I liked literally everything and they hand make the udon, but Its not worth the premium price. The portion for the udon noodles is good, but everything else is too small, you feel compelled to spend more money just to be somewhat satiated. So for the three of us, we spent like $260 just to feel barely full. Yikes. You know you can spend the same amount and buy enough catering food for like 20 people. You can spend that much and take your whole family out to a decent restaurant. You can buy a happy experience for multiple people. This place isn't for people like us. This place isn't meant to be shared with family, mostly for small groups or individuals with heavy purses. It's pretentious. To-go isn't allowed. $10 for like one piece of shrimp tempura... try sharing that with 3 people. Try sharing any of the cold dishes (like barely a handful of meat and sauce and a flower or two) cuz you're gonna have to unless you want a fat bill. Oh but the presentation!!! Very pretty. Pretty stupid too. I will admit the Akami Arugula is a fabulous combination of flavors tho as well as the salad, but they serve so little. Bruh. Delicious but bruh. The carbonara is an interesting recipe and deserves the attention, so my sister decided to make it at home and it was way more delicious than this one. Why is that? She's definitely not a master chef, yet she produced a superior product at home for the fraction of the price. Damn it was good. Try making it yourself.
Service was good. Water was refilled frequently. No ice tho cuz they don't roll like that. If you want ice, maybe try some $9 mineral water instead. Per person. This restaurant likes to have multiple servers serve a table which is a good way to cause confusion man. The professionalism and etiquette and tidiness and knowledge of the dishes each server had was noticeable, but I didn't get it. It seemed performative and snobby. But what does a peasant like me know? It's supposed to be like that, that's what makes it authentic and traditional. Fine. At least they were friendly and answered any questions and willing to accommodate. What am I even complaining about? Good service is good service. Freaking sucks they don't allow to-go tho... just put the noodles in a box, broth in a cup. Thats it. Oh but it goes against your principles. Sigh
Atmosphere is good, very cool, feels like you're in Japan. But save your money. Why must "traditional" and "authentic" always get a premium price tag? We didn't ask you to use hyper premium ingredients bro. I've had authentic home cooking that achieved the same gastronomic experience man again for a fraction of the price, enough food for the entire family. But I understand Americans like to outsource that human labor and social reproduction to restaurants cuz life is so exhausting to do it yourself. Well you can find a lot better than this place. Get your Japanese cuisine fix elsewhere and go eat Mensho Ramen instead. Their Duck Matcha is heaven in your mouth. Go to westgate. Walk around. Maybe work up an appetite at h mart, but then you might as well eat there too (get the kimchi stew). If you go shopping after eating here, you'll find yourself really regretting it I guarantee you. You'll explore all the food items in the grocery store and you'll feel like you got scammed. Save money man, learn to cook. Explore what food interests you in anime or k drama and engage with that curiosity, but not passive consumption at a pretentious restaurant man!
But if you really want that "authentic" Japanese experience and get extra points added to your cultural literacy grade where all you do is take off your shoes (optional btw) and walk on wooden floors and pass through noren curtains and sit down at a horigotatsu and wipe your hands with a warm wet towel and look at Asian people and see the servers speak rehearsed Japanese greetings and farewells or maybe even meet a fluent speaker, then go ahead and eat here. Just be willing to spend a lot. Again, the food isn't bad, it's delicious. Just not worth the price. Maybe if I was born in a higher class of society, I wouldn't be so critical.
So I ordered the Kake Udon. Good presentation. But so freaking basic. Just noodles and broth. Wtf?!?!? For over $20. It was alright. Wish there were more ingredients, but that's just my American conceptions of Udon talking. Broth is a bit one-note, just bonito flavor. But simple can still be delicious. But wouldn't simple means less expensive? Premium price for less... sorry, not for me. A bowl like this would cost like $5 in Japan. I feel like I got scammed man. It tastes like udon.
Really reminds you how poor you are. Reminds you you don't belong here. Go eat at H mart. Go eat dim sum at Mekong plaza. Go eat some bun bo hue at a Vietnamese restaurant. I guarantee you you'll have a better experience. I would eat the food again, but I wouldn't eat here again if that makes sense. You can find the food elsewhere or cook it yourself or try a different place. read more