If you are looking for a meal with a cute story and adorable vibes, then look no further than Hokkaido Menkoi Kumachan Onsen! The name itself can be loosely translated as "cute bear hot springs", which relates to the bear-shaped soup base that comes with your meal. This restaurant serves Japanese shabu-shabu, a dish where you cook your own vegetables and protein in a sizzling pot of flavored broth. The broth is hot enough so that everything cooks fairly quickly, including the meats which are served thin. There are also a variety of sauces for dipping, such as ponzu or creamy sesame, as well as sides like noodles, rice, and dumplings.

Hokkaido Menkoi Kumachan Onsen Shibuya

📍150-0042 32-12 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Asolty Shibuya 3rd floor

The restaurant we went to is located in Shibuya, but there is another location in Kagoshima, Japan. There are also locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia. The Shibuya restaurant is on the third floor, so we rode the elevator up to get to it.

I highly recommend making reservations in advance since this is a popular spot with limited seats. We made reservations through the official website but note that I did translate the web pages to English using the translation feature in my browser.

Spread of shabu-shabu dishes that come with the meal paired with a frozen bear soup base.

This restaurant is an experience that revolves around a kumachan, meaning "cute bear". Upon entering, we were greeted warmly and given a fuzzy headband to wear. We were then led to our table and given a children's picture book that describes the story of the bear. It is written in Japanese, but we were able to use the Google Translate app to understand the story. The ambiance and woodsy decor of the restaurant reminded me of being at a theme park and being submerged into a world similar to Winnie the Pooh in the 100 Acre Wood.

Each person is given a bear headband to wear before they are seated at the table.

The server was friendly, and we were given menus in English that outlined how to enjoy the shabu-shabu experience. We got to choose the type of broth we wanted (choices of bonito, chicken, tonkotsu, soy milk, sake miso, chili miso, and spicy sesame), along with the color of the bear. In addition, we chose the type of protein and noodle type. My sister and I both went with tonkotsu broth, beef wagyu, and ramen noodles. A bowl of fresh vegetables came on the side as well, and there was a self-serve bar to pick the types of sauces we wanted.

The menu is available in English, and it comes with directions on how to cook your meal.

Once the pot was heated, the frozen bear melted to form the boiling broth that everything was cooked in. The food was good, but to be honest it was nothing special or memorable in terms of the taste. I thought my broth was fairly bland, and I probably could have used a bit more spices to flavor it. However, the overall experience was unique, and it was a great way to experience a cute shabu-shabu spot in Japan. I would recommend this spot if you are looking for something memorable and exciting to do on your trip. It is also a very Insta-worthy spot.

The frozen bear comes in a variety of colors and melts into the broth used for cooking the veggies and the meat.