#Today's Spicy Adventure Yokokokufuku Maratan Ueno Store Malatang, Okachimachi Station Price: 1,040 yen Spiciness Level: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ (4) Today's spicy adventure took me to a Malatang restaurant in Okachimachi that I had been curious about. I've ordered delivery from here before, but this was my first time dining in. The staff, who I believe were Chinese, didn't provide much explanation, so I had to figure things out on my own. You pick your ingredients, take them to the counter to pay, and choose your spiciness level. There were various ingredients like vegetables, meat, and meatballs to choose from. I picked glass noodles, but since my total was over 1,000 yen, the noodles were free. However, the glass noodles were not included, so I ended up with regular ones instead. According to regulars (overheard conversation), it's smarter to load up on ingredients and skip the noodles, as they're free anyway. I chose spinach, enoki mushrooms, broccoli, yuba, wood ear mushrooms, lamb, and opted for extra spicy. The Malatang had a clear broth base and was generously seasoned with chili oil. I added more chili oil, hot sauce, and sesame oil from the condiment station. I also had black vinegar on the side. The glass noodles were chewy, while the regular ones were slippery and delicious. The glass noodles were quite filling. The spiciness level wasn't extreme, but the added sesame oil gave it a nice kick. The dish had a good amount of garlic flavor as well. I finished off with a flavor change using black vinegar. Overall, I was very satisfied with the meal. Ordering was a bit tricky, but the cost performance seemed good, so I might come back. Next time, I feel like I'll be able to order more smoothly.

I visited around 1 pm on Saturday and about 80% of the seats were taken. You choose your ingredients using tongs from the fridge, they weigh it at the register, and if it's over 1,000 yen, you can choose a few toppings for free. This time I chose corn noodles. The portion size was surprisingly good for a free topping. The soup had a base that seemed to be animal-based. I chose the second spiciest level, but if you like spicy food, it should be easy. There are oil-based condiments on each floor, so it's good to start with a small amount and add more later. The beef is recommended, and it's delicious with ingredients that soak up the soup like Ganmo.

Recently, there has been an increase in Maratantan restaurants in Japan, and I have visited various shops, but I always end up coming back here! The store is clean, with a wide variety of ingredients. If your bill exceeds 1000 yen, you get a free serving of knife-cut noodles, so I often choose that option. The soup has an addictive taste, with just the right amount of spiciness from the spices and garlic. It gets crowded during meal times, so it's recommended to go at slightly off-peak hours. About 95% of the customers are Chinese, but the staff can speak Japanese, so if you're tired of regular Chinese food, be sure to give it a try!

I have been coming to this newly opened restaurant about 20 times since I discovered it. Recently, I haven't been coming as often because of the heat, but today I had some time to spare so I decided to visit after a long time. No matter how many times I come, I always have trouble figuring out how much I put in my bowl (laughs). It's always different each time (laughs). I still have a lot to learn. Lately, it seems like the wait time for the food has gotten shorter when it's not crowded. It was delicious again today. Thank you very much (*´∀｀)

I liked the style of the Maratang I had in Korea, where you can choose your favorite ingredients and pay by weight. There was a wide variety of vegetables and ingredients, and the place was clean and well-maintained. I went on a weekday afternoon and there were no Japanese customers in the restaurant. I picked my ingredients and they cooked it for me like fast food and brought it to my table. The second floor had a McDonald's-like interior and table layout. The cost was around 1500 yen and you could choose the level of spiciness. They also gave 80g of noodles as a service at the end, but I found it to be too much. The soup was easy to eat with no strong Chinese flavor, and it was orange in color without separation of spiciness and broth. It was quite flavorful and had a good amount of numbing sensation. There was a counter with seasonings available for you to adjust the taste as you like. Some people might worry about hygiene since the ingredients are not individually packaged, but the fun of choosing your own amount is the highlight of the experience!

Spicy Maratang. Contains tripe, lamb, vegetables, knife-cut noodles, etc. Priced around 1400 yen. It's a bit pricey, but delicious! You can adjust the spiciness with additional seasoning. I used to go to China almost every month before the pandemic to eat, and this taste is satisfying. It seems to be a chain store, but please open a branch in the Kasai-Urayasu area.

