Hainanese Chicken Rice Under the Cherry Blossoms

The wildly blooming cherry blossoms attract tourists to enjoy the cherry blossoms. After the prosperity, the crowds receded, and the cherry trees were still standing there as usual. The cherry tree is still a cherry tree, but it lacks the dress of flowers, but most people don't look at it anymore.

The " Hainan Chicken Rice " with the regional name still sticks to its name when it comes to a foreign country. Even if its inner part has changed, I still hope that some people can appreciate the transformed deliciousness.

The Japanese, who are good at "improving" things, do the same with their diet. The Japanese-style ramen is imported back into the birthplace, the curry that can be praised by the Indians, the delicious Mapo tofu (just a little less spicy), and the Italians also love the pasta.

A few days ago, I was wandering along the Meguro River, a famous scenic spot for cherry blossom viewing, and stumbled upon a restaurant specializing in Singapore and Malaysia cuisine. The name of the shop is very straightforward, and it points out that this is a specialty store that sells "Five Star Rice" with "chicken". However, although the Chinese characters are written like this, the pronunciation is "Five Star Cafe (ファイブスターカフェ)", this point It is also one of the mysteries of Japanese Kanji. The representative dishes of the restaurant, Hainanese chicken rice, bak kut teh, laksa noodles, curry rice... Seeing these names, the Nanyang scenery in the Singapore and Malaysia that I visited before the epidemic naturally came to my mind. I haven't traveled abroad for more than 2 years, and when I saw the cooking photos posted at the door of the store, the glutton in my stomach couldn't help but move. After a special search for one night, the whole family went together to relieve their cravings.

At the beginning, one person ordered a drink first, and the restaurant stipulated a low consumption when dining in the evening. Hainanese chicken rice and bak kut teh are two must-order dishes, after all, they are here for them. I chose another claypot rice (どなべごはん), which is claypot rice. This dish was the most unexpected surprise. The ingredients used in the pot, in addition to the store's signature chicken, the sausages are actually Taiwanese sausages , which is a great plus. The rice is also not regular Japanese rice, but long grain rice that looks like the Nanyang variety, which is more suitable for making claypot rice than moist Japanese rice. Open the lid of the pot and stir the rice with a little burnt fragrance, and the aroma will be more intense. Among all the dishes, this one is the quickest to liquidate.

Hainanese Chicken Rice , the origin of its name, is indeed of a high standard. Chicken rice is cooked with chicken stock and jasmine rice, and you can choose the size of the rice. The meat of the chicken is tender, smooth and elastic, and it is served with three kinds of homemade dipping sauces, so you can add flavor as you like. With a bowl of clear and sweet chicken soup, without adding too much seasoning, you can taste the original taste of chicken soup that is not greasy.

Bak Kut Teh is said to contain star anise, wolfberry, cinnamon, garlic, etc., but it may be to take into account the preferences of Japanese people. Although the soup is strong, the taste of Chinese medicine is much weaker. Digression, the most unacceptable food for most Japanese to go to Taiwan is stinky tofu, and dishes with "a lot" of star anise are generally not acceptable. The Japanese basically do not use star anise as a seasoning, so although Lu Rou rice has become popular in Japan now, the taste of star anise is lacking in many places...

Every dish has a performance above the standard, but unfortunately the portion is too small. I felt that it was not enough in the middle, so I added laksa noodles . Hmm~ This bowl of noodles is a bit subtle, the noodles are milky white that I have never seen before, not like rice noodles, with a little bit of pasta chewiness, but not like spaghetti made from wheat flour. Although the soup is laksa-flavored, it tastes good, but it lacks the authentic heavy taste.

I don't know if we arrived too early that night. We entered the store at 18 o'clock and went out after checking out. No other customers came in at all. It was a private room. It is reasonable to say that the food is delicious, the decoration is unique, and the location is good. It is only a 3-minute walk from the station, and along the Meguro River, there should be no other guests. After checking the online reviews, the scores are quite high, not only on Google Maps, but also other food review sites with more than 4 points. (Japanese ratings for restaurants are more stringent than those of other countries, with a full score of 5 points, and an average of 3.5 points is not bad.)

The store's previous location disappeared for a while due to the demolition of the restaurant building, and it appears to have only reopened at this new location last year. I hope that in addition to the cherry blossom season, more customers will come to visit, otherwise it would be a pity that such delicious Hainanese chicken rice disappears again!

"Five Stars" restaurant information

3-minute walk from the exit of Nakameguro Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line and Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line

1-17-3 Kameguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

080-7659-3110

11:00～23:00 (Last order 22:30)

Although the official website says Tuesday as a fixed holiday, our family dine in the restaurant on Tuesday night (mystery)

2022/05/26 posted.

Original link toJapan behind-the-scenes observation