さんどがさ
Lunch on August 10, 2023 (Thursday). I worked from home in the morning, had some errands at the bank, and arrived a bit late at Murayama's workplace. I decided to try this restaurant on the way, as I had some time to spare. The restaurant is located at the intersection of Imokubo-dori and Sakuradai-dori, although it seems that the name Sakuradai-dori is no longer displayed. There are two chain restaurants facing each other at this intersection, with Nanjing-tei Higashi-Yamato store on the southeast side and Mamboku-tei Sakuradai-dori store on the northwest side. Nanjing-tei is operated by Shin Nihon Sangyo Co., Ltd. (located in Kamikitadai, Higashi-Yamato City), with branches in the Tama area, Saitama, and Kanagawa. They currently have 12 stores, with the first store being Nanjing-tei Akishima store opened in 1981. Mamboku-tei is operated by Mamboku-tei Co., Ltd. (located in Inadaira, Musashimurayama City), with 6 stores in North Tama and Yamanashi Prefecture. The first store was opened in 1970 at Hanakoganei Station in Kodaira City. I remember that 45 years ago, we used to recognize it as "Manchurian dumplings," which I think was Mamboku-tei. I remember there being multiple stores even back then, so I was a bit confused. Looking at the history of Mamboku-tei, the ninth store in Sunagawa opened in June 1974, and the Mizuho store opened in January 1977. I was planning to compare the two stores as they were located diagonally across from each other, but to my surprise, Mamboku-tei closed on June 30. What a shame. I don't know the reason, but when comparing the two stores, Mamboku-tei was at a disadvantage in terms of location. Depending on the direction, it was not visible at all, there was hardly any parking, and the number of seats was much smaller. It was a shame that I couldn't compare the two stores anymore, but today I went to Nanjing-tei. It was around 11 am, with about 12 customers at the counter and table seats. It was still considered empty, but also busy for this time. I ordered fried rice (728 yen, tax included 800 yen) and 2 dumplings (228 yen, tax included 250 yen). There was a sign inside the restaurant saying "Our dishes are handmade." I could see a few chefs tossing woks. The fried rice and dumplings arrived soon after. The fried rice was a bit moist, not too dry. The taste was average, a bit on the salty side, but not bad. The dumplings had a strong garlic flavor. The dumplings were okay. I would consider coming back again. The total bill was 1050 yen.