A Chinese restaurant in an alley a short walk from Iidabashi Station toward Kudanshita. The energetic staff of Chinese descent selling bento outside made an impression. Many customers were also of Chinese descent, so it seems popular with people from the cuisine’s homeland. I was shown into a calm interior with several tables. The menu had several stir-fry and noodle set meals, but I ordered 【五目ラーメン】950円 It arrived in about 5 minutes. Medium-thick noodles sit in a lovely clear soy sauce broth, topped with a thick sauce full of stir-fried pork, shrimp, squid, scallops, quail eggs, napa cabbage, carrots, wood ear mushrooms, button mushrooms, bamboo shoots, leafy greens… despite being called gomoku. It comes with fried rice containing egg, carrot, and chashu. First, I was surprised that something called gomoku ramen contained more than 10 ingredients. Every bite revealed something different, a pleasant surprise that made the noodles feel luxurious. The soup itself is a light, chicken-bone-based soy sauce broth, but sweetness from the pork and vegetables, along with seafood umami and richness, seeps out of the stir-fry sauce, creating a deep, delicious flavor. It clings well to the distinctive thick noodles, whose chewy texture and wheat flavor were also delicious. I enjoyed the differences in texture and umami among the ingredients. The fried rice felt slightly closer to pilaf in its cooking, but it was simply delicious. There was all-you-can-eat zha cai on the table, so I tried it alongside the rice. Its mild flavor paired extremely well with the fried rice, and I finished everything in no time. It’s surprising that these ingredients and this portion cost less than 1,000円. The mapo tofu and other dishes looked good too, so I definitely plan to return soon.

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Visited for lunch! Ordered the 青椒肉絲 set!! 950円!!! It’s quietly satisfying to get a Chinese set meal for under 1,000円. Free large servings of rice are also welcome these days when rice prices are high. Payment was available in cash or PayPay. As often happens at Chinese restaurants, the menu photos are only illustrative, and sure enough, there were no bell peppers. The salad was bean sprouts, unlike the photo too. The 青椒肉絲 tasted pretty good! It was also nice and piping hot! Perhaps because it was just before 14 on a weekday, the restaurant was quiet and comfortable! My conclusion: the 青椒肉絲 wasn’t good enough to make me order it again! I’d like to try other dishes if I get the chance.

I stopped by after 19 on a weekday following a regular meeting at a nearby rental room. The food was generously portioned and reasonably priced.

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2024/02/28 around 11:00 First visit ■Mapo tofu lunch 820円 ▼Cash payment Feeling duty-bound to visit a Chinese restaurant at least 1 time a week, and with a meeting scheduled for 12:30 that day, I opted for an early lunch here, where they open at 11:00. There were no customers, as they had only just opened. I was surprised when my order arrived just 1 minute after ordering. The mapo tofu wasn’t very spicy and leaned sweet. The Chinese soup was lukewarm. There was also a small piece of eggshell in it, so I’d like them to prepare it a little more carefully. Thank you for the meal.

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I had the mapo tofu set for lunch. It had a smooth texture that made good use of momen tofu. Smooth, but not soupy; more like a harmony between plenty of silky tofu and the sauce paste. The kind of mapo tofu you eat with a stainless steel spoon. Judging by the tableware, especially the spoon, I wondered if this lunch was served from a Chinese perspective. Apparently, from a Chinese perspective, ceramic soup spoons are something mothers use casually when eating their children’s leftovers, and adults only use them for soup. From a Japanese perspective, though, fried rice and mapo tofu feel more natural and taste better eaten with those spoons… It’s spicy, but not overly so, with chili heat stronger than numbing heat. In other words, it’s chili-hot mapo tofu rather than Sichuan-pepper-hot. If you want mapo tofu you can shovel down while getting a little high on Sichuan pepper, I think you should look elsewhere. The saltiness is gentle, making it ideal for a regular lunch. It’s well balanced with the other items in the set, and the accompanying vegetables and soup are tasty too. Salty mapo tofu makes you eat more rice, but over the long term it can leave you feeling unwell, so perhaps this is designed with reassurance in mind? That’s how it felt.

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