The answer is definitely "no" so don't bother contemplating that.
I stumbled upon a fabulous udon noodle shop in Midtown East over a year ago and save it now to impress friends who meet me near my work for a bite to eat. Every single person I ever took here is blown away. It's like an Ace up my sleeve, just waiting to be used for that perfect hand. Okay, so I don't really play poker and I certainly don't cheat. Work with me here... It's all this damn heat!
The place I'm referring to is Onya Noodle Bar located at 143 East 47th Street, btw Lex and 3rd. It's a cute eatery with a lovely back area that has a glass ceiling. Their staff, all Japanese, are so incredible polite and attentive you never want to leave. After arriving I realized that they must feel like a million bucks since Japan just won the Women's World Cup (congrats btw, you guys did great!)
My good ol' buddy Zac met up with me for a hot delicious bowl of fresh udon and some cheap booze.
Happy Hour Special: $2.99 draft Sapporo 5pm - 7pm (M-F, I believe)
I arrived a few minutes before Zac and was greeted warmly, seated and given a cold beer almost immediately. My server even gave me a little bowl of these spicy french-fry chip snacks. No idea what they were but they were crunch, salty and spicy - perfect for beer. I pretty much ate the whole bowl before Zac got there. ::bad jaci bad::
Zac ordered the Double Beef Udon, Half Bowl ($10) to ensure enough room for another round of beers. The full order is $15 and massive. Its great to share with someone, but only someone with a huge appetite can handle one. These noodles are heavy!
I was so indecisive! Do I try something new like the super spicy udon with ground pork or get an old favorite. I wanted something spicy, and their shrimp are so tasty. So I settled on the Curry Udon with Sprimp Tempura (half bowl $10).
The food came out after about 10 minutes, just long enough for them to cook up the fresh udon. Our steamy, hot bowls looked picture perfect and tasted even better. Zac was so impressed with how good our food was. He kept exclaiming "omg, this is so good" in between slurps of the thick noodles and bites of the melt-in-your-mouth beef.
We stopped for a second and looked around at the other patrons enjoying their meals and realized that we were the only non-Japanese in there! That's when you know its good!
Lunch is also great, ranging in price from $5.95 and up. You can pick various tempura, which is only $1 each when you buy more than two pieces. Their shrimp is my favorite, but also recommend the potato/onion mixture.
Oh Onya, you are so magical... thank you for filling my belly with delicious udon. See you next time!
Mmmm! I had my first true ramen experience on Tuesday and I can't stop thinking about it, but udon is usually my go-to Asian noodle.
ReplyDeleteRamen is amazing... where did you go?
ReplyDeleteTo me, comfort = a big, steamy bowl of noodles
That looks so amazing, I think I might cry. Especially since all there is to eat in my place is stale bread and a lonely jar of mustard. Whyy can't I eat nice things?!
ReplyDeleteAwww I'm sorry Betsey... my fridge is sad too! Perhaps some tasty delivery? :)
ReplyDelete