A note on the words: komen are Chinese-style noodles, and nira soba is a noodle dish with garlic chives. Hiyashi chuka is a classic Japanese summer dish of chilled Chinese noodles arranged with shredded toppings like cucumber, chicken, and ham under a cold dressing. Here, the Sichuan hiyashi men reimagines that classic by replacing the customary soy or sesame sauce with a pungent, punchy garlic and spicy miso sauce.
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Tohryu Azabu 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. Wandering around Azabu-juban thinking about having some Chinese food, I realized I might not have been to “Tohryu Azabu ten” lately, so off I went. Tohryu! It bills itself as a restaurant for upscale Chinese cuisine and komen noodles! The prices are steep, but the food is delicious. Despite it being lunchtime, it seemed uncrowded, and I was lucky to walk right in.
This week’s lunch menu — 3,200 yen
Sichuan hiyashi soba — 3,200 yen
Now, usually I go for the mapo tofu on the lunch menu, or the nira soba (noodles with garlic chives), but I felt like having something different for a change. So I chose something that was likely to be spicy, which I have started eating again recently: Sichuan hiyashi men, ha. It will probably get cold soon, so I might not be in the mood for chilled noodles much longer. Incidentally, it seems the warmth has returned a bit lately, and it was a little hot outside.
After a short wait, the Sichuan hiyashi men arrived.
Ta-da!
Huh? ha. This is completely different from what I imagined! Is that… miso ladled over it? I had pictured something much more fiery red.
Hmm, taking a bite: delicious, ha.
I see, if anything, the garlic comes right to the front ahead of the heat. How to put it — definitely the kind of thing you should never order unwittingly before an afternoon meeting, not knowing what you are getting into! An extra-garlic overload. Still, the rich miso sauce and the sharp, spicy sauce go great with the garlic. Or rather, you can even feel the sharp sting of raw garlic.
And as I ate, I realized that underneath this garlic miso sauce are the usual toppings for hiyashi chuka (chilled Chinese noodles), ha.
Cucumber, chicken, ham, and so on. In other words, Sichuan hiyashi men is hiyashi chuka dressed with a spicy garlic sauce instead of the usual sesame or soy dressing. That is the deal!
Even so, garlic and all, this is seriously delicious…
Dessert came with it too, which was nice.
So there you have it: I tried something different from my usual order, and with its punchy kick, it was truly delicious. I don’t know — it is expensive, but it really is good. It is amazing that I have yet to run into a dish here that felt like a letdown. Next summer, I will come here specifically to eat this Sichuan hiyashi men.
Tohryu Azabu ten (Sichuan / Azabu-juban Station, Roppongi Station, Akabanebashi Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
