When I heard about a restaurant serving Matcha flavored Udon, I had to get my hands on it! Tsurumaru Udon, located in Little Tokyo and Arcadia (Santa Anita Mall), now has my new favorite on their menu: Matcha Udon!
It is freshly made everyday at the Little Tokyo (Los Angeles) location and then distributed to their Santa Anita Mall location for guests to enjoy. The udon itself is prepared to order!
I got the chance to preview this matcha awaited goodness as media at the Santa Anita Mall location and it was such a fun learning experience to see the process of preparing the matcha udon!
The curry katsu chicken udon is memorable as well. I love how the katsu chicken isn't too thick with batter and it overall wasn't greasy. Goes well with udon noodles and curry!
How do you like my try-to-be-artisitic photo of the onigiri? I chose the mentaiko (spicy cod roe) because that is my favorite!
And it meeee. LOL Oh... just casually sitting on the bicycle that the Santa Anita Mall has graciously provided as a prop so I can ride along and enjoy my rice balls!
Okay. JK. The bike is there for anyone. It's just decor!
I love how there are nice backdrops here to take pictures with though!
It's so funny that the meat fell from one of the onigiri rice balls. That's why one looks so plain, but I assure you, there was meat on it!
Crispy Japanese fried chicken a.k.a. karaage!
I also ordered the Niku Bukkake Udon which is a non-soup udon! Yes, it was a feast!
Yummmmmmm! Doesn't the matcha udon look delicious??
All of the udon here is made fresh everyday at their Little Tokyo location and is delivered to the Arcadia location. I guess you won't see it literally being made fresh in front of you like Oki Doki (Tustin) or Marugame Monzo (Little Tokyo) but I think that's why the price is a lot more reasonable too. Udon here is affordable! Only $6 - $9 here! That is cheap in comparison to other places that are typically $9 - $15.
The overall texture of the udon is thick and chewy, just the way I like it. Honestly, this might sound weird, but udon reminds me of boba sometimes. LOL Because both are tapioca based... But udon is like a noodle version of boba... Anyway.... moving on....
THE FOOD REVIEW
Mentaiko Onigiri ($2.80)
This was freaking delicious. I love mentaiko (spicy cod roe) and love it inside rice balls. This is especially nostalgic for me because I used to buy it all the time at 7-Eleven while living in Japan. It's a blend of spicy cod roe and mayo that just tastes creamy with little crunches from the eggs! YUM
Niku Bukkake Udon / non-soup version ($7.80)
This is basically a bowl of cold udon without soup. They give a generous amount of thinly sliced beef too! However, the beef does have fatty sides, but it's not biggie! (Reminds me of kbbq brisket actually.) The bowl also comes with grated daikon radish and ginger too! I added more green onions and of course some shijimi (the spicy pepper powder that isn't spicy at all). The dish is dry, and was different from what I'm used to, but I enjoyed it overall. Since there is no broth, I couldn't just easily slurp up the udon noodles. Instead, each bundle of noodles my chopstick would gather threw a chewy party in my mouth. The texture was more pronounced since there was no broth distracting from it.
Matcha Udon (Little Tokyo: $6 / Santa Anita $6.80)
Don't expect a strong matcha taste, unless you somehow have a godly super tongue. Although the matcha taste isn't strong, you can still taste a hint of it with the help of the lemon dashi, grated daikon radish and ginger, and lemon zests to help bring out the matcha flavor more obvious. The bowl is also topped with bonito flakes. The entire dish is very refreshing, as it is served broth-less with cold udon noodles. Kind of reminds me of spring time. Overall, I do recommend this if you are a matcha fan! I love how delicate and refreshing the matcha udon tastes!
MATCHA UDON IS SERVED IN LIMITED QUANTITIES
The restaurant serves a limited amount of only 24 servings per day. So don't wait! Make sure you get there before the day ends to try the new addition!
Tsurumaru actually created the original matcha udon using matcha from Shizuoka, Japan, a prefecture known for high quality tea.
LOCATIONS
Santa Anita Mall: 400 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007
Little Tokyo: 333 S Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
CONNECT WITH TSURUMARU UDON
Instagram | Facebook | Yelp
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🎉GIVEAWAY!🎉
→FREE BOWLS OF UDON!
For the November monthly giveaway, I am excited to be collaborating with Tsurumaru Udon Honpo to let y'all try their food! As you probably all know by now, I am a huge matcha fan. I love to eat anything matcha infused so obviously, I had to try this! And I want to give back to y'all! To give y'all, my beloved Taste Buds, a chance to try their Matcha Udon (or any other udon you want), I am giving away 3 free bowls of udon!
Prize: Any medium sized udon for free! Choose any bowl of udon you would like, including tempura udon ($12 value). Redeemable at Little Tokyo and Santa Anita Mall locations.
How many winners? I am choosing three lucky Taste Buds!
How to enter:
1. (Required) Leave a comment below this post answering these questions:
- Do you like matcha?
- Would you be down to try matcha udon!?
2. (Optional) Follow Tsurumaru Udon on Social Media
- Facebook @Tsurumaru-Udon
- Instagram @tsurumaru_udon
- Yelp
3. (Optional) Support the Eat With Hop! Blog on Social Media
- Facebook @eatwithhop
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- Subscribe to Newsletter here
4. (Optional) Share this post! Tell your buddies to enter so if they happen to win, you win too! Unless those buddies don’t plan to share….
*Note: By entering the giveaway, all participants agree to be subscribed on the weekly Eat With Hop! Newsletter. Don't worry, I won't spam! And y'all can unsubscribe anytime!
Giveaway ends November 30, 2017.
Three (3) winners will be e-mailed the first week of December.
Good Luck <3
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