I always go for lunch near my workplace. At first, I found it a little unfamiliar to choose my own ingredients, but once I went there, it was fine! Sometimes I accidentally put too much and end up spending close to 2000 yen, haha. Lately, I've been ordering rice and adding it at the end as a finisher! The taste is really, really delicious. It's addictive, with a strong flavor of sansho pepper. At first, I coughed a bit with the medium spice level, but now I can handle the extra spicy with ease.

Spicy hot pot restaurant. I first tried it when I went to China, and I got hooked on it. I'm glad that I can now enjoy the authentic taste in Japan as well. It's great that you can choose your own ingredients, so you can adjust based on your condition or how hungry you are. However, I always end up taking too much.

On days when I don't feel like dressing up, I always go for the regular spicy option for dinner without hesitation. Even though it's medium spicy, it's still manageable. The white fish roe hanpen is delicious, and I don't mind skipping the lotus root. Two pieces of broccoli are enough, and I like the flavor of the hollow heart vegetable, cilantro, and wood ear mushrooms.

Sometimes the ingredients run out, but overall it's great. Today's new discovery was that the fried tofu soup was delicious and soaked through. The hollow heart of the vegetable was crunchy and good. It would be nice to try new ingredients occasionally, but it's a bit difficult.

In the evening, I was a little disappointed because I didn't have many ingredients in stock, but the beef tendon noodles and knife-cut noodles never fail to impress with their deliciousness. Recently, they have become my go-to choices. Just by showing a review, you can get double the amount of noodles as a service, which is amazing. The processed food items are always delicious, no matter which one you order. Surprisingly, the broccoli plays a great role in enhancing the flavors.

This is my second visit. I added 80g more this time based on SNS reviews. I ordered medium spicy this time. It had a nice level of spiciness and was delicious! Last time, I learned that if you boil cilantro together, it melts, so this time I asked not to boil the cilantro, but it still ended up being boiled together. Maybe I need to just make my own rolls here. LOL

Today, the 160-gram noodles were too much. The soup was a bit spicier than usual, with a strong numbing sensation. I tried clams and fish sausage for the first time, but the regular toppings are still the best. Noodle dishes with fish cake toppings are generally a safe choice, as they never disappoint. I recommend the fish roe dumplings.

A fun system where you can choose your ingredients and noodles at a buffet-style counter with a ball and tongs, priced at 400 yen for 100g. The variety of ingredients is abundant, and it's easy to end up putting too much because of the temptation! I thought I had selected carefully, but ended up spending over 1000 yen, so they gave me an extra 80g of noodles as a bonus. (If you spend over 1000 yen, you get 80g of noodles for free.) By posting on Tabelog, you can get an additional 80g of noodles, so in total, I got 160g! It's nice to get the extra noodles as a bonus. I ordered the spiciness level as normal and medium. There were many Chinese customers and staff, but the spiciness was okay for Japanese people. It's nice that they have chili oil to adjust the spiciness later. The flavor is rich and delicious! The downside is that all the ingredients are cooked together, so the vegetables become too soft. Especially the coriander disappears, so I prefer it raw. The restaurant is spacious and clean. It seems easy to bring a baby stroller inside.

I visited a restaurant today that opened the year before last, which I recently found out about. It's based in Takadanobaba, and I was surprised to learn that they have around 6,000 stores in China! You can choose your own ingredients from the refrigerated showcase using tongs and a container, and it's sold by weight at 400 yen per 100g, which I think is great. However, there are no scales around the showcase, so I was nervous until I got to the register and found out the total was 1,800 yen. But if you spend over 1,000 yen, you get 80g of noodles for free. I was a bit confused because all the items are sold by weight, not just the noodles. In the end, my total was 1,430 yen. I chose too many ingredients to keep track of, but I selected knife-cut noodles, corn noodles, rice noodles, and sweet potato glass noodles, and ordered them all spicy. I was surprised that all the noodles were delicious! Even though we use corn noodles at home, they usually become mushy at other stores, but these were chewy. The rice noodles were even chewier, which was really surprising. The spiciness wasn't too intense, and I finished it all. I will definitely be coming back, it was delicious!

