5 Dishes You Cannot Miss In Yokohama

Few Japanese cities can rival Yokohama when it comes to food. When the port opened its arms to the world in 1859, so did Yokohama’s kitchens, infusing Japanese classics with an international twist. The result? A cuisine that is equal parts classic and cutting-edge.

Like everywhere in Japan, Yokohama boasts great sushi, tempura and yakitori. What’s unique here is the influx of influences from every corner of the globe. Yokohama was a major gateway for beef, beer and bread into the country, and the city is also home to Japan’s premier Chinatown. Try English bread, Australian pancakes, a very interesting interpretation of Italian pasta oh, and a slurp-worthy ramen scene. These are the 5 dishes every visitor to Yokohama must sink their teeth into.

* Sanma-men ramen

As soon as Yokohama welcomed its first international ships in the late 1850s, Chinese merchants formed what would become Japan’s most mouth-watering Chinatown a few blocks south of the port, introducing the locals to the noodle broth they quickly came to embrace: ramen. Learn more about the history at the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, where the atmospheric food court is a replica of gritty 1950s Tokyo, serving regional variations of ramen from across the country. The local specialty, though, is Sanma-men – a Chinese-inspired ramen that combines a delicate broth, thick noodles and crunchy stir-fried vegetables. Sanma-men is available everywhere, including the museum.

* Personalised Cup Noodles

The Cup Noodles Museum in the glam reimagined dock area of Minatomirai pays homage to the just-add-water meal in a cup that’s provided dinner for many a penniless college student. This playful museum is one of the world’s quirkiest – from the space noodles specially designed for astronauts to the experience of turning into a noodle for a step-by-step walk through the production process – but the most special part is making your own customised Cup Noodles. Visitors can mix and match their own ingredients to create a bespoke, entirely one-of-a-kind cup of instant ramen, complete with your own hand-drawn label.

* Gyu-nabe

After a centuries-long ban on beef, a sceptical Japanese population took some convincing to chow down on cow again. So when Otokichi Takahashi opened Ohtanawanoren in 1868, he came up with a dish so delicious the locals couldn’t resist: gyu-nabe, a hot pot of thinly sliced beef, miso-flavoured broth and vegetables like negi (Japanese leeks) and shiitake mushrooms. More than 150 years later, diners still feast on top-rated Japanese A5 Wagyu in this distinctly Japanese setting, right down to the quaint courtyard, paper sliding doors and golden tatami mats.

* Dumplings in Chinatown

There are more than 500 shops and eateries in Yokohama’s Chinatown, and it feels like every one of them is selling dumplings of some kind. Nikuman – bite-sized steamed buns stuffed with meat, best wolfed down straight out of the steamer – are the local favourite. Grab some to take away from Edosei, a Chinatown institution since 1894, or shumai dumplings from ultra-popular Kiyoken just up the alleyway, which sells bento boxes of its pork bundles.

* Goma dango

For dessert, it’s not hard to sniff out someone frying up goma dango – rice cakes stuffed with sweet red bean paste and caked in sesame seeds. Sensible eaters can pick up a six pack to parcel out over the day, but more impulsive ones can get a single golden ball of goodness served in a little paper cone to scarf down straight out of the fryer. Hong Kong-style egg tarts – custard encased in flaky pastry – is another Chinatown staple.