Yokohama Chinatown

After a fun day visiting the historic city of Kamakura, our next stop was the modern city of Yokohama. Well not as ancient as Kamakura but still historic. Yokohama is home to one of the largest Chinatowns (outside of China).




For the record, I am drinking coffee.

I admittedly do not know much about Yokohama. I was definitely lost in the Chukagai (Chinatown). My concept of Chinatown was more in tune with the ones in Honolulu, San Francisco and Vancouver. My expectation was that we could get a wonderful Chinese dinner at a reasonable price.

Well, my problem was that I did not know much about Chinatown. In fact I did not realize how expensive some of the restaurants were.

We had dinner at an upscale Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown. We were expecting to dine family style and share various dishes. We found out that this place served everything ala carte. They even charged for tea by the person.

It was not all bad. The food was very good in a Japanesificated Chinese way. Huh, what does that mean? Well it means very mild flavoring that accentuated the meat and vegetables used in the dishes. No strong gravy like the local places. The food was very civilized.



We soon ran across this man in front of this suspicious shop. (I think it's a front. shhhh!!!) People in the neighborhood affectionately called him Dai Lo. He was a wise and friendly man. We regret not meeting him before having our meal. I am sure that he would have directed us to an establishment that was more suitable to us.




In summary, Chinatown is quite an experience. However, I should have known that Chinatown in Yokohama is no different than Chinatowns in the US. You need to have one of the locals to direct you to the best restaurants...., lesson learned.