A note on the words: okahijiki (saltwort) is a crunchy coastal green served here on the seasonal appetizer plate alongside finely shredded jellyfish. Nagaimo is Chinese yam, lending a comforting, velvety thickness to the chrysanthemum petal soup. Crab miso refers to the rich roe and tomalley of the Shanghai crab, giving the simmered silken tofu its vibrant yellow hue and deep savory character. Hanabiratake is cauliflower mushroom, praised for its fragrant ruffled texture when sauteed with shrimp, while tantanmen is spicy sesame noodles, and annin tofu is an almond-flavored jelly dessert.
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Maison de Yuron on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, I decided to visit Maison de Yuron in Akasaka for the first time in a while. Lunch can be booked in 15-minute increments, which is quite convenient. The location is right near the Akasaka district office — some sort of ward-office-like facility, I suppose. It sits along a hill, so it is perched right on the slope.
[Lunch] Course A — 5,500 yen
[Lunch] Course B — 8,800 yen
[Lunch] Yuron Saijiki course — 15,400 yen
[Lunch] Shozai course — 19,800 yen
[Lunch] Shofuku course — 26,400 yen
[Lunch] Ryuho course — 37,400 yen
As they say, there is always a higher tier, ha — the courses span a wide range from 5,500 yen up to 37,400 yen, ha.
Well, looking closely at what differs, it seems to mostly come down to whether shark fin is included or minor variations in the dishes. If I say too much the staff might get mad at me, ha, but the truth is that even the 5,500-yen course leaves you completely satisfied! So I opted for the 5,500-yen course.
Now, looking over the drinks to start off with, to my surprise…
Free-flow oolong tea for 1,100 yen!!!
I have never seen anything like this at any Chinese restaurant before — pretty amazing.
Normally even a single soft drink runs close to 1,000 yen, so wanting more than one glass usually adds up, but this solves that completely. I really wish every Chinese restaurant would adopt this system.
On top of that, this oolong tea has a wonderful flavor and is delicious.
From the top: jellyfish, red cabbage, on the left was okahijiki (saltwort), and on the right was fig.
This shredded jellyfish is a popular item at Maison de Yuron, and sure enough, the texture is fantastic and delicious.
The okahijiki is great too. A delicate and truly delicious appetizer.
A soup with the comforting character of rice porridge. The seasoning is not heavy, but the aroma of the broth is solid and clear.
The velvety texture of the nagaimo yam is lovely too, making for a truly delicious soup.
Shaoxing wine!
It looks like mapo tofu, but the yellow is crab miso (the roe and tomalley). An elegant silken texture combined with a pronounced crab flavor. Even putting it mildly, this dish completely hooked me with how delicious it was. It is not the sort of thing you spoon over rice; the flavor profile itself is composed with such elegance that it holds together entirely on its own, which is impressive. Delicious!
Hanabiratake (cauliflower mushroom) and shrimp sauteed in garlic butter. Taking a bite, the garlic aroma is gentle yet delicious. I wonder how they do this — at home it is hard to bring out garlic flavor that is subtle yet unmistakably distinct like this. The plump shrimp is great, but mushrooms and all, this is outstanding!
This is a pretty generous course, and there is still more!
I thought it would be like Peking duck where you wrap cucumber and wagyu beef sauteed in sweet miso, but the skin was fried, with a crisp feel. Because it is fried, the oil bursts forth juicily and it is delicious! Still, it sits quite heavy in the stomach. Truth be told, I was already getting rather full.
At the end, you could choose between tantanmen and fried rice, and I went with the tantanmen. I had chosen fried rice on my previous visit.
And this tantanmen is so good! A thoroughly orthodox tantanmen with no eccentric gimmicks. The robust sesame aroma and mellow broth are delicious. Calling it the pinnacle of orthodox tantanmen might fit best. I could drink this broth endlessly. The noodles are thin with a pleasant bite, clinging tightly to the soup. Even though I was full, I could easily finish it!
For dessert, you could choose between annin tofu and mango pudding, and I chose the mango pudding!
Naturally, dessert was delicious too. Across the board, both the sweetness and flavor are refined. It pairs wonderfully with tea.
This one shown here is the annin tofu.
As you can see, you can get a course that leaves you thoroughly satisfied even for 5,500 yen! Personally, I felt the portions were quite generous too. Adding the 1,100-yen free-flow oolong tea makes it practically unbeatable. Spots where you can get a genuinely delicious lunch in the 5,000-yen range are actually quite rare these days. Even when tasty, they often run 7,000 to 8,000 or even 10,000 yen, so a Chinese restaurant that delivers high satisfaction on a 5,000-yen lunch is truly precious! I felt I would definitely like to return in a different season.
Maison de Yuron (Chinese / Akasaka Station, Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Aoyama-itchome Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.8
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