My parents brought me to this restaurant because they said it was delicious^^ It's a place where you can choose your noodles and toppings using tongs and put them in a bowl, then pick your soup at the end. It costs 400 yen for 100g, but they only weigh it at the end, so you have no idea how much you're putting in at the time haha. If your total is over 1000 yen, they give you 80g of noodles for free, which is a nice bonus^^ They have a wide variety of noodles and toppings, so you can have fun choosing your favorites and putting in as much as you like. I definitely went over 1000 yen, so I got the free noodles, but I wish I had put in more vegetables in hindsight haha. It's hard to judge the amount. I tried to make the soup really spicy with the "ma la tang" flavor, but it wasn't very hot, so I added a lot of the self-serve condiments. The soup was rich and flavorful, and I was very satisfied with the toppings and noodles. The crunchy texture of the wood ear mushrooms, the chewy texture of the glass noodles, and the bouncy texture of the meatballs were particularly recommended (๑´꒳`๑). There were many Chinese customers coming in one after another, so I felt like it must be authentic Chinese taste^^ It felt like a popular place. For reference, I paid 1100 yen for 276g, and my mom paid around 1900 yen for almost 500g. We were still a bit hungry afterwards, so we went to eat pancakes right after haha´Ꙫ`

It was really good. My friend took me there, and at first, it was difficult to order because the price is determined by the gram and you get free noodles if you order a certain amount. This time, I chose the corn noodles. I went with the mildest level of spiciness, which was just right for me. I want to go again.

I tried MaLaTang, a Chinese dish, in Korea and it was delicious. I searched for MaLaTang restaurants in Japan, but none of them tasted quite like the authentic one I had in Korea. However, this restaurant came closest to the original taste. They used ingredients like Chinese glass noodles, corn noodles, and rice cakes that I had in Korea. The staff may have had difficulty understanding Japanese, but they were kind and provided good service. I would definitely like to visit again. For those who love Korea or are interested in MaLaTang from watching YouTube videos, I recommend trying this restaurant.

I wanted to eat something spicy, so I went for revenge... Usually I can't handle too much spice, so I ordered the mild version. It was spicy but manageable. And I discovered the deliciousness of the numbing spiciness. If you're not good with spicy food, I recommend ordering a non-spicy soup. For those who can handle spicy food, order the mild version and add more spice if needed. However, this place costs over 2000 yen (laughs).

First of all, the staff were Chinese and couldn't explain well, so I didn't understand the explanation when I went there for the first time. I ended up buying some items and observed the Chinese customers. I picked up Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, coriander, pork, water dumplings, 3 types of dumplings, 2 types of orange kamaboko, wood ear mushrooms, knife-cut noodles, and two types of mysterious fried eggs from the shelves and took them to the register. The spiciness was normal, but it cost 2400 yen, which is expensive for lunch!! If it's over 2000 yen, they give you juice as a service, but... I like spicy and salty food, but even the normal spiciness was ridiculously spicy. It felt like I was eating salty salt. It was so salty that even though I usually finish my food, I left some... Honestly, it was not good. Next time, I will try the spicy option.

The food is very delicious, maybe giving it a 5-star rating is a bit too much. The service is not a concern in Chinese restaurants, and it's nice that you can just go in without feeling out of place. The staff is friendly and the ingredients are all large, so you don't feel like you're missing out. The location is convenient being close to the station. I recommend it. I chose ingredients like kombu, pork tendons, wood ear mushrooms, cilantro, beef tripe, dried tofu skin, and bok choy. You can pick your favorite toppings. The taste is like a sesame soup similar to tantanmen. It was delicious.

260g of spinach, tofu skin, cilantro, ham, sausage, pork, and noodles for 1040 yen. The dish took about 15 minutes to be served. The spiciness is not too strong, more like it's hot than spicy. It doesn't cool down easily. It took me three times to understand the portion size. This time, I wanted a lot of cilantro, so I made cilantro the main ingredient. It might be better to have even more... The restaurant keeps the inside cool, which is really appreciated when eating hot noodles.

