A note on the words: gomoku ankake yakisoba is pan-fried noodles smothered in a thick, starch-bound sauce packed with assorted ingredients cut large. The an itself is a savory sauce thickened with starch over a rich Chinese stock base, while tsuyu soba refers to Chinese-style noodles served in hot broth, and Fujian-style fried rice is topped with a flavorful saucy gravy.
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Akasaka Rikyu on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. It had been a while since my last visit to “Akasaka Rikyu”, a long-established Chinese restaurant inside Akasaka Sacas. While many places get packed at lunch, Akasaka Rikyu has plenty of seats, so surprisingly you can often get in without a reservation. It is a bit on the expensive side, but because it is delicious, it is one of those places I like to visit from time to time. This time too, I went straight to the restaurant, asked, and was smoothly guided up to the second floor.
The right side of the first floor isn’t bad either, but the second floor gets plenty of sunshine and is nice and bright!
Daily lunch set — 2,420 yen
A whole shark fin in thick sauce over rice — 6,050 yen
Gomoku ankake yakisoba — 2,662 yen
Seafood tsuyu soba — 2,904 yen
Roast pork tsuyu soba — 2,178 yen
Special dan dan noodles — 2,662 yen
Hmm, since it had been a while, I thought I would go with gomoku ankake yakisoba and placed my order.
When I asked if they could make the noodles firm, they replied that if it was just a matter of griddling them longer to give them a crisp texture, they could do that… Wait, ha — last time they made them deep-fried noodles for me, so I wonder if the chef changed?
Well, I figured it was good enough that they could do that much, so I agreed and asked for that.
Now then, first some tea.
I see, so this is how it is. Compared to last time, the whole atmosphere has changed quite a bit, ha!
Maybe the chef really did change after all!
The ingredients are hearty and chunky, but the reason the overall volume looks slightly smaller than last time might be because the noodles are very fine noodles.
Pulling the noodles out, from being griddled longer they have turned out crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.
This is delicious in its own right!
True to high-end Chinese cuisine, the an (thick sauce) spreads a gentle flavor from properly extracted Chinese stock.
Mm, including how the heat was applied, it is wonderfully done. The generously cut ingredients are all in peak condition.
High-end Chinese really is a cut above! Though truth be told, I would be even happier if they had deep-fried noodles too!
By the way, the ankake fried rice looked like this. This looked delicious too!
So while it had been a while, it remains a dependably delicious restaurant! Even during lunch, if it is a weekday it is easy to get in, and if you are guided to a second-floor seat, eating in a bright spot while looking out at the scenery outside is quite pleasant. It is a bit pricey, but looking at it overall, it was a very satisfying place!
Akasaka Rikyu (Chinese / Akasaka Station, Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Tameike-sanno Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
