Carmen T.
Google
I’m not sure if there was just a quality issue the night I went, because this place is nothing like how the other reviews make it out to be.
The food itself is just ok, mediocre at best. The quality itself is fine, but my issue is there is a lack of taste and lack of really anything.
We ordered the tiger shrimp tempura, takoyaki, Chicken Curry Udon, and Tonkotsu, and my main issue for everything is that it lacks salt. For example, the tiger shrimp tempura and the tempura broccoli: the batter itself is flavored fine and fried well, but the shrimp and broccoli are not seasoned at all prior to the fry. This makes the dish overall very lack luster and overall bad, then to top it all off it’s coated in what tastes like jarred spicy chili sauce. The same could be said about the chicken katsu that comes with the curry udon- it just ends up falling short because the actual meat is under seasoned. Takoyaki also has this issue- delicious batter and topping with a bland sad piece of octopus inside.
My other issue is the soups for the udon/tonkotsu. Usually Japanese curries and tonkotsus are rich, dreamy, and hearty. Both soups today were so thin and not very developed in flavor. There is no slow simmer broths here, and it really is not better than an instant powdered soup. My curry udon specifically was like they skimped on the curry block roux- like it was an essence of curry soup. The veggies in my soup also tasted like they were just parboiled in plain water before being added to my bowl.
Overall, food is so bland and mediocre. Truly a home chef who buys a block of udon from the local asian mart can stir up a better noodle bowl than this. ESPECIALLY for this price point.
My other issue is the service is bad. Waiter was a nice guy but has very poor hospitality? Never introduced himself, and just asked us “is water ok?” before heading off to who knows where. Worst thing was the table who sat down after us ordered and finished eating their appetizer before our waiter came back to us to take our order. I’m still not even sure if he was actually our waiter vs some other person working there who noticed no one was helping us.
Don’t fall for this gimmicky mediocre spot. Much better spots to eat noodles than this place. Maybe a redeeming factor are the drinks/cocktails, because I do love the ambiance of this place and the lucky cat drink vessels.
Overall- not worth your time, money, or stomach space. You are much better off trying to make these dishes on your own. I think Aoki across the path is a much better Japanese alternative than this spot, which is sad because I really wanted to like this place.