A Whole Peking Duck for ¥18,700, Carved at the Table: Chinaroom at Grand Hyatt Tokyo, Roppongi

A note on the words: xiaolongbao are thin-skinned steamed soup dumplings with hot broth inside. XO sauce is a savory Hong Kong condiment made with dried scallop. Peking duck is a whole oven-roasted duck, carved tableside and rolled in thin pancakes with sweet bean sauce and scallion. Char siu is Cantonese honey-glazed roast pork. Chinjao rosu is shredded meat stir-fried with peppers, here beef sirloin. Mapo tofu is the Sichuan classic of tofu with ground meat, chili bean paste and numbing Sichuan pepper. Ankake is a glossy thickened sauce; shime is the closing dish after drinking, here clay-pot chicken noodles in collagen soup.

Chinaroom

Chinaroom on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.

Fellow drinkers, thank you for waiting! It is time for Hangover Meshi!

This time I am on the 6th floor of Grand Hyatt Tokyo in Roppongi. Cantonese, Beijing, Shanghai, and Sichuan — this is a high-end restaurant that brings all four great regional cuisines of China together under one roof. The interior is stylishly unified in deep red, and this time we had the use of one of the private rooms!!

Coming to a place as grand as this makes you a little nervous! It is so lavish that I almost feel out of place! This time, instead of a set course, we ordered a la carte and shared whatever everyone wanted to eat.

High-end Chinese cooking in a deep-red room! Pure bliss!

Now then, we start with Champagne…! That is a cool angle, ha.

This is Perrier-Jouet’s prestige cuvee, and they say the anemones painted on the bottle are its signature mark. A floral aroma rises gently from the glass, and it is smooth and mellow on the palate. Delicious Champagne!

Chilled Jellyfish with Black Vinegar Dressing (3,080 yen)

I love jellyfish, and I am so glad I get to try it at an upscale place like this! On the first bite, the sharp aroma of black vinegar shoots through the nose, followed by the toasted nuttiness of sesame. It snaps cleanly between your teeth in the most satisfying way — you can tell right away this is quality jellyfish! Because the black vinegar brings sweetness and depth alongside its acidity, the finish is surprisingly light, refined, and delicious!!

Truffle Xiaolongbao (880 yen)

Each one is served in its own bamboo steamer. Even at one per person, it has real weight to it, and the aroma of truffle wafts up as it arrives. The skin is thin, and when you lift it you can feel the heavy slosh of soup inside. Taking care not to burn myself, I nip a small opening and hot soup comes gushing out. So good! Rich pork umami layers with the earthy scent of truffle, turning a single mouthful into pure luxury.

Stir-Fried Today’s Japanese Vegetables with XO Sauce (2,200 yen per 100g)

There are four sauce choices — salt, garlic, XO sauce, and oyster sauce — and I am pretty sure this one is the XO sauce, if I remember right. The vegetables are cooked so they still give a crisp snap between the teeth, just as you would expect from fine Chinese dining; are the vegetables bok choy, pea shoots, and broccoli, I think? They say their house XO sauce is also sold in jars on the first floor of the hotel, so apparently you can pick one up as a souvenir if you like it! Though it looks like it would be pricey, ha.

Five-Ingredient Spring Roll (660 yen)

Splitting it with chopsticks gives a light, crisp snap. The wrapper is thin and feels scarcely oily at all. Inside is a glossy, thickened filling where the textures of pork, shiitake mushroom, and bamboo shoot come through one after another. Best eaten while it is piping hot!

Sweet aromas of pear and pineapple. It has a rich, velvety feel to it, yet goes down so easily!

Oven-Roasted Whole Peking Duck (18,700 yen)

Boom!

What a sight! This is the oven-roasted Peking duck. And believe it or not, they carve it right in front of you at the table!

Then they roll it up for you, and it is ready. When they put on a tableside performance like this right in front of your eyes, it really makes you feel the service charge is well worth it! A great experience.

Put a piece of the skin in your mouth and first comes a dry, crisp snap. A moment later the fat melts away, spreading roasted savoriness and sweetness across the tongue. They say it is roasted in an oven, and because the excess fat renders off, it leaves no heaviness behind at all. Wrapped in a thin pancake, it comes together with the sweetness of sweet bean sauce and the sharp bite of scallion.

