I've been asking myself for ages why Vancouver never had an udon spot. Our prayers were answered a few years ago. Motonobu Udon specializes in one thing; udon. They're not too far away from Le Gateau Bake Shop.
Sign outside.
Hours. Closed on Thursday.
There's about 7-8 tables (a total of 20 seats). Service has always been friendly and they usually come by to offer refills.
The menu consists of traditional udon (hot/cold), speciality udon, side dishes, inari sushi and pressed sushi. Udon bowls range from $8.50 to $18.50.
Trip #1
We dropped in on a Sunday afternoon (around 1:30pm).
Tea
TenTofu ($17.50)
Prawn tempura and fried thin tofu with tempura bits and green onions. Two pieces of prawn tempura but they really shouldn't put it in the bowl as it gets soggy quickly.
The broth was decent but lacked depth. We had to add some togarashi (chili pepper) to give it some oomph. I'd order something else next time.
Mentai ($15.50)
Spicy cod roe. This is one of their specialty udon bowls.
Good creamy sauce that went perfectly with the springy, toothsome udon.
TofuWaka ($12.50 hot)
We opted for the Japanese curry ($1.50), which was fantastic. I love me some curry udon; this was easily everyone's favourite bowl.
Trip #2
We dropped in for a Tuesday lunch (11:45am).
GobotenWaka ($13.00 hot)
Burdock tempura and seaweed. The burdock had quite the crunch to it. Broth was clean and the dashi came through.
Spicy TanTan ($18.50)
Braised pork belly, bok choy, green onion, cilantro and chili oil served in a chicken dashi broth. The broth had good complexity but didn't feel too heavy for a tantan. Liked the touch of heat that came through.
Trip #3
We dropped in for a Friday lunch (12:45pm).
Curry tamago toji ($12.00 hot)
Beaten egg and Japanese curry. The tamago was enjoyable and the curry broth, once again, tasty. Noodles had a nice elasticity but lost their texture near the end. The bowl was lacking something substantial though.
GobotenTofuWaka ($15.00 hot)
Burdock tempura, thin-fried tofu and seaweed. This was K's first time coming here and she thoroughly enjoyed her bowl.
UmeWaka ($12.50 hot)
A added an onsen ($2.50). He said the broth was very tasty. Checked his bowl and there wasn't a drop remaining.
So happy there's finally an udon spot in town! Check out Motonobu if you're an udon lover.
Motonobu Udon
https://motonobuudon.ca/
3501 E Hastings St
Vancouver, BC
(604) 293-1889
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