Okiboru House of Udon
I just have this affinity for noodles. Their sibling location, Okiboru House of Tsukemen, was one of the best I’ve had in the city when it comes to dipping ramen. This restaurant recently opened up marketing itself for udon. Like their tsukemen location, this one offers udon for dipping. Unlike traditional udon, these noodles are much wider and flatter. I was able to walk in by myself at 8 PM on a Tuesday evening, and I immediately was seated.
Ambiance & Service
This is a very small place, and it looks like it can seat about 20 some people. When you walk in, the wait staff seat you, and you can order from a QR code. The QR code also asks for tip, if you’d like. The QR code also knows where you are seated, so they will serve you when it’s ready. Everything is done online via this QR code, so there’s very little interaction with much of the staff there. They do provide you and your party with a bottle of water, and they serve and explain the meal when it arrives.
Unsurprisingly, I was done with my meal in less than 10 minutes, so the sit down to order to out the door is really fast (easily less than 20 minutes) since you pay up front with the QR code.
Food
The Signature Himokawa Dipping Udon with Tempura Set ($24) came with extra wide flat house made udon noodles served warm with a side of warm yuzu dipping broth and the following tempura: bacon, shrimp, purple sweet potato, asparagus, and onion. The udon was sitting in some sweet water, and it had a nice chewy texture to it. The dipping broth was good too. They give you a little utensil to help you grasp the udon easier. I basically used that to put an udon sleeve into the broth, and then I used chopsticks to slowly nibble and chew the udon. Even though this looks pretty sparse, I would say I was not hungry when I left. The udon does start to stick together the longer you take. You can separate it in the broth, and it can absorb the flavors. The tempura was all pretty good and crispy. It’s not the best tempura I’ve had, but I definitely enjoyed it. The bacon was very crispy, mildly salty, and a tad oily. I thought for the price, this was a decent meal that I would come back to if it was closer to my work.
Final Verdict
Okiboru House of Udon was pretty good, though I think the flavors and overall value for the meal is better at its sibling House of Tsukemen. Nonetheless, it’s worth going to on a weekday, but I would definitely pass if you have to wait longer than 15 minutes.
Yelp Jabs
Waited 1.5 hours for dinner on a Sunday and while I would say the udon was unique and delicious, I wouldn’t wait in that line again.
The one thing about NYC restaurants is be wary of social media presence. People will inevitably flock to places during prime times, and you will suffer for it. One of my annoyances is waiting for an excessive amount of time. If you really want to try this restaurant, definitely look for opportunities where it’s either an odd hour in a weekday or there’s some bad weather going on. Because there are no reservations, it will create a higher chance of deterrence.
Tasty and unique wide udon, think this is the first and only shop in NYC to do unique wide udon. If you can come in under 1h wait, I would recommend
Right now there is still some hype about this place, whereas its neighbor tsukemen place has less lines. In time, there will be less people, so there should be more opportunities to try this without joining the herd. The udon itself is unique, but it’s really just a texture thing. The flavors of all this is going to be very familiar and underwhelming when you have to take into account any wait times.
Revisions
- Apr 30, 2024 - Initial revision.