I was flying back to Korea on an evening flight out of Haneda, but I had dinner plans, so I met a friend in Hamamatsucho. The monorail from Hamamatsucho gets you to Haneda Airport’s international terminal in no time. I searched for good places to eat and went to a Chinese restaurant that’s supposed to be pretty popular around here, and the cooking was seriously skilled. If there were a place like this in Korea I’d become a regular on the spot. Come to think of it, I’ve already been living in Korea for several months, and apart from 2chef and Factory I still haven’t found any regular haunts. For a place to become a regular spot it has to be close by and the vibe has to match, and that seems to be the hard part. Maybe my tastes are just a bit Japanese. I’ll have to figure something out.
Pea shoots
Blanched pea shoots, and they’re really delicious.
Chinjao rosu
Stir-fried pork and green peppers. It’s a completely standard dish at Japanese-style Chinese restaurants, so the odds of it going wrong are low. It tasted just as good as I expected.
Xiaolongbao
This is the house signature. They’re full of hot juices and wonderfully plump. I can’t remember the last time I had xiaolongbao this good. In the end we had two steamers.
Corn soup
It was good, but I’d eaten way too much xiaolongbao, so it was hard to finish.
I’ve been to this neighborhood so many times, but I had no idea there was such a good Chinese restaurant right before you head to Haneda Airport. It’s a bit on the pricey side, but the portions are big enough that it doesn’t feel like much of a burden. The only real problem is that the portions are so large you can’t properly eat here alone. Apparently there’s a lunch menu on weekday afternoons, but it’s so popular with the office workers nearby that the line gets long. Anyway, it’s right on the way to Haneda Airport, so it’s a handy place to know about.