korean restaurants scattered through the neighbourhoods near the university and research campuses. The main concentration of restaurants sits around Tsukuba Center, within easy walking distance of the station.
For Japanese food, ramen is strong here, and the izakaya pubs near the center district offer solid evening meals. Convenience store and supermarket food is genuinely excellent in Japan, and Tsukuba is no exception — a bento from a good supermarket beats many sit-down meals elsewhere in the world.