Yotsukado Hansen

東京都立川市にある町中華・四つ角飯店…西東京エリアでも有数の行列店として知られているこのお店の噂を2〜3年前に聞きつけて、「チャンスがあれば…」とずっと狙っていたお店。なんでも、このお店のメニューにある豚の角煮がとんでもなくデカ盛りらしいです。豚の角煮のデカ盛り…肉食系の人なら話を聞くだけでよだれタラタラものじゃないですか？

というわけで、令和6年夏の上京の時に合わせて四つ角飯店へ行くことを心に誓ったのですが、実は6月に火事になってその後しばらく臨時休業になってしまいました。幸い、火災自体はあまり大ごとにはならなかったようですが…何はともあれ、無事営業再開できてよかったです。その噂のデカ盛り版豚の角煮がどんな感じか気になったあなた、このまま続けて記事をお読みください…

A formidable 30-minute wait to enter the restaurant even during idle hours… Let me explain how crowded Yotsukado Hanten is and how to deal with the wait time!

The Yotsukado Hanten introduced here is located in front of the north exit of JR Tachikawa Station, a short walk westward on Showa Kinen Koen Dori. In fact, this restaurant was founded in 1927, and will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary, making it one of the oldest restaurants in Japan. It used to be located on Yotsukado (four corners), as the name suggests, but in October 2014, it moved to its current location. I think I can count on one hand the number of traditional Chinese restaurants with such a long history in my history of eating out in Japan.

I arrived at Yotsukado Hanten at around 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon. It was a very delicate time for both lunch and dinner, but I was surprised to see that there were five groups of customers waiting to enter the restaurant at that time. The wait time from this point until we entered the restaurant was about 30 minutes. This is a very tough restaurant to deal with during idle time.

One saving grace is that the numbered tickets they issue in the restaurant have a QR code on them, so that if you are using LINE, you will receive a call notification when your turn is approaching. With this, there is no need to wait in line even when it is crowded. It is a good way to make the most of your waiting time. However, if you do not return 30 minutes after the call has been made, it will be treated as a cancellation.

By the way, there were a total of 26 seats for customers in the Yotsukado Hanten, with only table seating. I think it may have been because it was a weekend, but my impression was that many customers at that time were enjoying not only food but also drinks together. Especially on weekends, it might be better to count that as part of the waiting time. Therefore, the turnover rate of customers does not seem to be that good, so I strongly recommend that you allow plenty of time for your visit, especially if you are coming from far away from the restaurant.

The chunk of pork weighing over 600 grams is truly Ayers Rock level… The destructive power of Yotsukado Hanten’s famous stewed pork set meal was just too much!

Let me introduce the specialty I ordered at Yotsukado Hanten that day, the stewed pork set meal (priced at 1,900 yen including tax). You may be surprised at the price of 1,900 yen for a set meal of stewed pork cubes, but this set meal is rumored to be so destructive. 

Since the rumor has reached as far as the Kansai region, it must be something half as good as it sounds.After about 15 minutes of waiting with no small amount of expectation, the stewed pork set meal was brought in front of me like this…

A huge hunk of pork came out, true to the rumors. The way it sits on the plate with a big bang is a visual equivalent to Ayers Rock. This pork stew is said to weigh more than 600 grams. If you order a stewed pork set meal at another local restaurant, you will probably get something like 1/4 to 1/5 of this size… If you can eat such a large pork stew, I think the price of 1,900 yen per serving can be called divine cost performance.

This huge hunk of meat is so tender and tender that it can be cut with chopsticks. So there is no problem at all to cut the meat with chopsticks as it is, but please ask the waiter if you need a knife and fork. If you want, you can ask the waiter for a knife and fork.

The pork is then covered with a sweet and sour sauce based on black vinegar, and thanks to the effect of the black vinegar, the fatty meat does not seem too greasy, and you can finish it easily. The sauce and the fat melts in your mouth, and the aroma of the octagonal herbs lightly added to the sauce wafts through your nose. I finished the dish in one go, enjoying the difference in texture between the crispy kikurage and the crunchy bok choy that accompanied the dish. If the price of 1,900 yen is this good, it is sure to be popular.

One last thing to add: even if you can’t finish this huge pork stew, you can take the rest home with you, although you will have to pay for a separate container. So, whether you are a small eater or a woman, please give this set meal at Yotsukado Hanten a try. If I were to give you a warning, although the meat is made with a small percentage of fat, there is a good amount of fat throughout, so if you eat it all, you will probably end up consuming half a dozen calories…but that’s something you can consume later by exercising!  I’m sure it will make you feel like “I’ll try to lose weight later!

[Bonus] This time, I would like to show you one of the specialties of Yotsukado Hanten, gyoza (priced at 450 yen including tax). Can you tell from the image above? The dumplings are so stuffed with bean paste that the skin is almost torn off. In fact, the size of each gyoza is larger than other restaurants, and the volume of the gyoza is more than double that of gyoza from “Gyoza Hohei,” which is in the same price range.

The filling is about 2:1 pork:vegetable ratio. However, the minced pork is finely minced and the less fatty parts are used, so the flavor of the meat is strong but lightly seasoned. The moment you break the skin in your mouth, the fragrant aroma of garlic wafts into your nose…well, this certainly makes me want to eat it with beer.

Examples of other set menus at Yotsukado Hanten (prices include tax)

• Set meal of stewed pork belly and black vinegar-accented sweet and sour pork (limited to 20 servings): 1,750 yen
• Shrimp with chili sauce ¥1,300
• Yakiniku set meal: 1,250 yen
• Yotsukado-style claypot set meal: 1,200 yen
• Fried chicken set meal (limited to 10 servings): 1,200 yen
• Bean-curd soup with fried bean curd set meal: 950 yen
• Fried liver and chives set meal: 950 yen

Note: All set menus come with rice, soup, and fresh incense. A large serving of rice is available for an additional 180 yen (tax included).

Half-price gyoza (dumplings) day every month! To get to Yotsukado Hanten, walk from the nearest station, Tachikawa Station on the JR Chuo Line.

Yotsukado Hanten has a monthly half-price gyoza (dumpling) day. The half-price gyoza days are held on the 5th, 15th, and 25th of each month, and the half-price sui-gyoza day is held every Wednesday, and up to two servings per adult (one serving for elementary school students and under) are half-price. The dumplings at Yotsukado Hanten are quite hearty, so two servings of dumplings with white rice will fill you up enough. If you have a chance to visit the restaurant on the half-price gyoza day, please try to visit the restaurant.

Here are the details of the restaurant…