Astranoir

Meiji – New Japanese Restaurant in Fayetteville

26 May 2010

Jason took me to a soft opening of the new Japanese restaurant in town: Meiji.

(all pictures taken by my friend Jason, but I cropped the last picture to remove non-consenting parties)

Tempura Udon, Tuna Roll, and Crab Roll

Lava Roll sans Jalapenos

Showing Samurai Movies!

My experience:

The small venue is cozy, but has a quality feel. The food is absolutely delicious. To keep the food fresh in our landlocked area, they fly in fresh fish twice a week. They even had fresh ground wasabi, which is rare here in Arkansas. Darwin Beyer is the sushi chef. In addition to making excellent sushi, he brought his mother’s homemade gyoza recipe to Meiji. They gyoza has a great texture due to a mix between frying and steaming (it’s not pictured because we devoured it too quickly).

What we ordered:

White tea with citrus
Salad (the ginger dressing is light, but flavorful)
Miso soup (white miso only, so it had a stronger flavor than most restaurant miso)
Gyoza (family recipe, absolutely delicious)
Pork Ramen (the broth was very flavorful; it had fresh ingredients including mushrooms and asparagus)
Tempura Udon (I only tasted a noodle since this was Jason’s dish, but the noodle texture was great; I sometimes forget how much I like udon noodles)
Crab Roll (simple and straight-forward; it was definitely improved by the grated wasabi)
Tuna Roll (Jason’s roll, the tuna looked incredibly fresh)
Lava Roll (sans jalapenos because they weren’t available for the soft opening; I think I might order this without jalapenos in the future – the sweet onion sauce on top gave it a great fresh taste with just a hint of spiciness rather than the hot “Lava” flavor)

I had a great time due to both the food and the atmosphere. I’m planning on taking Kes to Meiji this weekend.

More information:

Meiji’s main website is incomplete, but they also have a facebook page with more pictures and information.