A note on the words: char siu is Cantonese barbecued pork, here prepared using prized Kinka pork, and Peking duck features crisp roast duck skin wrapped with scallions inside thin pancakes. Nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) is a prized fatty deep-water fish, served lightly stir-fried with pine nuts rather than grilled or raw as sashimi. Shaoxing wine is an amber-colored fermented Chinese rice wine, presented here aged for thirty years. Kangkong (water spinach) is a hollow-stemmed leafy vegetable stir-fried quickly for a crisp texture.
Table of Contents hide
Chugoku Hanten Fureika on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. I had previously visited for lunch at Chugoku Hanten Fureika, a luxurious Chinese restaurant in Azabu-juban. This time, I actually got to go in the evening! Hooray! I had been wanting to go just once! And so, full of excitement, I headed to the restaurant!
This time we were shown to a spacious room on the second floor.
On a small lazy Susan turnable table, soy sauce and vinegar are laid out.
Flowers, ha ha ha
There are all sorts of things on the menu, but this time, instead of a set course, we went with ordering whatever we liked a la carte!
Apparently they portion each dish out nicely for the number of people before bringing it over, which is wonderful!
All right, let’s keep ordering one after another.
First off, of course!
Kinka pork char siu, crisp-roasted pork belly, and steamed chicken in the house sesame sauce.
The char siu is exquisite!! So delicious. Truly top-tier Chinese. The finest appetizer.
What is called ebi chili (chili shrimp), but an exceptionally mellow version.
And the plump shrimp are wonderfully sweet and delicious. It is chili shrimp, but somehow chili shrimp from another dimension.
The popular dish of this restaurant, Peking duck!
A fairly thick, hearty Peking duck. The contrast between the crisp texture of the duck skin and the soft crepe wrapped around it is fascinating! The ingredients are rolled with great unity, and there is none of that thing where the scallion sticks out awkwardly (so common, ha). Man, is this really 1,500 yen? A true luxury, but an insanely delicious dish!
And then, some Shaoxing wine! I have never drunk a thirty-year-old Shaoxing wine before…
Both aroma and taste are remarkably mellow, making it very easy to drink. It’s like whisky or other aged spirits — things that are aged all seem to head in roughly the same direction ^^. Delicious.
Nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch). I often eat it as sushi, but seeing it “stir-fried” rather than grilled, torched, or sliced raw as sashimi is rare.
The quickly stir-fried nodoguro is full of rich fat, flaky and delicious.
This is what sweet-and-sour pork in high-end Chinese cooking is all about~. Just black vinegar and meat!
Firm on the outside, juicy on the inside. The gentle sourness and aroma of the black vinegar go so well with the pork! A perfect match for the Shaoxing wine too.
Plump pan-fried dumplings bursting with meat juices inside!
Bite in carelessly and it’ll squirt everywhere ^^. Spring rolls are so good, aren’t they~. The savory filling inside the crisp skin is outstandingly delicious.
I might never have eaten kangkong (water spinach) stir-fried with such delicate care!
Lately I often eat Sichuan-style mapo tofu, but it has been a long time since I had such a gentle mapo tofu!
It looks quite dark, but has a wonderfully gentle flavor!
When there is a decent-sized group, ordering a big spread of whatever you like a la carte and sharing a little of each works better than you would think.
Having a little bit of everything you like is actually much more satisfying than a set course!
Still, truly the pinnacle of Chinese dining! The Peking duck, the spring rolls, and that thirty-year-aged Shaoxing wine were so good! I’d love to go again!
Chugoku Hanten Fureika (Chinese / Azabu-juban Station, Akabanebashi Station, Kamiyacho Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★★☆ 4.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
