Yokohama World Porters (Japan 2016): Food Court

During our trip to Japan, we spent most of our time in the major areas of Tokyo but decided to take a day trip to nearby Yokohama (about an hour away by train). Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan by population (after the 23 special wards of Tokyo). It’s important to remember that Yokohama is a city within the Kanagawa prefecture while Tokyo is a nearby prefecture in and of itself.

After spending a great deal of time wandering the Chinatown area of Yokohama (the largest in Japan), we headed towards the port and wound up in the Yokohama World Porters shopping area (near Minato Mirai) One of the interesting things about this shopping mall is that they have a Hawaii Town area with various Hawaiian-themed shops.

The food court also has a bit of a Hawaiian theme to it but you can definitely find a lot of different food options here.

We wound up trying two food stalls here… but since everything was in Japanese, I’m not sure what the names of the places were. Confounding the situation was that both places didn’t seem to have clear or updated information on various internet sites… so this is the best that I could put together…

麺大将 (Men-taishō which translates to Noodles General) and listed as Yokohama Ramen in the food court directory specializes in tonkotsu ramen.

Roast Beef Hoshi seems to be located in the spot that previously held Loco Moco (a Hawaiian-themed stall) and next to Steak Mountain. The confusing part is that the signature dish of Roast Beef Hoshi actually resembles a mountain (or volcano) made out of beef.

This was the Miso Tonkotsu Ramen with Egg and Char Siu (¥690).

I picked the large order of my meat volcano (¥1187) which came with a melon fanta. The large size was actually only the second size of this dish and they have 2 larger sizes that you can purchase. They slice the beef thin and arrange it on a big mound of rice then top it off with a raw egg and gravy. If you like tender roast beef, this is actually pretty good but it does take them a while to build the volcano. Like many of the food stalls here, they give you a little beeper to let you know when your food is ready.

One of the things that surprised me (not just of Yokohama) was that everyone was so trusting here. I would often see people leave their belongings/kids at their food court tables while going to pick up their orders (you definitely don’t see this happen often in Vancouver without something getting swiped).

2-2-1 Shinkō, Naka-ku,
Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken 231-0001

www.yim.co.jp