Is the Best Chinese Restaurant in the World Actually in Japan?

[@TobiasSaunders-r6w]

For those who might think a 4.53 rating isn't particularly high, it's important to note that ratings in Japan tend to be much more conservative.

[@EE-ri3jt]

4.53 on Tabelog is not conservative at all. Restaurants with a rating around 3.5 on Tabelog are considered good, a 4 rating is amazing, and 4.5 is legendary. Unlike Google reviews, the overall rating of a restaurant is affected by more factors and the influence level of the reviewer (number of reviews and expertise on the category). I would personally compare it to Yelp. Because of this system, ratings are more volatile and specific, which means achieving and maintaining a high rating is difficult. This also means the gap between rated restaurants is more significant. So, its not because Japanese customers are "conservative" and are not willing to give more 5 star reviews, but because they are more considerate of multiple factors and give more detailed reviews ( I personally think the Japanese are quite ruthless when it comes to their restaurants actually).

[@TobiasSaunders-r6w]

​@@EE-ri3jtHoly pedantic. My comment gets the point across perfectly fine in as little words as possible. No one wants to read your article on restaurant reviews

[@TobiasSaunders-r6w]

@@EE-ri3jtMy comment gets the point across fine. No one wants to read a whole article on restaurant reviews, so please quit being pedantic.

[@EE-ri3jt]

@@TobiasSaunders-r6w I just wanted to add context to why the restaurant rating is so impressive, since your original comment doesn’t explain that, as well as a scuffed explanation of how Tabelog works, since most people outside of Japan don’t use the website. I also found that “Japan is conservative” as your explanation was quite silly and wanted to explain how that has nothing to do with the rating 😂

[@tunaku2968]

​​@@EE-ri3jt How have you incorrectly quoted a youtube comment 💀

[@jjtc6881]

The reason I think a lot of people in the West can't conceive of Chinese cuisine as "fine dining" is because its an enigma. Chinese food in the west is selected and simplified to cater to a western palate, and thats not really any ones fault. Chinese culinary history and culture is just composed of an entirely different vocabulary, its just too different and so much is just untranslatable. The fact that you are unfamiliar with some of the textures and ingrediants kinda speak to that. Not saying you are ignorant or something. There's just a huge cultural barrier and thats fine. However people from Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia appreciate Chinese Cuisine a lot more and its not just seen as some cheap slop because our cultures are literally closer and we have had more share cultural exchanges throughout history. If someone open this restaurant or any authentic "fine dining" Chinese restaurant in somewhere like Paris, it would never fly. If you actually look at the history of the influence of Chinese cuisine on Japanese cuisine(or any other asian cuisine), the examples would be endless. And the exchange goes both ways. China is the home of soy sauce, tea, tofu, noodles, even the first historic records about sashimi are actually Chinese. Miso, matcha, ramen, gyoza, soba, udon, etc etc. The lack of understanding about chinese culinary heritage in the west is lamentable, but understandable. The average Chinese person's knowledge about french cooking is zilch. Aside from someone like Fuchsia dunlop, very few westerners actually spend the time to do a deep dive into the Chinese culinary world.

[@marvinnathanaeltedjo2010]

The hairy look of shark fin does not come from slicing it thinly. It's actually the natural look of a shark fin when it comes in contact with heat. Shark fin is made of full cartilage. So when it cooks, the cartilage will break into hairy shapes.

[@ligier]

Oh woah! I actually didn’t know that that’s super cool - you learn something new every day 🤯

[@dannychankl]

The vinegar is supposed to be a palate cleanser after the sharks fin cause the soup is so think. Some ppl would pour a dash of brandy into the sharks fin soup to enhance the flavour.

[@mm-yt8sf]

ohh that makes sense because when i've seen shark fin soups in other videos they all look fibrous-y like that.. so that's just the fin being the fin i guess...

[@casquette1450]

It seems that my previous comment was removed for some reason. I was saying that Sazenka is not really a Chinese restaurant, it's a Japanese restaurant with Chinese flair, the chef is Japanese, the ingredients are in majority Japanese, ingredients that are not used in traditional Chinese cuisine. Most of those dishes wouldn't be recognized as Chinese by Chinese people (except for the Mapo tofu, even though Mapo tofu became part of the culinary landscape of Japan.) If you really want to experience fine dining Chinese cuisine visit A.Wong in London a 2 Michelin starred Chinese restaurant. I went a couple of times and it is outstanding and properly Chinese.

[@jjtc6881]

What are you talking about? The pickles at the start of the meal, the abalone, char shiu, shark fin, turtle, squab, all the shit in the soup( the chinese spices and medicinal herbs, sea cucumber, bear meat), the spicy sichuan dish with peppers, the mapo tofu as you mentioned and the noodles at the end, . The dishes are absolutely recognizable as Chinese. You have it completely upside down. This is Chinese food with a japanese flair. The chef definitely knows and has been to China. Just absolutely mind blowing people who clearly knows nothing about chinese food says this is japanese restaurant with a chinese flair. Maybe do some more research next time?

