Zuien Bekkan/Shinjuku随園別館/新宿

 

Zuien Bekkan is located on the north side of Shinjuku Dori, just north of the Shinjuku Gyoenmae area. This place might make a nice meal before or after strolling in the park, which closes around 4 or 4:30 if memory serves. The restaurant was completely empty at 5 PM, they had just opened and it was a bit stuffy inside so they left the front door open. I had the sui gyoza, for which this shop is supposed to be known in addition to Peking duck, and the suratan soup (hot and sour soup, but without noodles). The portions were fairly big for a famous place on the main drag, which is good. The tables have pot cutouts, presumably for Chinese hot pot or some sort of grilling or shabu shabu. Bento.com has some interesting things to say about the service but I have to say that they were reasonably pleasant to me even though it seems like they had all just walked in the door themselves. It definitely has that "old" Chinese restaurant look. The food was good. They have a English menu with some pictures, but not a lot of them. The suratan had a lot of vegetables in it, but not a really "sharp" vinegary or peppery taste, which I prefer.

Bento.com page
Shop home page
Diddlefinger Map (English labels)
Google Map