menami

i had the salmon cream sauce udon - salmon just barely cooked (like sous vide), pretty good, and i liked the cream sauce. honestly i don't taste much difference from regular frozen udon, but this udon is more soft and less chewy. . the mentaiko udon and albacore tuna tataki weregoodand i liked the watercress in the spicy seafood soup. yaki udon very flavorful sauce as well. also tried the popular corn kakiage which tastes like it sounds - deep fried battered sweet corn - nothing mind-blowing.

reallygoodfood! the salmon was flavourful and the cream sauce was delicious. the wasabi raw octopus was really tasty. it came with some seaweed as well. the salmon dish came with a side of radishes. there was only one waitress serving so i felt a bit bad.

great food but service could be better. the short ribs and dumplings were awesome. they also have a oyster special some nights. the chicken wings were just okay. service could improve. this place is busy and waiter disappeared for a while. they made us wait for our table to be ready then told us we only had 2 hours to eat then never came back to take our dessert order. i would go back because the food was worth it!goodprice point too.

heard a lot ofgoodthings about this place so we stopped by for lunch. the udon was prettygoodbut the salad was a bit sad. some of the leaves were past wilted. the service was extremely slow when there were only 3 tables seated in the whole restaurant. we were not impressed and probably not coming back.

we decided to check out menami on the weekend for lunch after hearing all the hype. i mean, fresh housemade udon? that's pretty cool and unique in toronto. they even imported an udon making machine from japan! we got the corn kaki-age as an appetizer and that wasgood(not amazing like other reviews have said). the sauce went well with the deep fried corn. for our udon mains, we got the tsuke udon & mentaiko cream udon. i love dipping noodles but i was surprised the tsuke udon was served with cold noodles and broth. mentaiko wasgoodat first bite but you get sick of the cream sauce fast.

the service was fast and for me, it was an interesting experience to try their housemade udon (verdict: slight difference, more chewy texture). overall, i won't be coming back and i'm not sure what others are so excited for. but if you are *really* curious about what fresh udon tastes like, then sure, give this a try (but that's the only reason i can think of to go here).

tldr: pass on menami – extremely poor customer service and underwhelming and overpriced food. . if you’ve been following me on social media long enough, you probably have noticed that i no longer write “food blog” type posts any more. i felt that my writing wasn’t verygoodover time and that i was writing more to have a post than to truly share an interesting experience.  nowadays i only write about certain restaurants that i go to that are more unique / new, but it has still been quite rare.

came here with pretty high expectations, alas my experience fell a little short of that. came by late on a friday night, our appetizer came very quickly, but we had to wait 45 min before our entees arrived. did not expect to have to wait for so long. the deep fried okra batter was laced with wasabi; i would've preferred a warning beforehand. the inside of the okra was still slimy, a tell-tale sign that they weren't fried for long enough. the salmon cream sauce udon was fine, pretty much what you expect it to taste like. however, the seafood yaki udon was wayyy too sweet! i was really looking forward to that dish because i've heardgoodthings. the sauce was so sweet i had to mix it with the remaining cream sauce from our other udon dish to make it palatable.

this review is based 2 visits to menami. both on a weekday tuesday, one during the hype when you need a reservation to get in anyday and one when you can drop by as a walk in on a weekday.

i like the simple menu of menami. an unique menu that differs from all the izakaya/restaurant in the area.: their star is the housemade udon.

i like the freshness of non frozen udon. yes there is a different. a subtle different. but if one is paying the same price for a bowl of packaged/frozen udon at other restaurants, why not go for the fresh one with no preservatives?

i tried the original kama udon ($7.95) and tsuke udon with shrimp tempura ($10) both which i really enjoyed. i would say just skip the tempura as the udon is really the star of the dish.

for tapas, i tried the corn kaki-age, roasted hamachi gama, tako-wasa all really solid dish.

for drinks i would suggest to stick with beer (they have delirium on tap) or sake. their cocktails is sweet and weak.

service though was exceptional during my most recent visit. both waiter was nice and go out of their way to make sure i have agoodstay.

i would be back for some more fresh udon. i think this is the only restaurant that offers freshly made noodle in gta.

came here with friends last night and the service wasgoodand the food was prettygoodtoo. it was quite busy inside and the interior is pretty nice. beer wasn't that cold though, which is a big no no for me.

menami prides itself as the first genuine traditional udon house in ontario. udon is a type of thick wheat noodles found in japanese cuisine. it can be served warmed or cold depending on the type of dish. opened only a few months ago, menami has already created a lot of buzz. this place is pretty busy, hence expect to wait if you don’t have a reservation. the restaurant is located at yonge and finch. we swung by around 5:30pm on a saturday evening, put down our name and number and waited for about 40mins. they will contact you by phone when your table is ready.

