Hakuhou, Yokohama China Town 白鳳、横浜中華街

Yokohama’s China Town increasingly seems nothing more than a theme park. Great fun for a tourist on their first visit, but having seen it once they will have seen it all. There is, however, a good reason to make return visits - food. Hundreds of Chinese eateries ranging from simple noodle or dumpling vendors, a plethora of nikuman shops, to more elaborate, ostentatious restaurants. Weekends and holidays witness crowded streets as visitors sample the delicacies on offer in China Town, one of the few places in which the Japanese seem happy to eat in the street.

On a recent visit, after having tried some nikuman from a street vendor I found myself still hungry and wandering the side streets trying to decode on a restaurant from among the bewildering array of establishments offering a variety of set lunch courses. Previous experience had taught me to trust in the good taste of others. If a place has a crowd, especially a Chinese crowd, and, even better, a long queue outside too, then it’s probably worth trying. A relatively small restaurant, clean and simple interior with Chinese prints and paintings adorning the walls and traditional music playing in the background, Hakuhou was busy, but not with Chinese 

In addition to the main menu a selection of cheap lunch sets were available ranging from 900 to 980 yen. My dining partner and I went for the B and C sets, both for 980 yen. Both were certainly excellent value for money, with good portions, especially the huge serving of boiled rice, and were reasonably tasty, if not outstanding. The chicken soup was perhaps a little bland, and the large plate of prawns (Set C) in sweet and sour sauce too sweet. Having been deterred by the vibrant orange of the prawn dish I had, thankfully, ordered the shredded pork (Set B) with green pepper, carrot and onion. Tasty

enough for the price but, again, hardly inspiring. The gyōza were rather thin. The meal ended with the usual gelatinous desert.

So, to recap, a set lunch consists of soup, rice, main dish, gyōza and desert all for less than 1,000 yen. The food is not bad, it is what it is. Drinks, we had beer and tea, are slightly over-priced. Service is polite enough and fairly prompt, although we waited for our second plate of gyōza too long, the atmosphere relaxed and the place itself clean. Overall, a decent enough basic lunch at budget prices.

Tel: 045-226-3355