San Francisco, CA: Kappou Gomi
If you love Japanese cusine, if you love sushi, if you love food art, you must come here! They open at 5:30 and already a line! Open, Open, Open!
Don’t even ask! Read the sign!
Very cozy interior, seats about 25-30 people? Not good for large groups. I think 5-6 per table is max! They will refuse customers.
Their menu is quite large and one can get very discombobulated but don’t fret! Their menu is actually very organized for the number of items they have… it’ll all make sense once you experience this for yourself.
Let me introduce you to the best Udon noodles EVER. These noodles can cure a cold! If you’re feeling down or under the weather or just have a hankerin’ for udon noodles – you must come here! I think these are the BEST udon noodles I’ve ever had. The BEST I say!
The noodles are light and delicate; they suspend weightlessly in the broth. These noodles were made for slurping! A little thinner than the udon i’m accustomed to and the texture is like jelly but still firm, I’m guessing there’s a high konjac content.
The broth is also light but with deep complex flavors, savory, smokey, sweet, earthy and umami!
I love the attention to detail at Kappou Gomi. Even the egg get’s it’s own home.
This is me in heaven. 
Daly City, CA: Tani’s Kitchen
My dear globe trotting friend is the one who introduced me to this restaurant or I would have never found it otherwise. Tani’s Kitchen is tucked away in a small strip mall in Daly City and only serves a handful of patrons at a time, I think there was room for 20 people? Because the restaurant is so small it makes so much sense that this restaurant predominately serves to go orders.
When we were seated the first thing I noticed were all the signs! No cell phones please! I think I’ve seen this sign at the Japanese dollar stores.
A lot of rules for a such a little restaurant! No shopping carts please! I guess that’s been a big problem in the past? Love it!
Curry Udon:
I was in the mood for curry udon so I decided to indulge myself and I indulged indeed (say that five times fast). What I really like about the curry udon are the noodles! The udon noodles are sorta flat which seemed to hold on to the curry broth better than the round udon that I’m familiar with. The curry broth was also very delicious because the consistency wasn’t too thick or too thin – it was just right! Ooooo…and it was spicy but not like tongue numbing hot it was slow and gradual spicy. It’s the kind of deep curry spice that slowly creeps up on you with every bite and then before you know it you have a runny nose – all characteristics of a yummy bowl of curry udon.
Salmon Skin Salad:
Salmon skin salad was goood. The salmon skin was crispy, the flesh was fatty and savory and went so well with the light tangy dressing. This dish made for a great appetizer and would’ve been great as a main dish too.
Fish Tempura Special:
We were very fortunate to get the last serving of this fish tempura special.
#037 SAMYANG FOODS Pojangmacha Oriental Style U-Dong
I began another afternoon standing in front of the noodle closet trying to figure out which noodle to try. Finally, this udon…or U-dong as it says on the packaging caught my eye. I put a bit of a chinese twist on these korean noodles by adding a tea egg. There were also some tasty looking mushrooms in the fridge (I think these are trumpet royales?) so I decided to add to the udon as a meat substitution. When I opened the noodle package, it was the usual, there were two packets, one seasoning and one dehydrated assortment of veggies and sesame seeds. And same cooking routine for all korean instant noodles, I cooked the noodles for an extra 5-7 minutes because I like the noodles more tender (korean instant noodles tend to be thick and chewy.) I had no clue what “pojangmacha” means so I did a little research on the web and found out that a pojangmacha is a small tented restaurant or a restaurant on wheels that sell a variety of inexpensive snack foods. Most popular as a late night destination for snacking and drinking. FUN! I wish there were pojangmachas in the states. Now that I know what pojangmacha is, I still can’t figure out exactly what makes this “oriental” style though. Well, whatever it is, it’s mild and a bit seafoody. Definitely has a strong onion taste as well.
#035 NONG SHIM Neoguri Spicy Seafood Udon Noodles
Woke up starving one morning…er…afternoon and what better way to satisfy my hunger than with a tasty bowl of noodles? After standing in front of the the noodle closet for what seemed like forever because I could not decide, (everything looked so good!) I finally chose the spicy seafood flavor udon from Nongshim. The fun thing about this noodle is the round shape that fits perfectly in the pot. As with all Korean brand instant noodles, I find the noodles are on the very al dente side so I like to cook for an additional 5-7 minutes. This gets the noodes soft and chewy just the way I like it. The additional cooking time allows the noodles to soak up a lot of the broth. Because these are udon style noodles, they are a bit thicker which makes it a perfect broth soaker upper. Yum. The broth has a very strong seafood taste but the spicy is more on the mild side. The dominate flavors that come through are squid and garlic. I added only a handful of dried shitake to the soup and garnished with purple cabbage and green onions.