PAOPAO Ikebukuro at Ikebukuro, Tokyo

A handmade dim sum takeaway counter in Tobu Ikebukuro, turning out juicy pork buns and shumai since 1994.

PAOPAO is a Chinese dim sum takeaway counter born in 1994 and housed on the basement food floor of Tobu Department Store in Ikebukuro, where it makes and sells its goods on the spot. The kitchen draws on the flavours and techniques of dim sum's Chinese heartland, combined with skills handed down from a craftsman who trained in Kobe's Nankinmachi Chinatown, and uses carefully selected black pork and mochi-pork for its handmade line. The result is proper, authentic dim sum made easily accessible to passing shoppers. The counter turns out steamed pork buns and an-man, plus meat, prawn and black-pork shumai, alongside meat, stamina and water gyoza, with seasonal additions such as bamboo-shoot and wakame shumai in spring or wasabi shumai in February. Reviewers single out the freshly made pork buns, hot and bursting with juice, and the balance of filling and soft dough. Hours run from 10:00 to 20:00 most days, with extended closing at 21:00 on busier ones, and the counter sits a minute from Ikebukuro Station. As a long-running brand that also runs a dim sum bar PAOPAO+ format elsewhere, the Ikebukuro counter keeps its focus firmly on well-made takeaway. It is ideal for a quick snack on the move, a brought-home dinner of dumplings and buns, or a small treat slipped into a shopping bag. Call in at the Tobu basement, watch the staff folding and steaming, and carry off a taste of genuine handmade dim sum.