Black fungus, white fungus, Qing geng cai, komatsuna, shungiku, coriander, pork, ham, noodles - dried noodles, spiciness level - 4. Learned from the last time, this time tried dried noodles. As a bonus, there was beef tendon noodles. It was delicious... I forgot the amount in grams and the price. Level 4 spiciness wasn't enough. Lots of ingredients, delicious ♥️

I found this place by chance and as a fan of spicy hot pot, I had to go try it! I ordered the Wood Ear Fungus, Tofu Skin, Winter Melon, Pork, Cilantro Noodle with Medium Spiciness, 0.354kg for ¥1410. I wasn't sure how much noodles is a normal amount, so I ended up getting way too much (lol). I managed to finish it, but it was more than a large serving... The soup was slightly creamy and flavorful, and the medium spiciness wasn't too hot, so next time I might try a spicier level. It seemed like they were busy because most tables had dirty dishes left uncleared, and the service was quite slow, which was disappointing. Communication was a bit difficult as well, so next time I'll make sure to go when I have more time. Since I now have a better idea of the noodle portion, next time I'll try adding more vegetables.

When I walked in, I suddenly felt like I had entered a foreign country! It turns out this is a Chinese chain restaurant. The staff and most customers were Chinese. I didn't understand the pricing system at first (seems like they charge based on the weight of the ingredients), but I was able to enjoy a delicious spicy hot pot. It made me want to travel to China!

On New Year's Eve, Ueno and Okachimachi are a perfect match. With Ameyoko nearby, it's a great place to be. After enjoying a sashimi platter at "Kassen Ichiba," head to "Yōkokufuku" near the entrance to Naka-Okachimachi Station for some spicy hot pot. I ordered the "Vegetable Noodle Set" with the soup spiciness set to normal. It turned out to be quite spicy, almost entirely hot. The flavor was decently deep. As for the noodles, they resembled packaged instant noodles, with a strong curly texture that seemed more like dried noodles than fresh ones. The ingredients included mizuna, komatsuna, bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, imitation crab, fish cake, wood ear mushrooms, fried tofu, and a cut boiled egg. The variety of ingredients seemed random. It was unclear what made it a "set." The odd mix of ingredients like fish cake and fried tofu, and the suspicious instant noodle-like texture of the noodles, left me feeling unsure about this dish. Whether you enjoy it or not is up to you. That's all for now. Happy New Year!

A chain restaurant from China has entered Japan. I used to eat there often when I was working in China, so I have visited a few times out of nostalgia. When it first opened in Ueno, there were quite a few customers, but now it was empty during lunchtime. For the spicy hot pot, you can choose various ingredients yourself, and the price is determined by weight. In China, a spicy hot pot costs around 300 yen in Japanese yen, but here it costs about 1000 yen even if there are not many ingredients, so it feels a bit expensive. It seems that you get free noodles if you spend over 1000 yen. However, another spicy hot pot restaurant also charges a similar price, so I guess that's the going rate for spicy hot pot in Japan. I think it would be easier for customers to come if they lowered the price a bit. But I still want them to survive and do their best because I want to come and eat there occasionally.

A spicy hot pot restaurant right by Ueno-Okachimachi Station. I had been curious about it for a while, so I decided to go in! When I tried to choose my toppings, I found out that this place has a self-serve noodle system where you can take your noodles in a bowl! They had corn noodles, glass noodles, sweet potato glass noodles, and something like hand-pulled noodles. But if you choose toppings worth over 1,000 yen, you get 80g of noodles for free, so you don't have to choose them separately! I didn't know that... I ended up taking noodles from the buffet, so when I told the cashier I didn't need the free 80g, they kindly gave me two large broccoli as a gift instead. The cashier didn't speak Japanese, but their polite service left a great impression on me!

I went to a hot pot restaurant but they changed their concept, so I ended up trying the Ma La Tang at Yang Guofu for the first time. The soup was creamy and mild, so when I chose a slightly spicy level, it wasn't quite spicy enough for me. Be careful with the pricing because it's sold by weight, so if you take too much, you might be surprised by the bill. In Ueno, there are many popular spicy Sichuan, Hunan, and Northeastern cuisine restaurants, but if you're looking for a place to easily pop in by yourself, this kind of restaurant is convenient and appreciated.