A note on the words: mazesoba is a style of ramen served without soup broth, tossed directly with tare sauce, oils, and hearty toppings—here presented almost like a loaded salad bowl piled high with fresh vegetables. The red and white versions are the shop’s two variants, the red one arriving under plenty of chili oil. The fruit vinegar on the counter is a fruit vinegar rather than a plain one, faintly sweet and meant for splashing over the noodles mid-meal. An anison bar is a themed drinking spot that plays anime songs, and a finishing bowl of rice is meant to be stirred into whatever savory sauce and bits remain in the bowl.
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Maze-soba Gochi Men Akasaka mitsuke ten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. In the newly constructed building right in front of Akasaka-mitsuke Station, there was initially only an anison bar (a bar that plays anime theme songs), but a new shop has opened on the ground floor! And surprisingly, they say it is a mazesoba shop. I had been thinking I’d like to check it out once it opened. When I happened to walk by, lo and behold, it was open! What’s more, it was open at 10:00 in the morning! Perfect timing for breakfast. Feeling it must be fate, I decided to head right in.
Next to the entrance there is something that looks like a meal-ticket machine, but…
it is not a meal-ticket machine, ha.
From the back, a staff member was calling out, ‘Sit wherever you like! Sit wherever you like!’ A thought crossed my mind for a second: ‘Can I really sit down without having bought a meal ticket yet?’ But looking closely, it wasn’t a meal-ticket machine at all—it was a self-checkout payment machine for settling up. The process is: you sit down first, place your order, get handed a slip with a barcode, and take that to pay at the self-checkout machine yourself. Why didn’t they just make it a meal-ticket machine in the first place?!
Grilled chicken mazesoba, white (apparently a special opening price, so it might change depending on when you go?) — 790 yen
Grilled chicken mazesoba, red (apparently a special opening price, so it might change depending on when you go?) — 890 yen
Roast beef mazesoba, white (apparently a special opening price, so it might change depending on when you go?) — 990 yen
Roast beef mazesoba, red (apparently a special opening price, so it might change depending on when you go?) — 1,090 yen
I see, this is a “mazesoba” that is heavily focused on vegetables, ha. More of a salad bowl than “mazesoba.” You can’t see what’s happening with the noodles underneath at all. Plus, you can add extra vegetables, so I wonder if it suits people who want to eat their vegetables but still crave something hearty and substantial. Very modern. This time, I chose the grilled chicken mazesoba, red.
Now, the new shop is clean and has that new-building smell, which feels great. The interior is quite bright and has a stylish atmosphere.
On the counter are chili oil and fruit vinegar, ha. It’s not ordinary vinegar; it’s fruit vinegar. How stylish!
Ta-da!
The photo on the menu didn’t lie, ha. The noodles are completely hidden beneath the vegetables. Scallion, carrot, lettuce, broccoli, tomato, and onion, by the look of it. When there are this many fresh raw vegetables, adding garlic to pump it up feels a little out of place, I think.
Trying to toss it together…
it won’t mix! ha
The vegetables are in such chunky pieces that it just won’t mix. Perhaps because I got the red version, the noodles are heavily coated in red chili oil and look spicy. I gave up on tossing everything together and switched styles: eat the salad gathered around the sides first, then move on to the noodles. The salad is crisp and juicy. Good enough that they could sell it on its own as a salad bowl. And tasting the noodles, what a surprise! They are much more hearty and punchy than I expected. Richly flavored, packing a punch, and pleasantly spicy. Ah, this seems like it would go great with garlic after all.
It said that mixing in a bowl of rice to finish is delicious too, and indeed it seems like it would work well.
In the latter half I tried using the fruit vinegar, and it was delicious—a vinegar with a faint, subtle sweetness, ha.
So overall, I’d say the concept is pretty great!
Rather than a vegetable “maze-soba,” it feels closer to “salad + mazesoba.” Being able to satisfy that desire for fresh vegetables while still tucking into hearty noodles feels very modern, and this might well become quite popular! I wonder if they’d consider doing an inexpensive salad bowl on its own, ha.
As for how to eat this dish at this point in time:
- First, eat the chunky vegetables like lettuce and broccoli that are hard to toss in,
- once only the noodles and chicken remain, add garlic as a topping and toss thoroughly,
- and partway through eating, shift the flavor with chili oil or fruit vinegar.
feels like the right answer, but feel free to eat it however you like!
Maze-soba Gochi Men Akasaka mitsuke ten (Abura-soba, Maze-soba / Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Nagatacho Station, Akasaka Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
