Japanese Restaurant Serves Up Their Hot Pots With A Cute Little Bear

If you’re looking for a nice and fun place to dine in Japan then we highly recommend the Hokkaido Menko Nabe Kuma-chan Onsen in Shibuya, Tokyo. This new hot pot restaurant is aimed at solo diners where each lone diner will be accompanied by a special companion – a cute little bear named Kuma-chan. Amusingly, the adorable dining-buddy is served along with your hot pot foodstuffs and ingredients. The idea here is to let your friend enjoy the moment by placing it in the heating pot and let it leisurely soak in the hot springs.

Having an adorable bear taking a dip in the hot springs while you dine sounds like the most pleasurable dining experience you could ever have. But that’s not exactly the case. The kawaii figure is the hot pot’s broth base in disguise. It is actually a gelatinized soup base which is cooked at the dinner table in a cooking pot. In other words, cute little Kuma-chan is a part of the meal because it is basically the broth itself.

 

This Cute Little Bear Melts Into Broth And Looks Like It’s Taking A Leisure Soak In The Hot Springs

Watch as the cute bear sit comfortably in the cooking pot and slowly melt into flavorful soup. Isn’t that entertaining? While Kuma-chan slowly melts in heat, gently toss the ingredients in the broth to cook. Then all that’s left to do is wait and watch until poor little Kuma-chan completely melts and boils down into rich, savory soup.

 

 

The bear-shaped broth base comes in a variety of flavors including the all-time favorites bonito dashi, chicken, soy milk, spicy tantan, and Junmai Ginjo sake miso flavors. Apart from these traditional broths, the restaurant also offers seasonal special broth that changes throughout the year. The broth you pick determines the color of your bear which comes in white, brown, red, black, yellow, blue, green, purple, and more.

 

 

Well, it may be a bit heartbreaking to see your newfound friend slowly melting into soup. But once you dig in, the scrumptious hot pot lets you realize that Kuma-chan is now in a happy place. And your friend wanted to share the happiness with you through a tasty dish. We think it’s best to think that way whenever you solo-dine in this restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Instagram