kenran
I went on the day of the Gion Festival's hoko parade. It's in the opposite direction of the hoko. It's located on the west side a little south of the Marutamachi intersection (Nishioji Marutamachi). It used to be a cake shop where you could also have coffee until a few years ago. It's less than a 5-minute walk from JR Marutamachi Station. It's near a Chinese restaurant. The inside of the restaurant is spacious and clean. There is also a second-floor seating area, with a total seating capacity of 80 according to the restaurant. We were seated on the first floor. The restroom is on the second floor. The menu is a bit difficult to read due to the reflective vinyl cover for cleanliness. The menu has a wide variety of options, including authentic dishes made with shark fin and spiny lobster. I'm not sure about the lunch portion, but there is a lunch set that comes with soup and almond pudding for 850 yen. For example, the sweet and sour pork set comes with shrimp tempura. Rice refills are also available. The evening drink set is also good. The owner seems to be Taiwanese? We started with steamed chicken. It has a refined taste. Chinese food is not recommended for two people. Because I dislike course meals in all cuisines but still want to try a variety of dishes. If it's me and my wife, 3-4 dishes including the finale is the limit. On this day, my two hungry (only in terms of appetite, not wallet) sons were with us, so we were able to order quite a few dishes. Jellyfish. It was the thickest jellyfish I had ever seen. We enjoyed it with a sauce flavored with sesame oil. When we finished these two dishes, I moved on to a bottle of Shaoxing wine. Rare Shaoxing wine 10 years (White Tai) 500ml for 1680 yen. The menu here is priced quite delicately. Many items end in 1580 yen, 880 yen, or 80 yen. And they don't include tax. Stir-fried chicken gizzards and leeks. This is also a cold dish. It has a slightly star anise flavor, giving it a full Chinese taste. It has a good texture. Shrimp chili. It's perfectly firm. The taste is mild, not too spicy. Delicious. I ordered the tripe and chili stir-fry that was described on the restaurant's page on Tabelog as "Once you eat it, you'll be addicted!" But it didn't suit my family at all. We left some uneaten. It was more of a trauma than being addicted after eating it once. Unlike the 1280 yen sweet and sour pork that came later, this 1580 yen dish was disappointing in taste. I washed it down with a gulp of Shaoxing wine and refreshed my palate with the green pepper shredded pork that came next. It was slightly less flavorful than what we usually eat at other restaurants, making it a good match for the wine. Here comes the sweet and sour pork. It's a staple Chinese dish for our family. We always order it at any restaurant. The balance of sweet and sour sauce, and the spiciness of the onions were excellent. It's sweet and sour pork with pineapple. Looks delicious, doesn't it? Spring rolls. You can eat them as is without any condiments. If needed, they will provide mustard and soy sauce. The waitress, who speaks simple Japanese without any affectation, is she Japanese? I like that she didn't thicken the sauce too much. Shrimp is included, can you feel the crunchy texture? My eldest son was still hungry, so we ordered the Tianjin rice halfway through. The sauce was slightly sweet rather than salty, which suited our taste. The chicken karage only comes with bones. I prefer bone-in, even though it's harder to eat. I like it. I imagined it would be more like bone-in bite-sized pieces, but I didn't really notice the bones that much. It's a cliché, but it's crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The seasoning isn't too strong. It comes with salt sprinkled on top. The karage set might be a bit difficult to eat with rice. I saw the photos on Tabelog and wasn't sure about the size, so I thought about ordering two portions, but one was enough. Each piece is large. For the finale, we had Yangzhou fried rice. It's the same as five-treasure fried rice. I don't really like extremely fluffy fried rice. The slightly moist texture of this fried rice reminded me of the taste of a famous restaurant I had a long time ago. Seafood yakisoba. It was really delicious. The Chinese food here...