Hello
This is Kobe Lunch
We arrived in Kobe last night
Now, we're going to get
A proper meal
Yes, that's the plan
Near where we are staying
We found out that there is a Chinatown
Yes, it only took like
-It only took five minutes -Awesome
But apparently, this place is
Actually one of the most famous
Chinatowns in Japan
I heard it's incredibly famous
And has a deep history
As it was established
In 1867
When Japan opened its ports
[Knowledge Drop!]
Actually, the street next to here
It was a main street, but with not much foot traffic
And as you can see
There are so many people
[Bustling]
Today is a weekday
-And it's not even noon yet -It's still Morning
It's 10:30 in the morning
[Diligent people]
But I don't know what to expect
-I have no idea -The problem is that
Should I look forward to Japanese style food..?
Or if I should expect Chinese food
I think neither of them
I'm guessing a mix of half and half
That's the way I see it
[Street food]
This was very interesting to me
Peking duck
It's already wrapped
It's kind of like a tortilla wrap..
I agree
I felt like I was eating a crepe
[Ordered one]
-Do you wanna know something interesting? -What is it?
We usually have it warm
Is it cold?
It’s really cold
[First impression]
There's too much sauce
I can see that
Should I eat this all in one bite?
-I'm sorry -Why?
You spilled the sauce! When did that happen?
[Accident occurred]
[Tasting time]
This is the first bite of food in Japan
And that first meal is the Peking duck
Isn't it kind of funny?
I mean, we can easily get this in Hong Kong!
Remember a few weeks back in Shenzhen?
We had Peking duck there...
-...And I did a review of it -Yeah
This is a whole different experience
-You can think of it as almost a different dish -Totally
It's not like the usual Peking duck we get in Hong Kong...
The classic Peking duck
Is supposed to be all thinly sliced and stuff / Exactly
This one's just a mountain of meat
And a whole lot of cucumbers
Definitely unique
It's like... a Chinese kebab
Oh! You got it
[Naming sense]
And now, we're eagerly awaiting for
Our second dish
Is this Taiwanese style xiaolongbao?
Yes, that's right
They sell Taiwanese
Xiaolongbao like this
[Waiting line]
[Quick hands]
[Adding soy sauce]
No wonder this plaza is packed
Everyone goes to the plaza for a seat
[Very crowded]
At this place, each person has to order at least one item
Or they won’t let you in
And even if you get to be inside
-You still have to stand -True
[Observing]
Okay, so it looks like the ones we know
That classic xiaolongbao shape
-Juicy inside and stuff -You got it
But they have a pretty thick skin
Yeah, a bit thick
[Expressing with face]
Whoa, check out that juice!
And it's piping hot!
How am I supposed to eat this?
I can’t eat this in one bite!
[Meat juice first]
Definitely it is Japanese style
It tastes savory
But it generally tastes like
The ones we had in Hong Kong and China
They taste the same actually
[Trying for the first time]
It's really hot
Yes, be careful
The soy sauce tastes a little sweet
In Hong Kong, they make Xiaolongbao skin
Very thin
We consider making thin skin an art form
- But it's quite thick here - I can see that
Because the skin is thick
I can feel the texture more
For those who enjoy food texture
They will like these
- I don't like it - You don't?
[Embarrassed]
How is it?
- Isn't it similar to the ones we have back home? - Yes
There is so much Juice
My meat Juice
[Overflowing]
With the thicker skin
I feel like I'm having some bread
Or like dumplings
In Chinatown
This restaurant is the most famous
Look at the waiting line
[Almost 100 people in line]
[Endless line]
For 20 to 30 minutes under the sun
You have to wait to get a seat at the restaurant
Right
We have observed
More than 30 minutes ago
The line was just as long back then
This restaurant has the most people waiting
- In this area - You're right
[Exhausted]
It's been 10 minutes in line
- It definitely moved forward a bit, though - Yes
This is a take-out only restaurant
The waiting time is short
They sell steamed bread
[20 minutes later]
[Completed ordering]
[Picking up the food]
The line is definitely moving forward pretty quickly
Quite right
Moves fast for sure
This dish looks
With the oldest history
[Sniffing]
It does look good
We all recognize this shape
[Dripping]
It's very juicy
It's quite salty
That's what I like about it
And the skin is much thicker!
This is basically just bread
- Very doughy - And Chinese style
It's so thick that you could call this bread
You know what's special here?
There are only buns and dumplings
Of course, in a restaurant
You'd get some fried rice or something
But all buns and dumplings
- For the street food or the take out menu - I see
- Salty? - I can taste butter
In the dough
[Taking a moment]
It's very strong
So this is the butter taste
Usually, most of Chinese food
- Don't have this kind of flavor - Yeah
They put lots of butter
Or lard
On the dough
And the meat inside is very salty
It has an impressive
Combination between
Chinese and Japanese style
I am actually
Getting sick of dumplings
What we had, the two orders, so far was only dumplings
- No, we had three different kinds - Was it three?
