Udon is one dish that is pretty consistent throughout Japan. The slight differences come with the origin of flour used for the noodles, the method of kneading the dough, and the type of dried kelp and/or fish used to make the broth.
It's fun visiting various udon specialty shops to taste the subtle differences between them. At Norabo, they go for more bold flavours in their toppings. I tried the Norabo special (840 yen) which was topped with
niboshi tempura (dried sardine), wakame, Japanese leek, grated ginger, bonito flakes and a raw egg.
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| Storefront |
This restaurant's dashi, or broth, is more on the mild side, and I think it's because the toppings are meant to add flavour to them. Niboshi and bonito flakes are two ingredients that are commonly simmered and strained when making dashi, so as toppings to this dish they made a bold impact. I personally found the tempura a little too salty and overpowering, perhaps a smaller portion would have been more fitting.
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| The Norabo Special |
The
sanuki noodles (udon originally from the Kanagawa region), were on the softer side of the udon noodle scale. They were not as soft as
ise udon, but they didn't seem to have much bite to them either.
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| The menu |
The shop is quite cozy with dim lighting and a nice view from the 12th floor of the JR Tower. It didn't seem particularly popular on a day when the other restaurants in the area had lineups outside, but it's perfect for a break from the crowds.
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| Quiet setting |
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| Meat udon |
On a separate occasion I tried the meat udon. The pork belly is so heavily seasoned with a soy sauce and sugar based flavor that you might not even need to pour the soup over it.
Area: JR Gate Tower 12F (Nagoya Station) ゲートタワー12F（名古屋駅）
Restaurant: Norabo 野らぼー
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