Shatenki Nigouten — Restaurant in Yokohama

正直に言わせていただきます。

We had a rather unpleasant experience and there is definitely no second time for this place.

First, customer service was bad. My boss and I were very hungry and assumed that the line would be very long, but we wanted to try anyway so we decided to get a few dumplings to eat in line. To our surprise the line wasn't long so we stood there trying to hurriedly finish them. We were quietly eating and not bothering anyone, then I noticed this woman by the door inside staring warrily at us. When we were about to enter she suddenly approached us and talked to us in the RUDEST way, as if we intentionally committed a crime of some sort. Well I apologize if it was wrong to eat in line, but we had no idea and there definitely wasn't any sign that said so. I wish she told us nicely. I don't know if that woman was the owner or the manager, neither if she was Chinese or a fellow Japanese, but we are definitely NEVER coming back. My boss is the owner-chef of the place I work in and part of my work is customer service. I honestly have not and cannot imagine treating a customer like that, ever.

Anyway, we stayed because we were eager to try the food. We ordered a 1000yen worth of rice porridge each. So here it goes. The topping was nice and crunchy, but the rice porridge was.. nothing special. It tasted no different than the homemade ones in China and the Philippines. It was disappointing bowl for 1000yen. Although the other customers were ordering chicken which seemed to be a popular menu. Giving the benefit of the doubt, maybe those ones are good.

Lastly, the atmosphere. It seemed clean and lighting was okay. What I didn't like were those very narrow aquariums installed in the walls and the fish inside could only swim up and down. Those bothered me a lot while trying to finish my meal. I mean, should that even be entertaining? Just.. poor fish.

So this is just my honest personal experience. I don't usually give bad reviews but this one's...

This restaurant has 5 chefs they know damn well what they're doing. I'm not Chinese so I can't verify the authenticity of the taste, but for international tastebuds, this restaurant is spot on.

Let's start with the food. You can order the shrimp porridge set (you get shrimp porridge + fried chicken + pork bun) for 1500円 and you'll go home with a full and happy stomach. Add some dumplings and cakwe and you'll go home with a very full and very happy stomach. All the food feels freshly cooked and is seasoned to perfection. Everything I ate felt like the chef has mastered the dish.

The service was also good. I went on a Monday afternoon and the queue was very long. However, line moved very quickly and I ended up only waiting around 5-10 minutes. They have quite a lot of space and plenty of quick and kind staff. I spilled 3 drops of soy sauce and a staff immediately came, smiled, and wiped it off.

I ordered without looking at the price so I was expecting to pay like 5000 yen cuz I had 4 add ons total for 2 people. I ended up paying only 3600 which I will divide with my girlfriend who ate with me. The price was surprisingly cheap and I left as full as when I ate at some of the other all you can eat restaurants in the area.

I came with high expectations due to the good reviews of this restaurant and I'm happy to say that those expectations were well fulfilled. I would've given this 6...

shatenki shatenki shatenki is what I say because their name sounds so funny. shatenkishatenkishatenki. but don't let this name fool you. They serve excellent congee.

Located in the middle of Yokohama Chinatown, Shatenki Nigouten specializes in congee or rice porridge. Just look for a long line and looks like a hole in the wall restaurant from outside. I believe there was a Santa Claus statue outside too.

It was surprising to see the interior looked like a high end restaurant. The prices for the congee are very reasonable. It was about $8 for a smaller bowl which can easily serve 2, but the other cooked items were pricey.

Keep in mind that if you have a small party or are by yourself, you may be seated with a lot of other people at a round table. The table's big enough and everyone just keeps to themselves so it's a lot better than a cafe where you have to sit right next to people...