Udon West

Midtown boasts some great Jap noodle bars that provide a warm and slurpy noodles bathed in broth. I visited one called Udon West (they must also have an Udon East?) with a friend.
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By the time we got in - around 2.30pm - it was already kind of late. So the waiter asked us to speed up our order.

 We were seated near the entrance of the store opposite their sake collection.

 

I really like their natural decor with wood and Japanese letters that says "sushi" and "BBQ" (at least from what I could decipher).

I got a fish cake noodle bowl, and my friend got a tempura udon one with two rice mounds wrapped in lettuce leaves, which came pretty quickly.

The noodles came pretty quickly, because we and one other table were the only ones left. I think the staff was kind of mad that there were still customers at this hour, because they really needed a dinner break.

My fish cake udon was really good. I really like the taste of artificial fish and crab, so this was right up my alley. I also loved the noodles because they were just the right amount (if not a little too much for my little stomach). I'm not sure if they make their own noodles but it sure tasted like it.

But the broth was the best part - it was salty, slightly sweet and seasoned just the right amount with soy sauce. Plus it didn't leave your mouth dry with MSG like a lot of other broths out there.

This was my friend's tempura bowl with an egg beaten in. The egg heats up as it is soaked in the broth, which is nice because it adds a little more protein than just the two tempura sticks alone.

I slurped all of my noodles and soup during our 3-hour talk. It was catchup time, and I'm glad I had the time to slowly enjoy this lovely bowl of noodles!


Udon West
$$
**** (4/5)
Kids-friendly (I think maybe during lunch rush need reservations...but then again, who would bring kids to Midtown on a weekday?)