Korantei Shimotōri

After sightseeing at the Kumamoto castle, we found this place, 10 minutes walk from the tourist area. We had to wait for around 25 minutes but it was worth it, the food was very good presented, the size of the portions, reasonable and everything was delicious. You also get a free pot of delicious cold tea with your meal. I would definitely go back. Reserve in advance if you want to avoid waiting.

Korantei is located in the heart of the Shimotori shotengai. We went for dinner and opted for the set menu which was generous. The set menu had taipien which is a local Kumamoto specialty. Everything tasted amazing. I was slightly surprised by the anchovy fried rice. The service is perfect, great view of the shopping arcade. Arrive early on weekend, Korantei gets busy really fast.

The food was absolutely delightful, and the service staff were incredibly friendly. This restaurant would be a fantastic choice for a romantic date; the atmosphere was serene and relaxing. Interestingly, one of my Chinese classmates from Kumamoto University's Japanese class invited me to join them for dinner, and we ended up here. The moment I walked in, I realized it exuded an air of elegance and sophistication, perhaps tailored for business meetings with a formal dress code. I felt a bit self-conscious because I was dressed casually, but I didn't want to disrespect my classmate's invitation. What's even more amusing is that when we placed our orders, my classmate, who didn't speak any Japanese, was caught off guard. The waiter, seeing this, switched to English, which only made my classmate more anxious and pointed to me to take over. I nervously attempted to use my limited Japanese skills to put the waiter at ease. Despite the initial awkwardness, we had a great time, and the food was especially enjoyable for me since my classmate covered the bill. 🤣

Had the clam taipien and the normal one, both teishoku. Had to add 100 yen for the clam seasonal one. There was 3 tiny clams in it, but the soup base was the same as the normal taipien. So don’t recommend changing it to the clam one, unless you really want to eat three tiny pieces of clams for 100 yen. The noodle in the soup was very little There wasn’t much queue maybe because we came early and on a working day. The restaurant is more classy than I expected, overall it was quite disappointing for me. If you look at the photo, can really tell the difference between clam and normal.

This is the restaurant where the famous Kumamoto dish "Taipi-en" originated. It gets crowded because both locals and tourists want to try the famous dish, but you can get a numbered ticket on the first floor and come back at the estimated time. The dish is made with a light seafood stock soup, topped with glass noodles and plenty of vegetables. During the summer, a version filled with lots of summer vegetables is available for a limited time only.

They have a very good lunch set for about 1200yen. The taipien was unique and delicious, worth trying. The other foods are nice too, but nothing too special for Chinese food. Very nice restaurant ambience, part of the frame of shops surrounding a beautiful courtyard.

We reserved through Google and when we arrived, they immediately showed us to our table. 3 mins later, they came to tell us that actually they thought we were someone else and our reservation did not appear in their system, so we had to go downstairs and wait in the queue for 30 mins again (not sure why they couldn't bump us to the front of the queue). Definitely ruined the mood but they were polite so I'll give 3 stars. Do not book through Google 'Reserve a Table'.

The wait was very long. The food was OK, but the price is abit high. Because ordering is entirely through their online portal, there is minimal service. The waiter just pointed to the QR code at the table and left me to my own devices. Overall may be a victim of its own success. The staff are arrogant, the wait is long and the food is mediocre. Plenty of other better options that can provide you with the same quality for better price and faster service.