Hibino Chūka Shokudō

The very uncomfortable experience we had.

We brought our 2.5-year-old for dinner to celebrate our anniversary.

We have been out dining with our kids many times, of course, we do know the regular rules in Japanese restaurants.

The waiter kept staring at our kid forbade him to play with his stuff and kept talking about rules in the dining like you are not allowed to sit on the couch with the shoes even if he is not putting his feet on it.

Great Japanese take on Chinese food.
Very nice and cozy atmosphere that makes the space feel elevated even with the relatively cheap price of the food.

Booked for 2 people on Wednesday, December at 6pm. I was seated at the counter, so it was nice to be able to talk to the staff. When I was having trouble deciding what to order, they kindly told me their recommendations, and I just ordered what they recommended. Everything was well-seasoned, beautiful to look at, and delicious. Each plate has a relatively large portion, so if two people share it, it will feel like a lot. I liked the canelés from the candy store inside the store and wanted to buy them, but unfortunately they were closed that day.

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It is located in a very good location, right in front of Yoyogi-Uehara Station. (There is a No. across the street)

The restaurant opened in 2021 and won the Michelin Bib Gourmand the following year.
The chef trained at Chongqing Hotel, a long-established Sichuan restaurant, and then learned Cantonese cuisine at Mandarin Oriental's Sense and Sense's first head chef, Takase.

I visited at noon on a holiday.
I had read reviews that the obanzai set meal was popular and that it was sometimes sold out even before 11 o'clock, so I was determined to get there early, but since cleaning was slow at times like this, I arrived at the restaurant after 11:30. . (lol)
I was waiting for one group and thought, `Oh, there's not much line up...☺︎'' Then someone said, `I think you'll have to wait quite a while, are you okay?'' There was a space for about 3 to 4 people to wait inside, and one group happened to be shown right away, so we were able to sit inside and wait. Of course I had to wait, but in the end I only had to wait for about 30 minutes, so I wondered if they only wanted people who were okay with waiting a long time to wait. I would say it's the kindness of the store.

・Chinese obanzai set meal: 1600 yen
・Today's Kimagure set meal (sweet and spicy stir-fried oysters): 1,600 yen
・Refill of rice: 200 yen
→The first half-sized drink costs 100 yen, but they do not offer large-sized servings.

Obanzai comes in six small bowls, ranging from main dishes such as spring rolls to side dishes, so it's nice to be able to try a variety of things little by little.
The obanzai set meal is interesting because it's not a full-fledged Chinese dish, but rather a creative Chinese dish or a Japanese-style dish.

It's certainly delicious, but if you only eat obanzai, you might not be able to fully appreciate what this restaurant is all about.

The sweet and spicy stir-fried oysters consist of large oysters that are deep-fried to a crispy texture and tossed in sweet and spicy bean paste, and the dish is clearly authentic and delicious. The flavor of juicy oysters, the numbing sensation of Japanese pepper, and the refreshing yet rich bean paste are irresistible. It was too delicious.

It's definitely a good deal to get it at this price. (Various lunches)

Every dish was wonderful and delicious.
I was especially surprised when I tried the shrimp mayonnaise with the raspberry flavor.
The addition of shine muscat and kumquat is also very stylish.
The stir-fried beef, fried rice, and mango pudding for dessert were also great.