Char siu fried rice for 700 yen. Char siu!! Even shouting feels empty... My inner voice. I visited around 2 pm. The atmosphere inside the restaurant was calm. The female staff handling the bowls was Japanese, while the chef in the kitchen seemed to be from the mainland. They both had lovely smiles and greeted everyone cheerfully, creating a nice atmosphere. I initially decided to try the Tianjin fried rice as per the storefront sign, but I was drawn to the char siu fried rice on the table menu. I wondered if there would be thick slices or blocks of char siu on top of the fried rice. Exciting! As you can see, the char siu fried rice had 4-5 pieces of char siu. Maybe my expectations were too high? However, I wasn't lying. To be honest, from a Japanese perspective, it was just an ordinary fried rice. It had a strong salty taste that stimulated the taste buds. The rice was slightly clumpy due to the heavy coating of fat. But maybe it was a generous portion from the mainland staff? I have to accept everything generously. The portion size was generous, leaving me feeling full. The accompanying egg soup was unexpectedly gentle and had a rich flavor that soothed the tingling sensation in my mouth. I found myself wanting more meat than eggs. It was a satisfying meal.

A restaurant located about 10 minutes west of Waseda-dori from Takadanobaba Station. I visited for the first time in about a year and a half around 12:00 on a weekday. The place has table seats and tatami mats, and can accommodate up to 30 people at once, always crowded. Lunchtime is especially busy. They offer lunch sets and recommended ABC sets from 11:30 to 15:00. This time, I tried the Oyster Chicken Set Lunch. It took about 15 minutes, and then the meal was served. In addition to rice, it came with soup, pickles, and a mini jelly. I tried it right away. The chicken was fried well and there was a mysterious sauce, similar to oyster sauce, hidden under the vegetables. Mixing it all together, it was delicious and the rice was so good. The portion was generous and overall, it was a tasty meal. I haven't had a bad experience here before, so I will definitely come back. They accept payment with PayPay.

Meeting up with two friends after a year, we opted for a lunch gathering instead of the usual drinking session. Originally planning to go to a Chinese restaurant in the city, we ended up at a different place across the street due to the crowdedness. We ordered various dim sum dishes, but ended up with more food than we could handle. The atmosphere was relaxed and we were able to enjoy our time. The taste was also delicious. The total bill came to around 12,000 yen for the three of us. As always, Takadanobaba is a great place for casual gatherings.

Cantonese noodles and half fried rice. Sorry, but I always end up coming here after trying a few other places. Today, after striking out at three places, I finally made it here. The daily Cantonese noodles were warm and delicious, with a seafood-based sauce that had squid and clams in it. It was a comforting dish. The half fried rice was also delicious, with popular ingredients like egg and vegetables in it. The ramen set was also popular. Thank you for the meal. It was convenient to be able to use PayPay.

About 8 minutes walk from Takadanobaba Station, across Waseda Street, you'll find "Chinese Restaurant Ichiban Hanten". Inside, there is a large glass window overlooking the kitchen where staff warmly greet and bid farewell to customers. The restaurant was about 80% full around 1:40 pm, with many solo female diners. There are 3 counter seats in front of the kitchen, tables for 2, and even a raised seating area. The lighting is slightly dimmed, creating a cozy atmosphere. I ordered the "Hui Guo Rou Set Meal" for 800 yen, which came with a light egg and bean sprout soup, fluffy rice, and four types of pickles. The set also included a grape jelly dessert. The dish consisted of generous portions of Hui Guo Rou, stir-fried cabbage, carrots, onions, and garlic sprouts with tender slices of pork in a flavorful sauce with a hint of spiciness from chili oil and bird's eye chili. It was delicious and satisfying. It was a great find for a Hui Guo Rou set meal with good value for money.

Eggplant drenched in oil with chilled Chinese noodles and half-fried rice. This is my go-to meal. When it's hot and I've reached my limit, I always end up here. I sit at a cool table, sipping cold tea and waiting for my A set meal of chilled Chinese noodles. This place serves a lot of chilled Chinese noodles. Here it is. First the noodles and soup. The soup is full to the brim. Delicious. Just the right amount of saltiness after sweating. The chilled Chinese noodles are also delicious, with the sauce and noodles complementing each other well. The eggplant goes well with the noodles. The fried rice has arrived. Fluffy and delicious. Is this how it always tasted? I find it more to my liking than before. Thank you for the meal. It has become considerably cooler.

I had a sudden craving for stir-fried vegetables, so I went to have dinner at 10 p.m. I ordered a meat and vegetable stir-fry. It was a large portion with bean sprouts and onions as the main ingredients. It was very filling. The staff were friendly as always. This is a great place for drinks or a meal alone.

