General Notes
An excellent udon restaurant in the heart of Japantown. This place can get very busy, and for good reason. Their signature creamy mentaiko udon and their tempura are to die for. Absolutely worth giving it a try. They have some pretty unique udon dishes too (e.g. tonkotsu udon). The portions sizes for their udon dishes are actually quite substantial; definitely more than you might expect.
Positives
> The ambiance of the restaurant is really nice! The wood looks lovely and it feels like a bit of a retreat from Japantown, in a sense.
Negatives
> This place can get pretty busy; expect a nontrivial wait. I came here by myself on a Tuesday evening at like 8:20pm, and waited around ~15 minutes before I got a table.
Dishes Tasted
- ★★★☆ Beef Sukiyaki Nabeyaki Udon -- sweet and tender beef slices, poached egg, enoki mushroom, onions, fish cake, green onions, tempura bits. Beef has wonderful flavor and is incredibly delicious as advertised. Overall great dish.
- ★★★☆ Nabeyaki Udon -- poached egg, shrimp tempura, chicken, fish cake, maitake mushrooms, green onions, tempura bits. The broth is light but so delicious. It's simple and comforting! It's a surprisingly substantial portion too.
- ★★☆☆ Takoyaki -- Done pretty well, but not particularly noteworthy. I found the batter to be slightly undercooked.
- ★★★★ Mentai Cream Sauce Udon -- seasoned cod roe, parmesan cheese, green onions, kaiware sprouts, tempura bits, nori seaweed. Such a delightful dish -- the cream really allows the mentai to shine without being overpowering. The other components bring a lovely contrast, particularly the texture of the tempura bits. Udon itself is cooked beautifully and chewy. Amazing dish!
- ★★★★ Assorted Tempura -- shrimp (3), squid, sweet potato, eggplant, pumpkin, broccoli. SO well fried; delightfully crispy and perfectly cooked. A very nice assortment of different tempura, too.