Have any GBA Onions eaten at Mecha Noodle Bar? Good and/or bad feedback is welcome.
A friend of mine in RI is celebrating a milestone birthday tomorrow by treating herself to a day off, meeting up with me for lunch and the ICA, and ending with the Courtney Barnett show at Roadrunner (I can’t go). She is craving Asian food, but we want something walkable on the way to the ICA (ie, no backtracking to Chinatown due to my time constraints). I saw Mecha on the map but I don’t know anyone who’s eaten there. It’s a mini-chain that gives off faux-Asian vibes but I saw that a Vietnamese guy started it (for example, they have a cha ca la vong on the menu, which is unusual and a favorite dish of mine).
Please save us from Mr. H. How much did the restaurant group pay the Globe and force Devra to write this review?! Good gawd!
I didn’t see Mai; that does look interesting but I don’t think my friend is looking for Japanese for this meal. Only handrolls at lunchtime, which I would be down with next time I play weekday hooky.
I was just checking out Google Maps. The only other Asian place nearby is Lanner Noodles. Never even heard of that one, but it looks pretty good to me…
Ooh… Lanner intrigued me, initially because it took the place of a beloved restaurant of mine, Rangzen, in Central Sq. I think my Google maps is broken because I didn’t realize they had a Seaport location. I’ll see what she thinks.
You are campaigning hard against Mecha.
Thank you for your efforts! Of course I shall report back wherever we end up.
Devra’s Boston Globe review of Mr. H was December 2025.
Kara Baskin was first in July 2025: “Mr. H actually made this curmudgeon like the Seaport and feel like a kid again. A mea culpa from a Seaport cynic.”
Maybe I should tell my friend let’s just go for broke at Mr. H. I’m not even looking at their website, but if they’re open for lunch, maybe we have the whole joint to ourselves and we would have a wonderful ironic celebratory lunch.
My friend has very good taste, much better than mine… She’s a food writer and works in the food industry. The irony would not be lost on her. In fact, we may not be able to crawl out of Mr. H in time for the ICA!
I have a friend that works with Mecha. They are a small, family owned multi-unit that cooks just about everything fresh, in-house in their locations including their broth etc. I am not affiliated and have no financial incentive, just wanted to say that they are not a boil-in-bag chain and might be worth a visit. for a quick lunch.
A very cool feature of Mecha’s website is that you can tell it any allergens and dietary restrictions and it will sort the menu to show you only what fits within your parameters.