So good! What an indulgence!

Stir-Fried Large Shrimp with XO Sauce, 4 pieces (6,600 yen)

Now these are high-end shrimp! As a crustacean fan, I could not pass them up. They are cooked to perfection: bite in and they give a firm, springy snap before the flesh yields tenderly. Expensive shrimp really do taste better! Not a drop of their natural sweetness has escaped. In the XO sauce, the umami of dried scallop takes center stage while the heat stays restrained, so it felt as though it simply backed up the shrimp with extra savory depth without masking their sweetness.

Hong Kong-Style Honey-Glazed Char Siu (3,300 yen)

This is the Hong Kong style, brushed with honey and roasted in an oven. The honey glaze on the surface is delightfully caramelized, sending up a sweet aroma first. Bite into it and the fat and meat juices come oozing out — delicious! The meat stays quite moist, the fat practically melts on the tongue, and despite the sweetness the finish is clean.

Stir-Fried Japanese Sirloin and Three Kinds of Peppers / Chinjao Rosu (6,820 yen)

I suppose this is what happens when you take chinjao rosu to the height of luxury, ha. The beef is sirloin. Even cut into thin strips, the sweetness of the fat comes through clearly, and it falls apart tenderly as you chew. Everything is julienned so evenly that it is a beauty just to look at! I wish I could make something like this at home.

Sichuan-Style Mapo Tofu (3,300 yen)

Here is another dish I just had to order: mapo tofu at a high-end Chinese restaurant!

I dug in wondering how different it would be from what I make at home! First comes the fermented aroma of doubanjiang, a chili bean paste, followed by the heat of the chili oil. On the tongue, the silky smoothness of the tofu arrives first, then the savory richness of the ground meat spreads slowly, and finally the numbing tingle of Sichuan peppercorn lingers on the lips. The chili heat is gentle, with a clear numbing note from the Sichuan peppercorn. What really impressed me is how thoroughly the flavor has soaked all the way into the center of the tofu.

Golden Fried Rice with King Crab (3,300 yen)

Instead of being stir-fried into the rice, the main topping is placed on top afterward — they spoon it over as they portion the rice out. The crab flakes apart delicately, and you get the sense of sweet juice pressing out from the fibers as you chew. Because it is not mixed all the way into the fried rice, you can alternate in your mouth between the pure sweetness of the crab and the savory saltiness of the char siu and egg. What a luxury — delicious!

Golden Fried Rice with Shrimp (3,300 yen)

Here too, the topping is added afterward. Come to think of it, maybe the toppings came on top separately because we asked them to portion the dishes out for us, ha. The snappy bounce and sweetness of the shrimp are wonderful! This one has char siu in it too.

Braised Chicken Noodles in Collagen Soup (2,530 yen)

It is brought to the table right in the clay pot, so it stays piping hot to the very end! I had a little of the soup, and while it is thick and rich with chicken umami, it is not greasy at all and has a wonderful collagen-rich body. The chicken is simmered until it falls apart, which would be so good for a hangover — for shime (the closing dish of a drinking night), this soup is the one!

Crispy Noodles with Five-Ingredient Soy-Sauce Ankake (2,640 yen)

The noodles are crispy fried noodles. I tried just a little of the ankake sauce: the soy-based sauce is not overly heavy, letting the sweetness of the char siu, the savory depth of the shiitake mushrooms, and the fresh greenness of the bok choy each stand out in a very refined ankake sauce! Loaded with chunky ingredients and delicious.

Thank you for the meal!

Man, that was some seriously upscale Chinese food, and it made me so happy! We had the use of a spacious private room this time, and true to the promise of all four great regional cuisines under one roof, it was great fun watching our table jump from Sichuan to Guangdong to Shanghai! The Peking duck in particular was a real showstopper. Ordering everything a la carte is great because you can enjoy combinations you would not get in a set course! I think it is a wonderful spot for an occasional treat.

Here’s hoping I run into more good food today!

Menu and Price List

Chinaroom (Chinese / Roppongi Station, Nogizaka Station, Azabu-juban Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★★☆ 4.0

I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.

One more for the road?

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