Come Come House

When you could not find a place called Come Come House, then it could only mean two things. One, you need a GPS; or two, Come Come House should be renamed Don't Come House.

After being tipped off about this great Jap ramen place called Lai Lai Ken (来来轩, which literally means Come Come House), I have been on a hopeless hunt for it. I searched for it online, found the numbers but the line was dead. But since it was highly recommended by Orangeclouds, I perservered and actually went looking for it on a winter's day. I failed. Very cold. Shit.

Today, I decided to try again. My idiotic friend (let's call him Mr L) who has been bunking with me for what feels like the last two decades, managed to make a reservation through Fantong - a popular online food review portal that also helps you make reservations (the restaurants pay them a small fee). Yeah! At least it showed that Come Come was still around.

But when I reached the dark alley where it was supposed to be located, it was nowhere to be found. There were lots of Japanese eateries, but no Come Come. There was even a Gen Lai Ken (源来轩, or Original Come House) but where the hell was Come Come House? Frustrated and close to giving up, I finally asked a waiter in a yakitori place what happened to Come Come. Thankfully, he cured my heartache and eased the hunger in my Forbidden Stomach.


Apparently, Come Come has changed owners and has been renamed Original Come. But none of the lousy Beijing city magazines, or Fantong for that matter, bothered to check and update their listings. Lazy buggers. So yes, you read it here first on the Forbidden Stomach: Original Come House is the new name of Come Come House.

I have never been to the original Come Come, but my guess is that Original Come has upheld the standards of its predecessor. The ambience though, was disappointingly bland, with a few black square tables dotting blank walls. A listless shelf of sake bottles was placed next to a small LCD monitor. In many ways, this place failed quite spectacularly on first impressions. It was quite unlike the usual small Japanese eateries you see, whether in Beijing or Tokyo, where it usually felt cosy and comfortable even if it was not splendid or lavish.


But the ramen was excellent. I had the Soy Sauce Ramen (below), which had springy noodles mixed nicely with crunchy bean sprouts. The broth was a tad too thick, but it was definitely tasty. My friends had the Miso Soup Ramen (just 30 yuan, bottom) and I would strongly recommend it. Noodles just as good and the clear soup was done to perfection.


Special mention must be reserved for the selection of yakitori, especially the chicken wings which were so good we ordered a second serving. Sorry no pictures. We ate too fast. Haha.

Original Come was quite empty when I was there, so I guess reservations are not a must. But it is not easy an easy place to find, so to spare you the pain I went through, here's the number 010-6468-5579 so you can get the waitress to give directions to your taxi driver. I am so nice right? It opens from 11am to 2pm and from 5.30 to 10.30pm.

Budget about 60 yuan per person inclusive of beer. The Beijing Beer is only 10 yuan per mug, good value for money. It may not be called Come Come House anymore, but I will definitely be going back.