Wondering where to get lunch in Kouvola town?

Vol.28, Issue 12, 05th December 2025

It’s not often that I venture into town for lunch, but if I do, I like to choose a place that offers a tasty variety of dishes. Recently, I ventured into town on a dark and rainy Saturday afternoon and found myself at the Chinese restaurant, Mei Lok in Hansa.

Having visited this restaurant previously during a weekday when working in the centre – and having difficulty finding an empty table – I was surprised to see that the restaurant was not very full at this time on a Saturday. However, the restaurant offering was not diminished in the least, and the staff were as polite and welcoming as ever.

The food on offer at Mei Lok is not only traditionally Chinese, but more a fusion of dishes. There were the common dishes of sweet and sour chicken (one of my favourites from when I was younger and a Chinese takeaway opened in our valley), fried noodles, and chop suey, to name but a few, but also a large selection of sushi, sashimi, and roast salmon. The sushi and sashimi were in an impressive cold cabinet display with blue LED lighting, and with what seemed like dry-ice clouds pouring over the dishes – this did mean that it was difficult to see what was on offer and I had to waft the clouds away a few times to choose my sushi!

Alongside this there was of course plenty of fresh vegetables and salads. As always seems to be found in Asian cuisine restaurants in Kouvola these days, there was a plethora of desserts, with ice-cream, cakes and cookies. I’m getting hungry again just thinking of what I had!

The restaurant itself is comfortable and welcoming and has a comfortable terrace outside in the shopping centre so useable enough even in the winter if the inside is full. The food as usual was tasty and generous, and we had no complaints. The only thing my lunch companion mentioned was the lack of music which they normally used to have playing to give some authentic(?) ambiance, but I honestly didn’t miss it. Having been to China a few times I can’t really say that music was the norm in restaurants there either – more likely a large tv with a sport channel nowadays.

So, to sum up my visit, if you are looking for a lunchtime spot, like to eat good food and a variety of dishes at a very reasonable price (€13.50 during weekdays and €16.50 on weekends), I can heartily recommend Mei Lok.