A note on the words: Yokohama Chinatown is the largest in Japan, a short walk from Motomachi-Chukagai Station. The shop’s name is written with the characters for Peking and restaurant. Bang bang ji is cold shredded chicken under a sesame sauce. Tianmianjiang is the sweet fermented wheat paste brushed onto Peking duck wrappers. Xiaolongbao are soup dumplings, and the shop writes them xiaolongtangbao, putting the character for soup in the middle. A-choy is a leaf lettuce common on Taiwanese menus. Ganjang gejang is the Korean dish of raw crab steeped in soy, mentioned here only for the way you eat it. Shaoxing wine is a Chinese rice wine, and Tsingtao a Chinese beer. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Yokohama Chukagai Pekin Hanten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. The other day I was watching a program called Kazushige x Kamaitachi Genba and this place, Pekin Hanten, came up. It looked good, and it occurred to me that I had never been, so I booked straight away and off I went. The location is about at the entrance to Chinatown, I suppose. Standing in front of it: ah, I have definitely seen this before! And I have definitely never been in.
Upstairs there are private rooms and no doubt somewhere with a sense of occasion… lol
But we are ordinary folk, so we were in the busy room on the first floor. Frankly this is the more relaxing option lol
Chinese restaurants do have long menus. We decided to simply order whatever we felt like eating.
Tsingtao to start, I think.
It is hot out, and a thin beer tastes wonderful on a day like this.
First order was the appetizer assortment.
Every dish comes in a small plate and a medium plate, and I was sure the quantities would be large, so we went small on everything lol lol
For the cold appetizer assortment you choose whichever combination you like. These were the three we picked.
- Cold squid with scallion and ginger
- Cold jellyfish
- Bang bang ji
The squid has real savor to it and is delicious! The texture is spot on too.
The crunch of the jellyfish and its sweet-sour dressing is the classic. The bang bang ji was marked as hot, but I did not find much heat in it. A sesame-scented sauce with moist, juicy chicken, and very good it is too. Or rather — even the small plate is plenty. In quantity.
Shrimp in chili sauce made with large, springy shrimp.
Ebi chili, as it is usually known. The seasoning is the familiar Chinese ebi chili hauled up several floors into something grander. There is a prickle of heat, but the dish as a whole is not strongly hot, and the scent of scallion, ginger and garlic rises softly through it. Above all, the bounce and sweetness of these shrimp is irresistible. Perfectly cooked.
For the greens you can choose komatsuna, bok choy, spinach or A-choy, but I asked whether they had water spinach and they made it for me! It said seasonal vegetables were available, so I am glad I asked. Water spinach is a summer thing! In any case, the stir-fries at a long-established Chinese restaurant have a gentle flavor and are very good. It is the stock they season it with that makes the difference.
Right — the Peking duck. It says this is where it originated, though I could not tell you lol
Orthodox, the very definition of Peking duck! Neatly cut scallion and cucumber. On top of something like a shrimp cracker, the duck skin alone sits in state. Tianmianjiang and the wrappers are laid out too, and if you say nothing the staff will roll them for you!
They roll them beautifully, with practiced hands.
Well. Splendid. One bite and the crackle of the skin and the savor of the duck spread out in a rush — delicious! This is the thing. The wrapper, and the clean edge of exactly the right amount of scallion and cucumber, come together beautifully. There was only that much skin, yet put together it makes a fair amount of food lol Same as with gyoza and other dim sum: the presence of the dough.
While they were rolling for me I mentioned that I had come after seeing it on television — and was told a lot of people had.
Xiaolongbao, orderable from three pieces. This is another dish particular to this shop, so of course I ordered it!
The juices come rushing out — truly a xiaolong tang bao, soup dumpling and all. Delicious.
Around here I switched to Shaoxing wine.
I was getting quite full, but there was one last thing I simply had to have: crab!
Crab with egg! It looks wonderful. It is swimming crab, so as with ganjang gejang it is easier to suck the meat out of the shell. And this egg sauce is something else. The stock from the crab and the savor of the broth come together — delicious!
Thoroughly satisfied! And thoroughly full!
We ordered a la carte, just the things we wanted, and the bill came to less than I expected. It may be surprisingly reasonable! Had I known, I might have taken on the whole shark fin as well lol Still, let us save that for the next visit. Long-established Chinese cooking, every dish carefully seasoned and delicious. If you want to eat the standards of high-end Chinese without any fuss, Pekin Hanten comes highly recommended! I am glad I came.
Yokohama Chukagai Pekin Hanten (Chinese / Motomachi-Chukagai Station, Nihon-odori Station, Ishikawacho Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
