Recently, a well-hidden "Japanese building" in Luohu has quietly become popular. It looks unremarkable on the outside, but inside it feels like traveling to Tokyo. It's called the Guomao Commercial and Residential Building.
It is a tacit secret among Japanese people in Shenzhen. Five floors are filled with Japanese food shops and izakayas, as well as Japanese ear picking, Japanese travel agencies, Japanese eyelashes and manicures…
As long as you come here, you will meet Japanese office workers who come to eat.
Many Japanese food shops in the building were originally opened in the Guomao Food City next door.
In 2015, the food city made a new plan for its catering, and many old restaurants that had been open for five or six years moved to the nearby Guomao Commercial and Residential Building.
Over time, many Japanese industries were attracted to gather here, and the name "Japanese Food Building" spread.
Most of the Japanese food stores here receive Japanese customers. When you enter the store, you will always hear the clerks shout "". The authentic pronunciation makes people think that the clerks are also Japanese.
The front door is basically a small unit door, but when you enter, you will find a different world, with tatami mats and private rooms… It really feels like walking into a Japanese TV series.
The store basically doesn't do much promotion, and its reputation relies on word of mouth among diners, so you can imagine the degree of authenticity.
Shunsai Japanese Cuisine
Address: Unit E, 2nd Floor, Guomao Commercial and Residential Building
⏰Business hours: 11:30-14:00, 17:30-22:30
This is a surprising little shop, and the handwritten signature dishes at the door are very warm. Whether it's lunch set meals or sashimi, the prices are all in the mid-range.
Its plum wine is very famous. It has high acidity and full alcohol. It is very enjoyable to drink a glass.
The lunch set meal for one person is really cost-effective. One set menu has three types of rice bowls to choose from: pork chop, egg-coated chicken, and beef, and is served with hand-made buckwheat noodles or salad. Many office workers come here to have a quick meal.
Soba noodles are handmade, and the white noodles without buckwheat husks will be relatively softer in the mouth. Dip in the bonito flower juice and it tastes salty, sweet and refreshing.
There is a wall of Japanese comics and novels in the store, all in original Japanese. Although not many people came to the store at noon, it is said that the seats here are very popular at night and are fully booked at noon every day.
Many Japanese prostitutes are waiting to get together with fellow villagers here at night and taste the sake and roasted birds with the taste of their hometown.
Izakaya Kasumi
Address: Unit H, 4th Floor, Guomao Commercial and Residential Building
⏰Business hours: 11:00-14:00, 17:00-23:00
On the fourth floor is Izakaya Kasumi. The store decoration is not new, but it is clean and tidy. When you walk into the store, it feels like you have stepped back ten years.
It’s very interesting. This store also has original Japanese comic books, so you can flip through two pages while waiting for your meal~
Recommended special skewers and fried food, cooked with the simplest ingredients, full of fire flavor.
The signature dish is the Utsunomiya pan-fried dumplings, which are fried to a crispy texture but not burnt, and are suitable for eating with cold beer.
And these stores
Including roasted birds, grilled eels, Japanese hot pot…
Toriyoshi
Address: Unit B, 5th Floor, Guomao Commercial and Residential Building
⏰Business hours: 17:30-22:30
Recommended dishes: chicken sticks, salt-roasted chicken skin, grilled foie gras
Sakata Live Eel Japanese Cuisine
Address: Unit E, 3rd Floor, Guomao Commercial and Residential Building
⏰Business hours: 11:30-14:00, 17:30-23:30
Recommended dishes: eel box lunch, thick beef tongue salt grill
Xueyuehua Japanese Cuisine Japanese Hot Pot Restaurant
Address: Unit C, 2nd Floor, Guomao Commercial and Residential Building
⏰Business hours: 11:00-14:00, 17:00-23:00
Recommended dishes: Sukiyaki, Wagyu beef triangle, salmon roll
While eating, we chatted with the guests at the next table for a while.
It is said that many Japanese diners living in surrounding cities such as Dongguan and Huizhou will also travel thousands of miles to Luohu to eat, as if this is the Japanese Association of the Greater Bay Area.
The owners of several Japanese food restaurants are also Japanese, and they are all friends with their customers. They are also fellow countrymen who comfort each other while wandering in Shenzhen.
If you are an old Shenzhen native, you must have experienced the glory of China World Trade Center. At that time, many Japanese companies first took root in Luohu, so various Japanese-style shops have been opened here for more than ten years, not only in the catering industry, but also in various service industries.
Therefore, after dinner, you can also experience some popular entertainment items here, such as ear picking and massage.
– Xing'er ear picking·head·shoulder·face·massage-
This Japanese-style ear-picking shop is located on the fourth floor. The store is not large but has small separate rooms, which is full of comfort.
The decoration of the store is in a real Japanese style, with traditional floral decorations. It's a great place to come here to relax after get off work.
Walking out of the Japanese Food Building, it felt like I had left Japan and returned to Shenzhen.
Some people always say that Shenzhen really lacks its own culture. Both the street scene and the food and beverages seem to be "spliced together".
But I just think this shows that Shenzhen culture emphasizes tolerance. Even if you come from thousands of miles away, as long as you want to take root here, there is always a corner of the city where you can have the familiarity of your hometown.
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▌Guomao Commercial and Residential Building▌
– transportation-
Walk 487 meters from Exit C of Guomao Subway Station on Line 1
– Small tips-
Some stores are open in the morning and evening hours
Remember to check the time before departure