Project H - A World of Self-Satisfaction (Only for those who understand) (^ ^ A certain former idol entered a restaurant during a fan service event. It's not here though. I heard that Maratang is popular among Korean girls, but it turns out to be Chinese cuisine. The image is like adding glass noodles to a hot pot, so is it a similar dish? The sign at the entrance is in Japanese, but starting from the sticker on the door, most of the writing inside is in Chinese. From the staff to the customers, everyone speaks Chinese. I heard there was a set menu, but the paper on the storefront menu says they no longer offer it. The delivery menu naturally has set meals, but for an old man like me, I didn't know what to do. I hope they bring back the set menu. When I asked, "What do you recommend?" it didn't go through. I was given a big bowl and tongs, and I didn't know what to do... For now, it's a hot pot, with meatballs, beef, mushrooms like enoki, and my favorite tripe. This is a lot. And tofu... this looks like dried tofu. Also, Chinese broccoli and glass noodles. I brought them to the register. This comes to about 150g. Calculating 20g for 100 yen. If I add a piece of beef, I get 30g of noodles as a service, they said. So I added a little more. When I went back to the register, they said if it's over 1,000 yen, I get even more service... but it was too much trouble, so I just said, "This is fine," and got a little extra beef tendon noodles as a service. There were customers from the continent who came later. It seems they took too much in the bowl, so they weighed it, then put back the ingredients in the fridge... (^^; Oh my. After waiting at the table for about 5 minutes, the bowl arrived. First, the soup... it was like a light and spicy tonkotsu soup. The spiciness was normal, but it was quite spicy. I realized it when I drank water after finishing. There was quite a bit of Sichuan pepper in it. The taste of water... (^^; I thought, if I go on a hot pot diet, I might lose weight without feeling the spiciness... as I left the restaurant.

Just outside Waseda Exit of Takadanobaba Station, there is a spicy hot pot restaurant located about a 3-minute walk towards Waseda on Waseda Street. I visited for the first time on a weekday just before noon. They offer set menus, but I decided to try their pay-by-weight system. I picked up a bowl and tongs from the sterilization shelf and headed to the refrigerated shelf. The shelf had a wide variety of ingredients to choose from, such as vegetables, meat, seafood like squid and octopus, fish cakes, and meatballs. I picked about 20 different items before heading to the register. I estimated around 200-300 grams, but when weighed, it turned out to be 396 grams, costing 1,560 yen. I was surprised but couldn't back out. Since it was over 1,000 yen, I got 80g of noodles for free, so I chose knife-cut noodles from the various options available. I opted for a mild level of spiciness. They accept payment through PayPay. The restaurant has around 20 table seats, and more customers kept coming in. The majority of customers were women. After waiting for about 7-8 minutes, the food was served. The portion with 400 grams of ingredients was quite substantial. My companion had a little over 200 grams, and the difference in volume was significant. The knife-cut noodles were thick and chewy, the spiciness was a numbing type, and the plentiful ingredients provided a satisfying meal. I felt like having rice at the end. With a few more visits, I think I'll get the hang of estimating the weight, so I'll definitely come back to try again.

I was drawn in by a new restaurant that had opened, and it felt like I was in China because of the authentic atmosphere. Both the staff and customers were Chinese, and I seemed to be the only Japanese person there. I was a bit confused about where I was. You can choose your favorite ingredients, pay based on weight, and they will cook it for you. Since it was my first time, I tried the preset dish of spicy mung bean noodles. It was truly authentic, with a spicy and numbing flavor, and the aroma of star anise. Even when I chose the mildest level of spiciness, it was still hot. It was a taste of the real deal.

Yang Guo Fu Spicy Hot Pot, located on the east side of Waseda Street in Higashi-Ikebukuro, about 2 minutes from the station, is a new hot pot restaurant. This area is filled with authentic Chinese restaurants, and while the storefront claims to be the first store in Japan, there are already similar stores in Ikebukuro, so let's ignore that. The interior of the restaurant is bright and clean, with many international students dining there. I visited on a weekday at 1 pm, right after school ended, and it was packed. However, I was able to get a seat quickly and started with the hot pot buffet, where you can choose from about 30 ingredients priced at 400 yen per 100g. The soup is free, and noodles are counted as part of the weight. Despite being confident in handling spicy food, I ended up going over budget by splurging on high-quality ingredients like whole fish slices and flounder, totaling 1600 yen for 400g. The spiciness level was medium, and the dish was cooked and served promptly. The Ma La soup, with medicinal herbs and chili oil, had a nutty color and a manageable level of spiciness. It was flavorful enough for Japanese palates. The ingredients I added included various fish balls, flounder slices, tofu skin, lamb, chrysanthemum greens, cilantro, bean sprouts, wide glass noodles, and knife-cut noodles. I recommend trying it out for yourself.

The restaurant is offering a 15% discount, but it's crowded at times and hard to find a seat. The medium spicy dish today was a bit spicier than usual. The cabbage and vermicelli were quite good.

The soup is rich and flavorful. It gets a bit boring towards the end. It's a little pricey.

I love soup! The restaurant is very clean and the seats are spacious, making it a relaxing place to eat.