The Teddy Bear takes a Bath! Kuma-chan Onsen Hotpot Restaurant

Ready for a dip in the onsen with Kuma-chan?

In Japan, everything is cute. The toilets are cute. The monsters are cute. Heck, even poop is cute. Wanna know what else is cute in Japan that isn't necessarily cute in the rest of the world? Hotpot. And because I am a lover of all things cute, I had to check it out.

Located in the bustling metropolis that is Shibuya in Tokyo, the Kuma-chan Onsen (Bear Hot Spring) Hotpot Restaurant is about a few minutes' walk from the famously busy Shibuya Scramble Crossing. While the restaurant does occasionally accept walk-ins, that's only if there are cancellations but this is very rare. The restaurant is quite popular, so it's best to book 1-2 days ahead your planned visit through phone or personally with the receptionist.

On some days, The Shibuya Scramble Crossing is not too busy.

If you see this outside, you're at the right place.

Yes, this is definitely the place.

Apparently, the concept of Kuma-chan Onsen started in Hokkaido where they opened their first branch in Sapporo. This is why they incorporate popular Hokkaido products in their menu-- they use Hokkaido meat in their hot pot and Hokkaido cream for their Hokkaido-style soft serve ice cream. (How many times have I mentioned "Hokkaido" so far?)

The Japanese are very strict with time-- of that I'm sure. So I played it safe and was punctual for my booked timeslot. There was already a queue forming even though I came in 30 minutes early. We were all made to wait in the restaurant's ground floor-- the adorable café and shop. Fret not, though-- there's plenty to see and do here. I ogled at the lovely drinks and dessert displays and was blown away by their complexity. Here in front of me were the best examples of Japanese kawaii culture and attention to detail at their finest!

The staff manning the front of the house is a cutie!

A gachapon sits quietly teasing the café visitors with small bear keychains for 500 yen a pop.

The café has little booths where you can enjoy your sweets in peace.

The contents of this refrigerated display case are all eye candy!

Rows and rows of fruit juices and a pair of sample fruit parfaits.

A milky kakigori-- shaped like a small polar bear!

How sweet!

A bear-shaped dessert fondue with an assortment of fruits for dipping.

A bear-shaped dessert fondue with an assortment of fruits for dipping.

Milk tea!

I also had a quick look around the shop. The merch were all cute, ranging from cloth bags and keychains to jewellery and kitchenware. The prices are a bit steep though (in my humble opinion) but then again, isn't everyone in here for the novelty of it all?

A cute mural in the shop.

The shop.

At long last, the time for us to ~~eat~~ meet the bears came and we were promptly escorted to the first floor where the hotpot restaurant is!

This way to see bears bathing in the hot springs.

Decorated to look like a cute little forest, Kuma-chan Onsen's upstairs restaurant is quite spacious. There are seats for solo diners, couples, and for larger groups of 4-6 people. The seats closest to the window are the larger tables.

Hello, darling. Please take my order and all the money I have in my bank account to you heart's desire.

Another bear in the distance warming up a seat to welcome new friends.

Dining area for couples-- and a bear just casually swinging in a hammock from the ceiling.

I have always been a hotpot lover. Food in the Philippines has recently been heavily influenced by our neighbours in Northeast Asia and this is evidenced by the presence of their popular dishes and restaurants in the Philippine food industry. Korean flavoured chicken wings, boba milk tea, all-you-can-eat samgyupsal, hotpot and malatang restaurants, takoyaki stands, and the like are now staples in towns and cities and Filipinos have taken a liking to them. They were practically non-existent until about a few decades ago. The rise in popularity of Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean dramas and series may have contributed to the fad. Suffice it to say that I share my fellow Filipinos' wont in welcoming this new culinary craze in the Philippines-- it helps me keep an open mind and at least I don't look spaced out in places like the Kuma-chan Onsen.

**Disclaimer: I myself am NOT a hotpot expert-- but I am experienced. (Also I have my own hotpot at home which I will make a short post about some other time).

Now the only thing I felt stupid about was reading a Japanese menu and not understanding a single thing. By the way, if they realise or if you inform the wait staff that you don't speak or read Japanese, they will give you an English menu and English instructions on how to do hotpot. In my case, when I tried to speak to them, the wait staff just looked at me with imploring eyes and thrust the English menu into my hands.

