A note on the words: gakuya-meshi means dressing-room meal, the boxed lunch sent backstage to a performer; here it is the box associated with Ichikawa Ennosuke III, a kabuki actor of the Omodakaya house, sold to ordinary customers. Tonjiru is miso soup thick with pork and root vegetables, and the version here is made with sake lees. Mugimeshi is rice cooked with barley. Mentaiko is spicy cured pollack roe, nishime is vegetables simmered slowly in soy and dashi, ganmodoki is a deep-fried tofu fritter, and yamatoni is meat simmered in soy, sugar and ginger. Chicken nanban is fried chicken dipped in sweet vinegar and topped with tartare sauce, a Miyazaki dish, and hiyajiru is the chilled miso soup poured over rice in the same region. Tororo is grated mountain yam; negitoro is minced fatty tuna and mekabu is the frilled root of the wakame seaweed. Saikyo-yaki is fish marinated in sweet white miso before grilling. Annin tofu is a soft almond-milk dessert. Akasaka is a business and dining district beside the government quarter. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Book a table at Akasaka Umaya on AutoReserve (English)
This is Hangover Meshi. I am around Akasaka often but had never once been to Akasaka Umaya, so this time, lunch there. You turn off the road toward the temple and it sits at the far end — a Japanese restaurant with real atmosphere. I had not booked, but walking in off the street worked perfectly well^^ The story is that this is where you can eat the gakuya-meshi, the dressing-room meal, of the kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke. There has been a lot said about the fourth Ennosuke, but this is the third Ennosuke’s dressing-room meal! What was he eating? Time to go and find out.
It was quite busy from midday, and the seats looked close to full.
There seemed to be a group in from overseas, and a lot of families of five to eight taking the big tables — a celebration lunch, perhaps? Rather than an ordinary lunch spot, I suspect more people come here for a slightly special occasion.
Ichikawa Ennosuke III’s gakuya-meshi, 1,773 yen
Charcoal-grilled Mochibuta pork with tororo set, 1,364 yen
Sakurajima chicken cutlet set, 1,319 yen
Chicken nanban set with tonjiru, 1,319 yen
Chicken nanban set with hiyajiru, 1,364 yen
Negitoro and mekabu rice bowl, 1,591 yen
Weekly side dishes and saikyo-yaki black cod set, 1,682 yen
Hmm. Obviously the thing to order is the famous gakuya-meshi of Ichikawa Ennosuke III, but
the other set meals look pretty good as well, don’t they. Still, since I was here — the bento that gets delivered to the dressing room of Ennosuke III of the Omodakaya house, arranged for ordinary customers, you want to eat that, surely! So the gakuya-meshi it was.
I noticed a line saying you could swap in tonjiru for 137 yen more, so I had them do that^^
First, the water arrived — in a bottle!
Natural spring water from Ukiha, apparently. A label I had never seen before^^
And there it is! Oh! So many different little dishes portioned out separately, and it looks lovely!
Being able to eat this many different things seems good for you too lol
You can choose mugimeshi, barley rice, or white rice, and I went for the barley. There is a good deal packed in.
Mentaiko, nishime, ganmodoki, sashimi, yamatoni, and one big piece of fried shrimp planted right there^^
I wonder whether the sides change from day to day. The fried shrimp probably does not^^ It must be the symbol of the whole box.
Everything is gently seasoned and very good! The tonjiru I swapped in is the sake-lees kind, faintly sweet and full of vegetables.
Every one of the sides goes with rice, so as a bento I think the balance is excellent! Delicious.
At the end, dessert is annin tofu, and this annin tofu is almost cream — light and whipped.
You do come across this type now and then, don’t you. I love whipped cream, so this style of annin tofu is irresistible lol
So, I took on the gakuya-meshi, and this business of a little of many different things makes for a well-balanced and very good lunch^^ If the contents really do change daily, coming here fairly often would make sense — I can see why he ate it every time as his dressing-room meal! The other dishes looked good too, so if I get the chance to come again I might try something else.
Akasaka Umaya (Izakaya / Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Akasaka Station, Nagatacho Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