Oh, it's two
By the way this place also have waiting line
I knew it
People here seem
- To really love dumplings - Sure
Anyway, this place has gyoza
We're giving one more try
[Opening rush]
We’re getting in after 30 minutes
More lining up out there
It’s crazy right now
They politely have
Provided us with an English menu
And a Korean menu
We didn’t even have to ask
The lady came
We looked like we were struggling
Yeah
Gave these to us as she was passing by
This is the Korean menu
If you look in the back, there are instructions
On how to make the miso sauce
I think it’d be really delicious to eat with this sauce
[Language barrier]
[Looking at something]
You worked hard
-To make this sauce -Yeah
I made it according to the steps
-Did you make it according to the recipe? -Yeah
I found some garlic over here
-Do you want me to put garlic in it or no? -Please
The combination of miso, soy sauce
Vinegar and garlic
[Looking around]
But this place
I looked around
-I think we’re the only foreigners here -You’re right
We came to Chinatown
And it seems like we’re the only Chinese people here
I mean, only me here
It’s kind of fascinating
The boiled dumplings are here
In a very small bowl
The sauce that you made
-Let's dip it in there -Yeah
[Together with the sauce]
It just tastes like
A water dumpling
But the skin is thick
Like the ones we had before, Japanese style dumplings have
Thicker skins, for sure
The dumplings are pretty big, too
Yeah
But the filling inside
There isn’t as much as I thought
It tastes plain
Yeah it’s plain
That’s why the sauce is
Very salty
It goes very well together
This kind of feels like the boiled dumplings
We often eat in dumpling soup
On Lunar New Year
Yeah, I can see that
It's very light and mild
The soup is almost
Light as water
The second one we ordered is
It's the black bean noodles they have
So this is
It's the large size
This one is the small size
Korean style has
richer and darker color
-And serve with a lot of sauce -Exactly
The noodles here are a bit more white in color
-They stand out really well, right? -Right
Right! Right! Right! Right!
[Mixing]
[Japanese-style black bean noodles]
There’s really almost no seasoning
The meat also has very little seasoning
The vegetables are just boiled, almost plain
It feels like they're just placed on top
So, from what I see, the dumplings
Dipping them in the sauce
And if you eat it with these noodles
It seems like then everything will be just right
So that’s why the sauce is salty
The dumpling sauce
Oh, is that so?
But the local people here
Try our black bean noodles once
-They would be really surprised -I think they would be shocked
Because it's quite intense in flavor
[Cultural shock]
Am I supposed to add the sauce next to it?
[Curiosity]
Go ahead and add a little, it should be fine
It seems like others don't add it, though
[Noticing]
[Faint smile]
You know what I mean, right?
It’s quite mild, isn’t it?
[First words after tasting]
-It’s really quite fascinating -It’s intriguing
But the noodles are a bit on the thicker side
It's different from the jjajangmyeon we're familiar with
It's not the thin noodles
-The noodles are quite thick -That's right
And it'a white noodle
-I think it's made of flour -Right
The texture of noodle is like
Udon noodles
[Hesitating]
I mean, when we visited Japan before
Every restaurant we went
People were so quiet
It was almost suffocating
Cause it was too silent inside
The first restaurant we came here at Kobe
People aren't that quiet as before
Which gives more vibrant vibe
I mean
It’s starting to feel a bit like a restaurant people actually come and go
So personally I really like this kind of atmosphere here
The last dish is
The one we wanted the most
Right
[Lots of sauce]
It's so fresh
It's well made
But still, it has clean taste
We must need sauce
This Gyoza is
The best menu for a reason
This one is the best in this restaurant, for me
[Super recommend]
It's awesome
[Respect]
Aren't you full?
[Endless mukbang]
Once I get started, I can't stop eating
We came to the most famous
Chinatown in Japan
And we waited in a line at couple of restaurants
And tried some food
Yes
I think it was an amazing experience
I know
It was neither authentic Chinese food
nor Japanese food
Somewhere in the middle
-It's the food from somewhere in the middle -Right
I think you must try once at least
Exactly
The total price at the last place
[24,000 KRW] It was 2,615 JPY
Yes
We ordered dumplings and noodles
A drink
I ordered a refillable one
I think it's a good price
-It's not that expensive -Yes
So, we're going to find
A good restaurant in Kobe, Japan
And we'll continue our trip
Bye bye
HKL's 3-line review 〈Nankinmachi〉
1. Distinctive Japanese dumplings
2. Plain noodles and salty sauce
3. Japan's top three Chinatowns