Chen Kenichi Mapo Tofu Restaurant (陳建一麻婆豆腐店)

Mapo tofu is the entire argument here. At Chen Kenichi Mapo Tofu Restaurant in Yokohama's Minatomirai district, the menu is built around a single Sichuan dish rather than the sprawling Chinese banquet format common at comparable hotel restaurants. That focus traces directly to Chen Kenmin, credited as the figure who introduced Sichuan cuisine to Japan, and to his son Chen Kenichi, who carried the mapo tofu recipe into national prominence through his years as an Iron Chef on Japanese television. The Minatomirai address places the restaurant inside Landmark Plaza, the waterfront commercial complex that anchors one of Yokohama's most developed harbour precincts. The setting is formal enough to support private dining, and the price range reflects that positioning: lunch courses start at ¥4,800, with dinner courses from ¥13,000. That puts it above the casual Chinatown restaurants a short distance away, while remaining accessible compared to the full kaiseki tier. The draw is the dish itself: a mala-spiced tofu preparation in the Sichuan tradition, built on the numbing heat of Sichuan peppercorn and chilli oil. The Chen group's version of this recipe has been served in Japan for decades, and the Yokohama branch gives visitors outside Tokyo a direct line to that lineage without the commute to the capital's Chen restaurants. For anyone arriving by train to Minatomirai station, the Landmark Plaza location is a straightforward stop before or after the waterfront.

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