we were blown away by the beef tataki ($12) appetizer and this was my favourite dish. the sauce was very tasty, full of flavour, and has a bit of a kick to it! it is citrus -y and sweet. 

the spicy salmon tartare ($9) was yummy as well and is served with crispy deep fried wonton skin. the salmon is chunky and fresh. 

next was the black sesame puree udon with beef ($15)! i rarely leave a restaurant without trying one of their speciality items. there were many udon dishes to choose from on the menu but this one caught my eye. it was an interesting dish since the sauce is quite sweet and reminded me of the traditional asian black sesame dessert. it was warm and we were quite content slurping up the noodles. the udon noodles were springy and not starchy. the only downside is that there wasn’t much beef.

corn kaki-age ($5) with a honey butter mayonnaise dip! i can see why a lot of people enjoyed this corn tempura dish. personally, i’m not a big fan of fried food but i liked the sauce and i thought it went well with the corn kaki-age.

the bar area is nicely arranged and i liked the wood furniture and details, the cool lighting fixtures, and hip vibes. 
i think menami is a great place to eat with friends or with a date. there’s agoodselection on the menu whether you’re feeling for something unique, or just tapas and drinks.

i'm going to say it.

it may be an unpopular opinion but...

it was average udon.

from the same owners as han ba tang which has gotten great reviews, menami focuses on freshly making their udon. unfortunately, it just wasn't the super yummy experience i was hoping for...an off night?

we had gone several weeks ago and i was holding back this post as i was hoping to go back, but a friend of mine had made the same comments after going twice. so, i probably won't be going back for a while. anyway, if you're still reading...i ordered the kitsune udon which is udon in a broth with marinated tofu. i wanted something simple but wanted the broth as it was a cold night and my toddler was having some; she prefers noodles in soup.

why just average you ask?

the noodles were too firm and i was expecting something more noticeably different from packaged udon (like when you eat fresh pasta, there is a texture difference between fresh and dry pasta).  it lacked a chewiness to it, it's not supposed to be like chewing gum, but it should have a nice bite or bounciness to it. this next point might be a strange one, but the noodles didn't slurp up well, meaning the soup didn't adhere to the noodle as much as i'd like it to. the soup was okay and is pretty traditional it seems, but nothing that would make me drink the whole bowl.  that was alright since the noodles should be the star. anyway, that night, the noodles were average.

however, i did like the marinated tofu - the salty, slightly sweet and vinegary tofu was like eating inari sushi without rice.

for those that are fans of menami, please tell me if it's the cold udon or saucy udon dishes that makes the difference!! i have a feeling the soup udons are not on par with the rest of the menu.

we did order a couple of sides, the chicken kara-age and the corn kaki-age. they weregoodbut nothing particularly special about either. i have to admit we didn't order some of the more interesting options though (going for a simple night). again, i have to make another unpopular opinion...i would not order the corn kaki-age again because it wasn't as unique as we thought it was going to be and it's a small portion of corn in tempura batter for $5...yes, spend that $5 on another side dish instead or use it towards a drink! they are supposed to have some quality sake and interesting cocktails. i want to think "maybe we didn't order the right sides or came on an off night or they are still working on fine tuning" but this first experience did not live up to my expectations.

there are definite positives to this place, service was quitegoodand the décor and design of the space is very nice; has a hipster vibe - a date worthy place in north york. lots of nice detailing and love the dinnerware and lighting pieces! the bar also looks very inviting...definitely would attract me to have a few drinks there. this is a place i would come to again simply because of the decor and specialty sake options...and while i'm here, i guess i'd try some other sides and give their udon another go.

sometimes first impressions can be wrong...

mostgoodnoodles should have a springy quality to it, at least in my books. i prefer my pasta al dante, wonton noodles still with give and udon chewy despite its thick doughy properties. the large green door and vegas style name tag may not traditional characteristics of a noodle joint, but menami udon and sake bar certainly offers an impressive bowl of sanuki udon, despite the buzzy atmosphere.

forget the vacuum packed versions you find in the frozen or drygoodareas of asian supermarkets, menami makes their fresh in-house with a special machine imported from japan and chef kevin shin spending agooddeal of time in kagawa, japan learning the recipe and technique to reproduce it in toronto (with a few tweaks to meet our climate).

to sample the noodle in its most neutral form, have a plate of the tsuke udon ($7.95), the cool noodles served with a sweet soy, ginger, daikon and onion concoction for dipping. it goes particularly well with