Different flavours of bears-- I mean, broth base. They have bonito dashi, chicken collagen soup, soy milk soup, and Chinese-style tantan soup. My choice of broth was the spicy Korean gochujang.

Chopsticks, napkins, and a paper apron which I took home with me to London just because. And of course, my very own induction cooker! All set!

They even give you fluffy bear headbands to wear if you want to ~~take a selfie~~ pretend you're a bear.

This is where the dips, sauces, and garnishes all are.

More merch!

I ordered the Hokkaido beef, pork, and chicken set with the chicken meatball. The entire set comes with the teddy bear, vegetables, an assortment of garnish and dips, and a finale side dish to eat with your broth when the main hotpot is done. I chose ramen as my finale side dish, but they have rice and gyoza among the choices too.

The first thing that came to my table was the set of vegetables. It had some kabocha, lotus root, daikon, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, a block of firm tofu, a tomato, and tons of Napa cabbage.

I have chosen chili oil and yuzu for my first batch of dips. (Later on, I would take grated daikon, crunchy garlic, spring onions, and soy sauce and this is where I realised I had reverted back to my factory settings as a Filipino.)

It took only a couple of minutes until the meat came. There were two slices each of beef and pork, three of chicken, a chicken meatball, and a pot of soup stock that you throw into the hotpot later to enhance the broth's flavour.

It was more than enough to make my mouth water uncontrollably.

Finally, Mr. Bear himself came to grace my table with his presence. His bright orange colour gave away that he was made of collagen and gochujang. He carried with him a little wedge of lemon and his onsen head towel-- a thinly-sliced piece of daikon radish. He wiggled and bobbed when I moved his little tub and when I booped his nose-- at this the wait staff gave me an amused look and reminded me that I should only turn the cooker's heat on after I've taken as many pictures as my heart desires. Apparently, Mr. Bear is designed to melt within five minutes once the cooker is fired up. So I did as I was told.

Isn't he the CUTEST?! Now, I don't want to eat! 😛

Yes, this makes my heart happy indeed.

Here's the same photo from a slightly different angle....

...and yet from another slight change of angle. You can tell there's a whole lot of difference between each shot. 😎

But with every beautiful hello follows the saddest goodbye. Just like the life of a sakura blossom is fleeting, so too was my time together with Mr. Bear. He had to take his bath, and I had to move on with my Japan tour. With trepidation, I turned the cooker on and watched him melt into an aromatic goop. Before I had the chance to whisper "farewell" as his cute little face floated to the top of the broth, the wait staff re-appeared over my shoulder and dumped the pot of stock into the broth. So I just shut up.

And thus began the eating phase.

The printed English guide on "How to Hotpot" came with the English menu they handed me earlier. Basically, I've already done most of the steps-- I've already gathered my dips, garnishes, and sauces, I took photos and videos before I turned the hob on, the pot of stock was already on the broth, so all that was left was to put my veggies and meat into the hotpot one by one so as not to overfill it. When they're cooked, I just needed to take them out, dip them, then eat them while they're piping hot!

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Hope he enjoyed his bath.

I also ordered a Coca-cola ice cream float featuring Hokkaido soft cream because why not? (Upon reflection later on, I realized I only ordered this for the novelty-- there were only around 300mls of cola in it but the soft cream, I thought, was fantastic!

Coca-cola float.

Everything is cute!

Breakdown of cost: set meal JPY2,980, cola float JPY980 (tax-inclusive).

Overall review: The hotpot's taste is nothing extraordinary, I'm sorry to say. However, the ingredients are fresh especially the meat and vegetables. If you're looking for food-induced euphoria then this probably will not be the best place for you. The serving sizes are also very small for its price and, as I had mentioned before, the food and drinks will not come cheap. However, if you are looking for a different kind of satisfaction-- a kawaii-induced euphoria, if such a term even exists-- then look no further. This kind of experience only exists in Japan (and in Hong Kong, mind) so it is considered a "When in Japan" activity and it's especially great for families and kids. I'd like to say that Kuma-chan Onsen is the kind of experience that once I have already done once won't be doing it again in the near future-- but then again, I haven't tried those dessert fondues and bear fruit parfaits from their café yet, have I?

Thank you for reading this post! Here are a couple more photos of Shibuya to enjoy!