Ji-Cube

⭐⭐⭐

🇨🇳 Chinese / 📍 Nishi-Azabu

📓 Visits: 1

Ji-Cube opened in 2021 and as I'm generally skeptical of all Chinese restaurants in Japan, never made it onto my list.  However, with lunch just starting from JPY 5,500 and a 2026 debut Tabelog Silver Award it seemed worth a look. The chef has a long history as a Szechwan cook, having previously run 4000 Chinese Restaurant.

Pressed tofu tossed with surf clams and squid, lightly salted.

Steamed chicken with spicy scallion soy sauce.

The first two dishes are very good.  The chicken is very high quality and doesn't smack you around the head with Sichuan pepper, which is what I prefer.

Chinese cabbage and meatballs in a foamy white chicken broth.

The meatball is a bit fatty and lacks umami.  The broth is basically spicy oil, which is not for me, and I have to leave it.

Peking duck with pancake and sweet bean sauce.

Peking duck roll actually contains duck meat as opposed to the usual skin-only cheat job.  The pancake is moist, maybe a little thick.  The meat is again quite fatty and I think they've overdone the miso.  You lose the fun in a larger service of Peiking duck of filling the pancakes to your preference.

Wagyu beef glazed with sweet vinegar sauce.

Sirloin is inevitably fatty.  The lemon works well.  Cordyceps are covered with spicy oil, again meaning the dish has a similar flavour profile to what preceded it.

Braised prawn with mayonnaise sauce.

Ebi fry, soy tartar sauce, kadif, truffle.  It's good and a welcome change in flavour.  The truffle is not amazing but you do get the aroma.  Unfortunately, the oil tastes slightly stale.  Hard to believe it's not fresh, so maybe it's just a poor quality one.

Braised shark fin in soy sauce served over rice

Along with the steamed chicken I have no criticism of this dish.  Full of umami and the rice is excellent.

Flavorful soup noodles with the aroma of green onions

The noodles are proper, thin, Chinese mein with flavour and without the texture of rubber bands.  The soup is quite salty and I would prefer it with less oil.

Black sesame pudding.

Goma pudding, goma sauce, coconut espuma.  It's sweet, rich and multidimensional in flavour.  I don't think I've ever had a better sesame pudding.

Lunch is priced at JPY 5,500, JPY 6,600 or JPY 11,000 and it seems like the menu changes once a month.  As far as I can tell, the Peking duck and shark fin is omitted from the current cheaper lunch menu.  On my visit, all guests were having the same 6K lunch as me and despite our different arrival times, dishes were batched so they could be served simultaneously.  My guess is that if you order the cheaper menu you'll have to wait between courses while others eat.

The restaurant is located in a residential area of Nishi-Azabu.  Property prices here are second only to Ginza so it's amazing that they can offer this amount of food at this price.  But Szechuan is not really to my preference so it would have been very much a surprise had I liked it that much.  Despite my last meal being a bit of a let-down I still prefer the food at nearby Shangu: there's more variation in flavour profile, I think the cooking is more refined, the meal doesn't take as long and my preference is Cantonese.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13259432/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.8

📱 Booking: 🟩 An easy booking via TableCheck or Omakase.  The same cancellation penalties apply however you book, but there's no booking fee with TableCheck.  However, availability differs between each site, so if your preferred date is not available via TableCheck, that might be a reason to book via Omakase.  Tri-lingual menu.  Waitress had basic English.

📍 Location: 

3-18-10 Nishi-Azabu.  5 mins east from Nishi-Azabu crossing.
Map data ©2026 Google

📅 Visit February 2026

🕛 Lunch 6,600

💴 Damage: 8,690 (6.6k + tea @ 1900 + 10%)

⏱️ Time taken: 2h