Manchinro Honten

Manchinro Honten is one of Yokohama Chinatown's oldest and most revered dining institutions, tracing its history back to 1892. Located in the heart of Yamashitacho, the restaurant has served generations of Yokohama residents and visitors with a menu rooted in Cantonese cooking adapted over more than a century of Japanese influence. The dining room spans multiple floors, with private tatami-style rooms available for groups and family gatherings — an arrangement that made the restaurant a favored destination for wedding banquets and corporate celebrations throughout the twentieth century. The kitchen's most emblematic dish is kakuni, a rich braised pork belly slow-cooked until the fat becomes silky and the meat falls apart at the touch of chopsticks, finished with a deep soy and rock sugar glaze. Peking duck is carved tableside with appropriate ceremony, the crisp lacquered skin served alongside steamed bao buns and hoisin sauce. The dim sum selection is made fresh each morning: har gow (shrimp dumplings) and siu mai (pork and prawn dumplings) arrive in bamboo steamers with thin, translucent wrappers that speak to practiced kitchen skill. From autumn through early winter, hairy crab (Shanghai crab) appears as a seasonal feature — a premium option worth seeking out when available. The wine list leans toward Chinese Shaoxing rice wine and Japanese beer, though sake pairs surprisingly well with the gentler Cantonese preparations. Reservations are recommended for dinner and strongly advised on weekends, when queues form at the ground-floor entrance. A weekday lunch visit offers more relaxed access at broadly similar prices.