A note before you go: this shop has since closed. The report is left here as a record of the meal. Yuba is the delicate skin lifted from simmering soy milk, used here as a wrapper; char siu is Chinese roast pork. Prices are as they were at the time of the visit (2026).
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Suiho Honten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Drinkers, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time.
To Yokohama Chinatown this time! And, as you would expect, absolutely packed — not a free seat anywhere!!! We went into the first place that caught the eye, a shop with a sign that wears its years proudly, and — a party was just leaving, so we swapped straight in! Lucky! And they look like they have jellyfish! Excellent!
Let us eat!
At this shop, the rule at lunchtime appears to be that you may order only once.
So you choose carefully and commit to everything you want in a single strike!
Right — everything ordered, nothing left to do but wait!
Beer has to come first, obviously!
We might have been allowed to add drinks later, but just in case — a highball too!
The dish is simply called “jellyfish”. Admirably clear.
What arrived was glossy and beautiful. Suiho opened in 1986, and its chef has spent over forty years on Cantonese cooking alone; this is his chilled jellyfish. The accompaniments are orthodox: mizuna greens and sliced tomato.
The dressing is the standard Cantonese build of soy, vinegar and sesame oil — nothing flashy, but a subtractive composition that lets the texture of the jellyfish do everything. Very refined. Yes: “jellyfish” is delicious!
And the reliable Chinese staple: gyoza.
Unlike the neighbourhood Chinese diner version, these are steamed. The skins are chewy. Bite in and the juices burst out, carrying the savour of the filling straight to you.
And this is the shop’s speciality! Deep-fried crab and shrimp rolls.
I judged the full size too large and went for the half — correct call. Double that would have been too much. It is said to be one of the shop’s two great signatures, alongside the drunken crab.
An extravagant fried dish using premium snow crab and shrimp: a thin yuba-like wrapper rolled generously around crab and shrimp meat, then fried crisp. Bite in and the first thing is a lovely crisp snap — astonishingly light.
Then the delicate sweetness of crab and shrimp opens up softly. The snap of the shrimp is excellent too!
Not minced paste but visibly real meat — a luxurious build. For a fried dish there is no greasiness at all; only a refined savour left cleanly on the tongue. A fried dish this light, that slips down this easily — I am glad to have met it!
To finish, something with rice: fried rice!
Every grain standing separate, yet faintly moist — exactly the right judgement.
In the mouth, the toastiness of the egg, the savour of the char siu and spring onion, and that “breath of the wok” that only fierce heat produces, all opening up together. It makes no loud claims, but the seasoning is gentle and full of savour. Delicious!
And with that, we were done!
At the end the staff even gave us tips on where to look around at this time of year — a good meal all round! While we were eating, a customer came in wanting to take away some dango, so perhaps this shop is known for its dumplings or something of the sort. When it is busy the wait looks substantial, but I am a little curious.
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Suiho Honten (Chinese / Motomachi-Chukagai Station, Ishikawacho Station, Nihon-odori Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
