Tag: udon noodles

Tasty Japanese Noodles at Raku

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Raku
Location: 456 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://rakunyc.com/

If you’re looking for a Japanese noodle fix and you want something a bit different from the now-ubiquitous ramen shops throughout the GTA, Raku is worth a shot.

Raku specializes in udon noodles — which are thicker and chewier than ramen noodles — that they serve either hot or cold.  I went with one of the cold choices, though I started with the yaki nasu: “deep fried eggplant, spicy miso pork, quail egg.”

Raku

The waitress explained that you should mix this one up so that the egg combines with the eggplant and the pork.  The eggplant is soft, but still has some texture, and works very well with the meaty ground pork.  The miso gives it an addictively savoury flavour, and the egg cranks up its silky richness.  It’s a tasty dish.

Raku

As for the star of the show, I went with the zaru: “chilled noodles, dipping sauce.”

Raku

It’s a really simple dish; the dipping sauce basically tastes like a milder soy sauce.  It really comes alive once you jazz it up with the accompanying green onions, mushrooms, wasabi, and the quail egg (not to mention the little dish of shichimi togarashi — a zippy Japanese spice blend — on the table).

Raku

The noodles are really the star of the show here, and they’re great, with a hearty chewiness that stands up nicely to the flavourful sauce.

Delightfully Cheap (and Delicious) Noodles at Manpuku

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

ManpukuLocation: 105 McCaul Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.manpuku.ca/

I just got a bowl of curry udon noodles from Manpuku, and they were both super cheap and super delicious.  What’s better than that?  (I’ll answer for you: nothing.  Nothing is better than that.)

For six bucks, you get a very generous amount of udon noodles in a rich, curry-flavoured broth with some tender potatoes and a heaping pile of sliced pork.  It’s an almost suspiciously good deal; for that little, it really shouldn’t be all that good, right?  But it’s so good.

Manpuku

The broth is rich and delicious, the sliced pork is super tender and infused with that great curry flavour, and the noodles are chewy and perfectly cooked.  The noodles are maybe a little bit bland, but other than that I honestly don’t have any complaints about this bowl.

Manpuku

It’s not the type of thing that’s going to blow anybody’s mind, but it’s rich, hearty, and delicious.  I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more satisfying meal for under six bucks in the GTA.