Kamonka Ueno Bamboo Garden

Was finished at Ueno Park and looking for something nice on a sunday evening. This place is located right outside the JR train station and the pictures looked decent. Service was good but food failed terribly. The shao loong baos or dumplings were dried and deflated by the time it arrived at the table. Ive had much better in my hometown of Honolulu. The other items such as the deep fried chicken with mayo tasted like leftover soggy orange chicken. Prices are high and servings are small. Save your money and go somewhere else.

After the disappointment that was Ameya-​yokocho we were starving and ready to get out of the area — and back to our hotel. But I whipped out my trust Unilocal app — to see if there was anything worth our while in the area. Sure enough, this place popped up!
The entrance is pretty futuristic with a lighted up halo that you walk through. Off to the left you will see the dumplings being prepared in the kitchen through a glass window. Pretty cool!
Now, I don’t know if this is the setup for real, but it sure felt like it… and I’d LOVE if other restaurants did this. It was almost as if they had a separate area for families (with kids) and for adults with no kids. Which meant we sat in a no kids zone… and it was lovely.
Got the:
Shrimp fried rice — massive serving that I shared with a friend! Really great fried rice.
Dumplings — I guess I was expecting something else. These were basically little purses full of soup. Is this what dumplings should be like? I was expecting more like gyoza. After the initial shock of the liquid squirting out, they weren’t bad.
Gyoza — Really good. I don’t think I had ANY bad gyoza while in Japan… they were all stellar. Including these!
I do want to mention that the service was exceptional! They went out of their way to get my wife veggie options. Brought over other staff to translate and were all around so kind. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT service!
Lastly, right outside and to the right there is a little window. I assume it’s part of the same restaurant but not 100% sure. There is cantaloupe soft serve ice cream there. GET IT. Seriously… get it. It was amazing.