By FAR my favorite Udon joint - EVER. I'm going to Japan later this year so I'll let ya'll know if that changes anything, but this place is GREAT.
I first started come here about 3 years ago when I came to study abroad in Paris. I was CRAVING asian food, and a quick Yelp search found me this gem of a place. I'm normally not the biggest fan of Udon, because I feel that compared to ramen which has a cult following, and even Soba which seems to be a thing now, Udon restaurants never really made their mark, at least in New York. The month that I was in Paris, I think I came here about 5-6 times. I was ADDICTED (still am). I came back to Paris 2 years ago, and I brought my family here. I just came back to Paris this summer, and I had it TWICE (my FIRST and LAST meal in Paris, what a way to start and end my trip).
This place is a bit small, and it gets a bit warm inside the restaurant. I love sitting at the bar so I can watch the chefs prepare the food, but on a cooler day, the outside seating is great. At peak times the wait might be up to 30 minutes, but I ended up being really good at avoid the lunch and dinner crowds. Price wise, yes it's a bit pricey, but I think the price is well worth the quality in the food.
I highly recommend coming here during lunch time (11:30-6) to take advantage of their lunch special. I always do the B set which comes with kaarage, tamagoyaki, gohan, and a beverage (cold unsweetened green tea or calpis are my usuals).
My usual is the Bukkamo udon, which is a hot udon dish with marinated duck breast, and it comes with hot sauce to pour over. What I love about Sanukiya is that every dish seems to have a slightly different broth. I know it sounds crazy, but it seems that they do little things to the base broth to make it suit each individual udon dish better. No idea how they do it, but I've eaten about a quarter of the menu at this point, and that's what I've noticed. Maybe I'm just blindly in love with this place. ANYWAY, the udon noodles itself is excellent - super bouncy and the right about of chew and bite to them. The sauce is excellent - super rich, but not overly salty (you can definitely drink this afterwards).
The kaarage here is excellent - super juicy and perfectly fried. I like that they cut each of the pieces in half, which makes it more manageable to eat. The tamogoyaki here is among my favorite, as its the perfect sweet and savory item. I love the addition of some scallion inside the tamagoyaki, it makes it such a refreshing side dish.
My favorite side dish to get is a Tentoji - 2 pieces of huge shrimp tempura in sweet eggs and onions. When my friend first got this dish, I wasn't sure if I would like it, but its grown to be a must have every single time I come here. The shrimp tempura is perfectly fried, but gently wrapped in the sweet eggs and onions; there are both crunch and soggy bits to it. The eggs are JUST cooked and oh so soft, and the sauce has the right amount of sweetness to it. It's a bit pricey at 11 euros, but money is made to be spent on great food.
I'm a fan of their cold udon as well - I usually get the Hiyashi Kitsune as the sweetness of the tofu does great with cold udon. I've tried the ten-zaru, as well as the buta-shabu, but I usually get cold udon when I want something ultra refreshing and light, so the less toppings the better. The buta shabu is alright, but I'm not a fan of some of the vegetables included with it (arugula I believe).
I see a lot of reviews compare this to Marukame in Honolulu, as well as Tsurotontan in New York, but in my honesty opinion, those two udon restaurants cannot even compare. Marukame has a singular soup base for ALL their udon, and while their noodles are excellent, the overall strength of their udon dishes are pretty weak. Tsurotonton (soon to open in Honolulu as well), and Marugame Monzo (in San Fran) have a lot more variety with their dishes, but when it comes down to the question, can they make a good, simple Udon dish, the answer is no. Their broths lack the depth of flavor that you get here at Sanukiya. Udon seems to be poorly done in a lot of restaurants. Ever go to a generic Japanese restaurant and order their Udon and just be like "I coulda easily made this at home" vs ordering a ramen place, where the broth is so time consuming you can't make it at home? This is my dilemma every time I consider eating Udon in a restaurant back in New York, because I always compare it to Sanukiya, and I know that whatever I pay in New York will not compare to this place. I sound like a fanatic at this point, and I very well am, but I am confident that this is the best Udon restaurant outside of Japan. read more