Yakisoba gets the gourmet treatment at this new Shirokane eatery
A familiar fried noodle dish thought of mostly as a summer festival and school trip staple, the humble yakisoba is usually dismissed as junk food â and we'd be inclined to agree. That's why the recently opened Mutenka Yakisoba Bar Celona caught our attention: you see, the boys behind this place are claiming to offer an upscale, refined, even healthy version of the much-maligned, MSG-heavy carb classic. We ventured out to Shirokane in search of the truth behind the noodle nerds' lofty promises.Â
Arriving at lunchtime, we were faced with only one choice â a regular (Â¥950) or large size (Â¥1,050) version of Celona's signature Mutenka Yakisoba, completely additive-free and made with ingredients fit for the scores of posh restaurants found around nearby Shirokane-Takanawa Station. Take the noodles for example: made from scratch with Hokkaido flour and boiled before frying, these shiny and firm specimens boast a crisp outer layer while remaining chewy on the inside.Â
The familiar Worcestershire-style sauce is all-natural, too, made with a blend of local apples, onions, garlic, tuna, seaweed broth and chicken broth with a hint of tomato. The lightness of the sauce makes our hearty pile of noodles go down without a hitch, while the trio of fresh cabbage, 'avocado pork' (erm, pigs raised exclusively on avocados) and fried egg that accompanies the noodles is tasty as well. We're beginning to think fancied-up yakisoba might not be such a crazy idea after all.
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