[@casquette1450]

@@jjtc6881 Being agressive doesn't make you right, it makes you and your argument weak. I'll double down in my statement, this is not Chinese cuisine, most of the thing you actually mentioned are used in Japan Abalone, pickles, sea cucumber, bear meat (very often eaten in the winter) squab is mostly used in French cooking. of course he's going to use Chinese ingredients, it has a Chinese flair. The noodles at the end look oddly like somen by the way. What region of China are you from? But mate you do you. Insult away if you have nothing else to say.

[@rickyhsu7824]

LMAO are u saying A.Wong is better than Sazenka? There's not a single Chinese restaurant in the UK that's better than Sazenka m8.

[@casquette1450]

⁠​⁠@rickyhsu7824must be difficult to go through life not understanding simple information. Did I say that? I said A.Wong is completely chinese, not fusion so it's a great place to experience high end fine dining chinese cuisine. It is an exceptional restaurant. I haven't been to Sasenka, so I wouldn't compare them. Again they are different restaurant. A.Wong is chinese, Sasenka is more Japanese than Chinese. Doesn't make it a bad restaurant. What didn't you like at A.Wong? What did you think was bad? I'm impressed that you ate in every restaurants in the UK to be honest.

[@rickyhsu7824]

@@casquette1450 FYI A.Wong is fusion. Injecting their soup dumplings with vinegar is LOL

[@paolee2730]

Chinese restaurants outside of China are not the same as China restaurants! For example, Chinese restaurants outside of China adapt to their respective native country tastes.

[@Mr_Spaghetti]

Given their histories I feel like even implying that the best Chinese fine dining is actually Japanese is pretty offensive, it's like saying Germans actually make the best Matzah ball soup. That being said the overview of the meal was well done.

[@jjtc6881]

Literally like telling Italians the best pizza or pasta comes out of New York.

[@Mr_Spaghetti]

@ not really at all, cuz those pasta and pizza joints in NYC are typically run by Italian Americans, while the head chef at Sazenka appears to be Japanese. And afaik Americans didn’t commit massive-scale horrific crimes against humanity towards Italians the way the Japanese did to the Chinese and Germans did to the Jews during WWII

[@Isivjshscjjc274]

kind of an upsetting take for obvious reasons lol, there are so many luxury dining establishments in China. China is a huge country, how many has he actually been able to visit?? I mean, maybe if he had a deeper understanding of Chinese fine dining cuisine he wouldn't be making cringeworthy statements in his vid description like "most people don't think of Chinese cuisine as one that can be elevated to the upper tiers of fine dining". That can be??? What??? like bro still has so much to experience, sit down and be humble lil man

[@ligier]

I'm not saying there are no Chinese luxury dining establishments, but if you're saying that Chinese fine dining is recognized globally at the same level as Korean or Japanese cuisine, then you're just objectively wrong. Most people still see Chinese food as something that can only be cheap -- I'm saying that it's unfortunate that the majority of people have that take globally and this is a restaurant that's demonstrating what proper Chinese fine dining looks like. I've posted many videos on my channel of cuisines that historically aren't seen at the same level as things like French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese fine dining and the goal is to show people (1) that this type of food can be elevated and (2) that it can be on par or even better than some of the traditionally established "elevated cuisines." We're on the same team here mate lol

[@lun2414]

Compare the number of Chinese Michelin stars vs. other cuisines. Face the reality.

[@hemispherecompensation]

@@ligier Korean fine dining is overhyped. Anyway, try Wing in Hong Kong.

[@efafe4972]

@@ligier Its kind of the italian food of asia as far as how the world sees it imo. But ironicly, chinese cuisine has one of the oldest histories for fine dining with 4 schools of specifically fine dining along with regional cuisine from each province. underated globally fs esp with the political stigma and dog jokes it comes with.

[@Isivjshscjjc274]

@@ligieryou got problems lol

[@topg2639]

I would not personally fund the shark fin trade.

[@changliu7346]

I think these things aren’t coming from wild sharks anymore like they used to.

[@topg2639]

@ of course they do, these trawlers kill millions of sharks, they cut their fins off still alive and dump them in the ocean sick people, nobody is farming sharks…

[@oi-vey]

You get full on these?

[@jjtc6881]

Well for a japanese person yes. Don't think his channel is about finding fuel to fill up his stomach.

[@BennedicktusPeter]

Remember that these tasting menu has a lot of menu in there, sometimes up to 12-15 menu per sitting. Trust me, it might not look like much, but you'll be full by the time you're done

[@laurencesun]

The full name of buddha jumping soup is the buddha jumping over the wall. The meaning of this dish is that this dish is so good that the buddha jumped over the wall to drink it.

[@StevenRobbins-j9m]

really good stuff, but can't leave a like because shark fin soup.

