Mao Yi Ben is a specialty restaurant focusing on chazuke (tea over rice), located in an alley on Rende Street. It is quite popular, and you need to queue during meal times. This time, we waited about half an hour to be seated. The overall atmosphere is simple with a touch of Japanese style, with a relaxed pace, making it suitable for enjoying a relatively light meal in peace.

I ordered the special sauce fried chicken set. The fried chicken itself is well-executed, with a crispy exterior and juicy meat, but the seasoning is noticeably unbalanced — it's too peppery and the spiciness overpowers the chicken's natural flavor, which becomes tiring after a few bites. The accompanying shredded cabbage is fresh, but the drizzled Japanese-style sauce is overly sweet and tangy, clashing with the strong flavor of the fried chicken. Personally, I would prefer a plain or lighter treatment.

The cheese korokke (croquette) performed quite standardly — crispy on the outside, dense on the inside, with a decent cheese pull. Although it lacks special highlights, it serves as a reliable side dish.

The main chazuke returns to the essence of the restaurant. Pouring hot tea over the white rice transforms the overall flavor into warm and refreshing. The salmon flakes provide a savory base, making it light in texture and contrasting with the heavier fried dishes. While the layers of flavor aren’t very complex, it’s enjoyable and is a bowl of chazuke that is suitable for slowly finishing off the meal.

Overall, Mao Yi Ben has a clear positioning, but there is a noticeable gap in seasoning among the items. The chazuke performs steadily, while the fried dishes have room for improvement. If you’re willing to wait and view the chazuke as the star, the experience is still quite good, but it hasn’t yet reached a level that warrants standing in line for.