Chilled Chinese noodles with half-fried rice. I was aiming for a Chinese restaurant far from Takadanobaba, but they weren't serving it. I had checked the menu of this restaurant on the way, so I decided to come here without hesitation. It's the first chilled Chinese noodles of the year. It seems like it's the first time for this restaurant too. That's how hot it is. It was crowded after 12 o'clock. There are a lot of options for chilled Chinese noodles as a single dish. Here it is. This is the sight I've been waiting for. I started with the tomato, then mixed it all together. Yeah, it's been a while. Cucumber and thinly cooked egg. Not too sour, easy to eat. Half-fried rice. It tastes amateurish, but nostalgic. The soup, with the flavor of daikon radish, is delicious. Last time I came, it was chilled Chinese noodles with pork shabu-shabu. It seems like I don't come this far often. Thank you for the meal. It helped ease the heat.

Today is cold. The wind is also cold. On days like this, my body craves miso ramen. After passing through Takadanobaba in the afternoon, I wonder where to go. The popular shop Motojyun is famous, but it's a bit too salty for me. The noodles are a bit too firm. It's a standard shop, and I feel bad for saying things like less flavor or softer noodles. I remembered a place I had visited a few times before, called Airakutei, so I decided to go there. It's more like authentic Chinese than a typical town Chinese restaurant. It's not super cheap continental Chinese either. I passed by Lawaiden on the way, and it was still bustling. It's still a popular shop. When I entered the restaurant, there were about 5 tables with customers. It was close to 1 o'clock, so maybe they had already had their lunch rush. They didn't have the menu posted on the wall, and even though they brought me water, they didn't bring the menu. The table next to me had a lunch menu, but maybe that's all they have at this time. Well, I had already decided on miso ramen, so it was fine, but since there was no menu, I checked the individual prices and found out that the miso ramen was 810 yen. The half-fried rice set was 900 yen, so without considering my eating capacity, I ordered that. A few minutes later, the half-fried rice arrived. I took a bite, and the taste was okay. It wasn't too dry or too moist. It was a bit oily. Not too little oil, but too much. The miso ramen arrived shortly after. I took a sip of the soup, and being homemade, the miso soup had a rich flavor. It was a slightly different taste from others. The noodles were thin for miso ramen, maybe about medium thin. I topped it with plenty of chili pepper from the table. Ah, I feel warm now. Thank you for the meal.

A restaurant located about a 10-minute walk west of Waseda Street from Takadanobaba Station. I visited around noon on a weekday after a long time. The interior of the restaurant is spacious with table seating, a raised tatami seating area, and a few counter seats. It was almost full during lunchtime, as usual. I ordered the Lunch B set, which includes "Sauce Yakisoba + Half Fried Rice for 900 yen." It can get crowded, so you might have to wait a bit. This time, I waited for about 15 minutes. I started with the half fried rice, which had just the right amount of seasoning, not too strong or too light, and was delicious. Next was the yakisoba, which seemed to use soy sauce instead of the usual sauce. It had a nice balance between a heavy sauce and a light saltiness. The portion was generous with plenty of noodles and vegetables, making it quite filling as a set. In fact, a nearby customer who had the same menu couldn't finish it and wanted to take the leftovers home. It was consistently delicious, and I'm curious about trying the gyoza next time. They accept PayPay for payment. It was a participating store for the 25% cashback offer in September 2021 in Shinjuku Ward. Additionally, it was part of the "Up to 20% cashback at local stores from September 13 to November 28, 2021" promotion. With a double cashback offer, I almost paid half price.

Chilled Shabu-Shabu Cold Noodles with Half-Fried Rice. I was walking around from Takadanobaba towards Kotakibashi, feeling hot and unsure of what to eat. Suddenly, I noticed this place across the street. Should I give it a try? I decided to go in and try their cold noodles. The interior was quite nice. The chilled noodles were delicious, with a sesame dressing, cucumber, and bean sprouts. The noodles were smooth and just the right thickness. The sourness was also perfect. The soup that came with it was also tasty. The half-fried rice arrived next. It was a lightly flavored fried rice, very tasty. They paid attention to details like the direction of the fan and refilling the tea. Overall, it was a great restaurant experience.

I used it for lunch! I was drawn to the recommended tempura dipping noodles and ended up coming here! What came out was more like zaru ramen than dipping noodles, I think. The dipping sauce had a sour taste that you find in zaru ramen, which went well with the tempura! The fried rice was not dry and fluffy, but moist and had a seasoning that was different from typical Chinese restaurants, it had a unique flavor here. I thought it would have been better to order the classic if it was my first time here.