[@jjtc6881]

People here saying this isn't even Chinese food. This is flat out wrong. Sazenka is not really a Chinese restaurant? Seriously, call the Chef. Find the restaurants telephone number and call the chef and ask him if their own restaurant is or isn't Chinese. Do a bit of googling next time.

[@aqualone1465]

Ok, great place, but why do you have to think of it as the best in the world? Have you travelled extensively though China and experienced the restaurant scene there? Unless you have, it's preposterous to claim that the "best Chinese restaurant" might be in Japan. If you experienced great pizza in Japan, would you think that it might the best pizza in the world, even better than in Italy??

[@anxiousduck]

I don't think he's really looking for a standard dining experience. I think he would find it beneath him. Probably eats fine dining on the regular. Just a brat, really.

[@ligier]

The best pizza I've ever had (and I've been to many of the top ranked pizza spots in Italy) actually was in Japan HAHA so that's a great example -- I'm not saying it is the best Chinese restaurant in the world, but it's absolutely in the conversation (if you ask most people that even have traveled extensively in China, they'll pretty much always bring up Sazenka as one of the best if not the best in the world) and it's pretty interesting that there's such an incredible Chinese restaurant in Japan!

[@anicabroms4867]

Unbelievable how much the algorithm hates on this guys content such amazing quality content on the level of some of the biggest creators in this space and it’s struggling to reach 10k views a video does anyone have an explanation?

[@ivyalex4250]

interesting! wonderful shots and editing :)

[@jim.pearsall]

Amazing! 😊🤤

[@DC-fu4ff]

Love this video! Waiting for a day of Michelin restaurants in Tokyo video!

[@changliu7346]

Am I tripping or something, when I when to the market that sells dried shark fins, they always appear to be in those little slices, I don’t think they are sliced, they just that way from the beginning.

[@robert9ish]

Not really my cup of tea, but the food looked interesting (if a little sparse). I'm new to this channel. I'm looking forward to seeing other places you've dined. By-the-way, your dimples are very cute. Totally disarming ;-). Tale care!

[@harry-of3ff]

some people won't think this is a chinese restaurant, but I'm chinese and I think that most of the dishes are chinese with a blend of japanese.

[@strangelyrepulsive77]

thicker than a sauce but lighter than a soup

[@dirkbulinckx9974]

Did I understand it correctly that you "just" had to eat the liquid part of the soup? Not the shark, not the bear?

[@digzgwentplayer4159]

A succulent Chinese meal?!

[@mm-yt8sf]

mmm saliva ice cream.... 😀

[@viviliu7492]

What can of bs take is this? Have even been to china?

[@GenWolfcat737]

Tokyo isn’t just the only one for their food scene bro. It’s just the city that gets the most attention.

[@stepan1226]

japanese dedication and craftsmanship. + one of the biggest Asian city by population + the biggest city in japan to which professionals from all over the country try to move. It is not the only city but it is THE CITY, with absolutely best food i had

[@GenWolfcat737]

@ I mean…Kyoto and Osaka exist too dude. Come on bro, broaden your horizons.

[@stepan1226]

@@GenWolfcat737 and? Tokyo simply has more of everything at the same level. That's is a clear reason it gets more attention

[@Isivjshscjjc274]

@@GenWolfcat737 lol savage

[@GenWolfcat737]

@ just sounds like someone’s very narrow minded and too scared to broaden his horizons. Won’t go very far in life but that ain’t my problem.

[@noahmadsen6115]

dang way to earlier for a banger like this

[@georgewbushcenterforintell147]

I used to have to tell people not to eat shark fin soup as part of my job . Then I go to a Vietnamese wedding and enjoy shark fin soup.

[@thesololevelinglover]

dam that looks good

[@navchinna]

Yo he dropped 🔥

[@threemothers]

The Japanese do so well with food. They are doing the Lord’s work. I bet if they tried their hands on African food it would be magical too.

[@ihatelategame]

Are you sure this is the best

[@Abyssalnymph]

I love how anything above 3.8 on tabelog will be absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS

[@benjamincher29]

Buddha jumps over the wall is the best soup ever

[@Fishrach]

Underrated! Your explanation of these dishes was excellent, with each word spoken seemingly lingering the taste of what is shown in the video in my mouth. I have always appreciated your opinions to chinese cuisine, I hope you would try more and more chinese and taiwanese food in the future (必须要吃台湾的卤肉饭哦）.Much appreciated for this video!

[@masterful9954]

i always thought that the eggplant hiding behind the pork belly was scored pork fat! makes more sense now.

[@benjaminnguyen554]

35 seconds!

[@kittiew260]

Amazing review, please make a little longer video describing like you did the Wasabi leafy dish.

[@alvinnicholas8972]

i lived in japan for a few years, and in tabelog. a 3 star rating restaurant is a GOOD restaurant, they're ruthless when it comes to rating food there