A note on the words: kata-yakisoba is a dish of deep-fried, crisp noodles smothered in a thick starchy gravy (ankake) of meats, seafood, and vegetables; gomoku refers to an assortment of varied ingredients. karashi is Japanese hot mustard and su is vinegar, both usual companions to crisp-fried noodles to sharpen the rich sauce. Sara-udon is a Nagasaki specialty featuring ultra-thin, crackling-crisp fried noodles similarly blanketed in a savory stir-fried topping.
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Mei Mei Akasaka Biz tawaa 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. Thinking I might fancy sushi for a change, I headed to Midori Sushi in Akasaka Biz Tower, but the queue was unbelievable so I gave up, ha. Switching gears, I went to “Mei Mei”, a Chinese restaurant on the first floor of Akasaka Biz Tower! Come to think of it, I may never have been inside before. The restaurant itself has plenty of windows and a fairly open feel. The menu is expansive, seemingly covering just about everything.
Beef rib stew set — 1,100 yen
Mapo tofu set — 1,000 yen
Stir-fried cabbage with miso set — 1,000 yen
Stir-fried liver and garlic chives set — 1,000 yen
Spicy stir-fried eggplant and pork set — 1,000 yen
Beef rib gomoku kata-yakisoba — 1,300 yen
Seafood gomoku kata-yakisoba — 1,500 yen
Gomoku fried rice — 1,000 yen
They have everything on the menu! From gyoza dumplings to noodles, fried rice, clay pot rice, and set meals. With so many choices it is hard to decide, but this time I went with kata-yakisoba! I chose the seafood gomoku kata-yakisoba.
Remembering to check, I took a look at the condiments on the table; soy sauce and vinegar were there. Without vinegar, kata-yakisoba cannot demonstrate 100% of its potential! It is a shame there was no karashi hot mustard, though! It might come served with the dish, so I waited a little.
Before long, it arrived! No mustard at all! I really wanted mustard included!
So I asked if I could have some mustard on the side, and they brought me a bit. All you have to do is ask, but having to ask that one little thing, you know.
Now for the seafood gomoku kata-yakisoba: the ingredients are generous. The seafood consists of squid, scallop, and shrimp, along with wood ear mushroom, carrot, greens, and bamboo shoot — a classic lineup. The seasoning is salt-based, and taking a bite, the delicate aroma of seafood drifts up deliciously. The squid is pillowy-soft and wonderful!
The noodles are thin, so calling them sara-udon noodles might give a closer impression than typical kata-yakisoba, ha. They absorb the starchy sauce pretty quickly and soften up, so if you want to enjoy the crunch, it is a race against time! Partway through, in went the vinegar! Vinegar suits a soy-based sauce better, ha, but even with a salt broth, splashing on vinegar tightens up the flavor nicely, which I like! I added the hot mustard they kindly brought over, too, thoroughly satisfied.
In the end, I always dump in generous splashes of vinegar and mustard, to the point where you lose track of whether you came to eat kata-yakisoba or came to eat vinegar and mustard! But I really think it tastes better with that much added.
This is the eggplant and pork gomoku rice. I had a bite of my companion’s dish, and this one was the real winner!
The eggplant and pork coated in a thick soy-sauce-based gravy were delicious beyond words. The eggplant was melt-in-the-mouth tender. At 1,000 yen, this feels quite cheap. Compared with the 1,500 yen for the seafood gomoku kata-yakisoba, in terms of value, the eggplant and pork gomoku rice takes the win.
That eggplant and pork gomoku rice was delicious. So next time, maybe I will try the beef rib gomoku kata-yakisoba, or give the liver and garlic chives a try for once. Having seen that they clearly have plenty of potential for good food, I look forward to trying a different dish on my next visit.
Mei Mei Akasaka Biz tawaa ten (Chinese / Akasaka Station, Akasaka Mitsuke Station, Tameike Sanno 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?