The popular udon shop nearby was closed, so we decided to have lunch at this place nearby. Since there were a lot of people, we were seated in a sunken kotatsu seating area. Last time, I had the chilled Chinese noodles with bamboo shoot chicken, so this time I wanted to try something different, but it was a very hot day, so I went with the Lunch A option - "Pork Shabu Cold Chinese Noodles + Half Fried Rice for 900 yen". Although the chicken was replaced with pork and there was seaweed on top, the base noodles and sauce were the same, so I was able to enjoy the cold and delicious chilled Chinese noodles again this time. The fried rice, even though it was a half size, was consistently delicious. There are many Chinese restaurants and set meal shops in the neighborhood, but this is my favorite place.

About 10 minutes from Takadanobaba Station, on the way towards Kotaki Bridge and Ochiai, there is a restaurant that is always bustling with locals and regular customers. I visited during lunchtime on a weekday, after about half a year. It was a hot day, so I decided to try the recommended dish, "Bou Bou Chicken Cold Noodles + Half Fried Rice for 900 yen". The wait for the food was around 10 minutes, and I could hear the continuous sound of pots being shaken. The cold noodles had a great sesame sauce that paired well with the noodles, and the chicken pieces were large and delicious. The half fried rice was also flavorful and had a nice texture. Overall, it was a refreshing meal that I enjoyed, and I decided that I would come back again when I crave cold noodles in the upcoming hot weather.

On this day, I went on a lunch expedition to Takadanobaba, heading towards the west. However, many restaurants are closed on Wednesdays, so I was a little worried. As I looked around, I spotted this place. I checked the menu board, which looked quite appealing, and decided to enter. Inside the restaurant, I was surprised by how spacious it was. It seemed like they were ensuring social distancing. The interior didn't really feel like a typical Chinese restaurant. There were raised tatami seating and counter seats as well... It felt like it used to be an izakaya. A: Cold sesame noodles with eggplant and half-fried rice: ¥900_ The noodles had a nice firmness to them. The sauce was not too sour, which was good. The eggplant had a good firmness and was delicious. This was quite good. The fried rice, more like one-third fried rice than half, had a good flavor. It was similar to the fried rice at Raiden, with a light and tasty seasoning. The soup also had a good taste and was delicious. B: Stir-fried pork, egg, and tomato set meal: ¥750_ This was for my companion. This place is pretty good! They have a variety of set meals, so there's a lot to try. It's understandable why solo female diners also come here. Visit date: May 13, 2020

A Chinese restaurant along Waseda Street in Takadanobaba, which has many foreign customers. I ordered the "Mapo Tofu Set" from the lunch menu. The Mapo Tofu had a thick texture with a spicy taste from the Sichuan-style bean paste. It was hot and delicious, perfect with rice! The soup had a strong salty flavor with seaweed ingredients. I ate a mandarin orange for dessert and headed back to work feeling satisfied!

Around 1 pm, a bit later for lunchtime, I went to this restaurant because the popular udon place was crowded. I decided to try the "Sweet and Sour Pork Set Meal for 800 yen" that caught my eye last time. It took about 15 minutes for the dish to come out, just as the customers were changing. The sweet and sour pork had a good amount of heat and plenty of meat, making it delicious. It was a bit oily though. The spiciness was just right and went well with the rice. The soup was a salty egg drop soup. Unlike last time when I only got half a banana for dessert, this time it was almond jelly. It was rich and tasted like almond pudding, very delicious.

It's quite crowded during lunchtime, but there are enough seats so you can get in without waiting. I was tempted by the Ankake Fried Rice and set meals, but this time I chose the lunch option "c. Lettuce Fried Rice for 720 yen". The fried rice was well-seasoned with fluffy rice and soft lettuce, which tasted delicious. The soup had a light saltiness which was just right. The Kung Pao Chicken set meal that my companion was eating looked spicy but appetizing. It would have been even better if the dessert option was something like almond jelly with half a banana.

Yes. I decided to make a surprise visit to this restaurant after a long time. Originally, I was planning to buy a bento at Maruetsu and left the office, but suddenly I felt like coming here. I always order the same thing here. Homemade miso ramen and a mini fried rice set. The inside of the restaurant feels cool. As I was watching TV absentmindedly, my order arrived soon. Oh, it's been a while since I had this. The soup is as hot as ever. I can faintly taste the acidity of the miso in the soup. It's loaded with plenty of vegetables, so it's practically calorie-free. The thin noodles tend to stick together easily, so flipping them is a must. The fried rice is really just a tiny portion. Well, maybe this amount of double carbohydrates is enough. Thank you for the meal.

A Chinese restaurant on the street always seen cleaning diligently. Even at night, many customers come for the set meals. I ordered the appetizer platter and the daily special clam fried rice with thickened sauce, along with soup. When I ordered a Hoppy, they put ice in an ice pail! I've never seen a place go that far for a Hoppy. The fried rice was cooked just right, and the saltiness of the thickened sauce was perfect. The taste was good, and the service was pleasant. It's no wonder there were many regular customers.