It’s a Chinese restaurant near Ueno station. Dāo qiēmiàn is recommended.

I visited for dinner at around 20:00. Maybe my timing was bad, but there was a large drinking party nearby, so the restaurant was very lively—or, honestly, extremely noisy—which was the only slightly disappointing part. However, all the dishes were authentic and good. The 刀削麺 I'd come for had a wonderfully chewy texture and was very delicious. The Chinese salad I ordered alongside it had a sharper spicy kick than I'd expected, which added a nice accent. The menu is extensive, including gyoza, so next time I'd like to return at a quieter time and enjoy it at leisure.

+2

Entered around 12:20 on Sunday. It was about 2 tenths full. It's a little away from Ueno's busy district, so it's relaxed. I ordered the 焼き刀削麺 and boiled gyoza set. I'd always pictured 刀削麺 in spicy broth, but it turns out there's a yakisoba-style version too. And it's delicious! I like that it isn't spicy. It was delicious!

An ８-minute walk from Ueno Station on the JR Yamanote Line. A short walk from the Iriya exit, which is also used for pickups and drop-offs for bathhouses and the like. It's on a corner along Showa-dori. I visited at ２０：００ on a weekday evening, and the place was completely deserted. It's a “neighborhood Chinese restaurant.” It's run by a Chinese couple, but judging by the menu, I got the impression that their target customers were probably Japanese workers. The interior is old, rundown, and dirty. Flies hover around the tables, and cockroaches crawl on the floor. The staff squash the bugs with their bare hands, then return to the kitchen as though nothing happened. What lowers my opinion of this place most is the menu, which looks like a treasure map. It's so faded that they seem to have no intention of letting customers actually read it. Orders are taken at the table. Of course, they understand Japanese, so don't worry. I ordered キムチ焼き刀削麺. Now, how does it taste… Hmm, it's neighborhood Chinese food. It tastes like Napolitan. The heat and spices are toned down, with mild seasoning designed to suit Japanese tastes. The ingredients are just pork, onion, and garlic chives. I don't remember whether there was any kimchi. The noodles are, of course, 刀削麺. The portion is very generous, enough to fill up an adult man. The price is ９００円, and I'm full. I can appreciate the low prices, generous portions, and an interior where you can relax as though at your parents' home, but the place is just so dirty that I think it will only suit certain customers.

+3

The prices are cheap The taste is suuuuper cheap… The rice with the mapo tofu is clumped together, and the mapo tofu tastes like ketchup The menma in the knife-cut noodles is insanely sour, and the flavor is so vague you're left wondering what it's supposed to taste like. First place in a while where I felt I'd thrown my money away. Never visiting again.