不二家拉麵

Fujiya is a warm and charming family-style Japanese izakaya, and it has always been one of my favorite spots in the Zhongshan District. The place has two floors, and the seating is a bit close together, decorated with numerous posters of the Japanese enka singer Shinichi Mori (there are really an incredible number of them), and it plays Japanese songs, giving it a unique atmosphere.

This visit was after 10 PM, and we enjoyed a quite satisfying late-night meal here.

I ordered cold udon noodles paired with a gyoza set; the udon noodles had a good chewiness, with a moderate bounce. After mixing in soy sauce with wasabi and chopped green onions, they were very refreshing, perfect for hot days. The gyoza was not overly greasy, and the small, beautifully fried dumplings dipped in Japanese soy sauce had a simple yet delicious flavor.

My friend ordered the fried pork cutlet set, which had a crispy exterior. It wasn't the kind of frying you would find in chain restaurants; it was already drizzled with tonkatsu sauce. Overall, it was tasty but not ostentatious.

The specialty ramen had a meat sauce base for the broth, along with wontons, which is an extremely Chinese/Taiwanese combination. My friend said it tasted pretty good, but ordering this at a Japanese izakaya felt quite rebellious.

Additionally, I ordered some blanched greens and was pleasantly surprised to receive my favorite, water spinach. It was a bit salty but incredibly delicious; I was really happy to be able to eat water spinach during late-night hours.

Not every dish here is breathtaking at this izakaya, but it's precisely this ordinary experience that makes it feel like a place to visit often. Overall, it's a healing little shop worth checking out.