menami

this was an unplanned visit as we were house hunting and walked into the firstplacewe saw.

we were quite surprised by the interiors, the lively music and ambience were soothing for a weekday dinner. the service is quick and the staff was polite and well informed.

we had the mushrooms. and vegetable udon without the fish cake and the shrimp tempura udon. both were served quick, hot and tasted good.

they have some variety for vegetarians with their tapas but not so much with the udon, something i would have really liked.

good food, nice place. recommended.

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. thisplaceis 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! good price point too.

heard a lot of good things about thisplaceso we stopped by for lunch. the udon was pretty good but 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.

the food is great! definitely come for the udon. beef broth udon was the only slightly let down - soup was quite plain. baked udon sounds weird but so good. cold chicken udon had the best texture; i enjoy firm noodles. the protein is generous and fried well. the karaage app is also cooked well and the accompanying mayo is addictive.

service leaves a little to be desired. efficient, but distant. aplacelike this is screaming for energetic, outgoing staff.

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. thisplaceis 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 greatplaceto eat with friends or with a date. there’s a good selection on the menu whether you’re feeling for something unique, or just tapas and drinks.

menami is a nice japanese udon house in uptown korea town. definitely aplacenot hard to miss with his bright lit sign and big wooden doors. it was quite busy during dinner on a thursday evening when we went and its also due to the fact they are a smallplaceand have limited seating. for the tapas, i ordered the corn kaki age which was corn made with tempura batter dipped in a sweet custard like sauce. it was quite good. from the udon menu, i tried the over baked udon which had shrimp, scallop, bacon, green pepper, white onion and tex mex. it was quite delicious and nicely made. overall, it was a great dining experience. staff was friendly and they have a nice cozy ambience. would highly recommend thisplaceto others.

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 were good but 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 quite good and the décor and design of the space is very nice; has a hipster vibe - a date worthyplacein 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 aplacei 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...