Marugame Monzo (Little Tokyo-DTLA) 9.6.14

To wrap up my binge food-blogging weekend, I present Marugame Monzo, an udon shop that's right next to Daikokuya in Little Tokyo, on 1st Street.  Marugame Monzo hides discreetly behind two fabric flags just 1-2 doors down from Daikokuya.  It's humble entrance belies the awesomeness that is behind its doors.

Sorry I didn't get a picture from the front or of the udon making. I was focused on eating.
Here's what you're looking for though.

I'm mostly going to let the (MANY) pictures that I took about the food do the talking, but I have to say that when I first glanced at the Marugame Monzo menu online on yelp, I was skeptical.  I like udon, but I mean, how different can handmade fresh udon be from the udon I got in packets from the Chinese grocery store as a child.

Believe me. It's like judging all sushi by the California Rolls you get at Albertsons.

Because we were a party of 5, we got a lot of food.  I'll post pics below and then talk about the food I actually tasted along with the reviews of those in my party:

Tempura Smelt Fish w Curry Powder

Smelt fish is salty and this was salty, but the tempura batter was nice and the curry powder gave a really good flavor for this appetizer dish. 

Negitoro Lunch Rice Bowl

Marugame Monzo has a list of rice bowls that you can get as add-ons with any of your udon.  I was really hungry (after only eating a slice of cake--yes, I ate the Parisian for breakfast) so I decided to try the negitoro rice bowl.  It was negitoro (green onion & toro or fatty tuna) with a bit of seasoned soy, Japanese (sweet) mayonnaise and seaweed on top of rice.  It was a small rice bowl portion, but a perfect start to my meal.  I seriously could eat that rice bowl everyday.  Yum. 

Now, to the udon.  We got seats right by the udon window (I know, I should have taken pictures) where the chef rolls the udon pasta dough before cutting it into strips.  We got a good mix of hot & cold udon and it was definitely the best that I've ever had. Here are the pics: 

Uni (Sea Urchin) Cream Udon

So, I hate sea urchin.  Seriously, to me it is a briny, livery, metallic yuck (sorry if you're now reducing all culinary respect you had for me, but I've got to be honest)--maybe it's just having bad uni, but it's too expensive to try again.  Marugame is famous for their Uni Cream Udon though and my friend, Mike, who likes uni ordered it.  He and my friend Erica (who also likes uni) both thought the udon was good, with Erica describing it as tasting like, "Fettucine Alfredo." Thanks, but I'll still pass. 

Sansei Cold Udon (Broth behind)--Mountain Vegetable Udon

This was my friend Erica's udon which I didn't get to try, but the blob on the left is daikon, which is good because she's not a mountain yam fan.  

Chicken Tempura Udon (Hot)

This was my (8-year old) son's udon.  He loved the chicken tempura and liked the udon a lot.  He got 2/3 of the way through everything (plus a smelt tempura) which was a lot of food and then finished the rest for dinner. 

Champon Udon: Veggies, Shrimp & Scallop Udon (Hot)

This was my husband's dish and I did get to try a little of the broth which was super good. It was savory, salty deliciousness.  Yum. 

Cold Udon with Soft-Boiled Egg (Sauce not pictured)

This was my dish with bonito and daikon, green onion & the soft-boiled egg.  Typically, I'm a hot udon kinda gal, but it was hot outside and I needed refreshing cold udon.  Honestly, I think they do a better soft-boiled egg at Daikokuya, but it's hard to compare hot and cold, and the mix of the udon with all the ingredients and the sauce was delicious.  The sauce was just the right mix of savory without being overly salty and the texture of the fresh udon noodles was amazing.  Just the right amount of chewiness, cooked perfectly--it's hard to describe accurately so I really recommend just going there and eating the deliciousness.  

Now, I'm just going to have to figure out, when I'm in the neighborhood if I go for udon or ramen...or maybe next time, I'll try the sushi or get some takoyaki from down the street.  So much good eating in Little Tokyo--wish I lived a little closer!