While walking around in the area between Grand Central and Japan Society looking for a lunch spot (I had no idea what I wanted except that I was craving for Japanese food), I was drawn to Udon West’s big menu banner outside the restaurant (on 46th btw. Lex+3rd). It has been well documented that I love a good bowl of oyakodon and wouldn’t mind eating it everyday. So of course when I saw it on the menu I had to check it out.

To me a perfect bowl of oyakodon needs to have soft scrambled eggs that are still slightly runny, dark meat, perfectly flavored with dashi, soy and mirin and there must be a good amount of rice (I tend to eat a lot of rice). So far the only bowl that has come close to perfection is one that I had at Men Kui Tei in the East Village. In Midtown I thought Sapporo (in the sit down restaurant category) did a pretty decent job with their version, but Udon West’s oyakodon ($8.75) took it to the next level.

Properly cooked eggs? Check. Dark meat? Check. And the overall flavor was just delicious. The only thing that could have made it better is if it had seaweed or diced scallions on top. For the same price as Sapporo, Udon West’s came with a small plate of pickled daikon and sesame seaweed and most importantly I was properly full for the rest of the day (something that doesn’t happen to me a whole lot.)

Udon West might a glorified Teriyaki Boy but it does serve a damn good bowl of oyakodon. It’s my favorite one so far but there are still so many bowls of oyakodon for me to try. On to the next!

Udon West, 150 E. 46th Street (btw. Lex+3rd), 212-922-9677

Let’s face it – It’s only February, and we still have at least a month of cold weather left before we can put away the sweater, scarves and jackets. Bundling up is one way of beating the cold weather, but the contributors here at Midtown lunch like to reach for a hot bowl of soup to warm up. We’ve asked each of the contributors to share a favorite bowl of soup in Midtown, so read on to find out where we like to get our soup on.

Blondie is a fan of the Vegetable Menchanko at Menchanko Tei.

Over the past two years, I’ve finally fallen in line with the Ramen Lovers. As much as I wanted to get to Hide-Chan during lunch, it was brick out there, so I’d venture down the street to Menchanko Tei (45th btw 3rd+Lex). I get lazy in the cold plus they have Vegetarian Menchanko ($9.50), the soup I gravitate towards way too often. The salty miso broth, tofu, and vegetables warm my bones, and always give me enough sustenance to get me through the afternoon. I firmly believe it was the reason I was the only one in the office who didn’t get the flu.

Donny T digs the spicy crab with sweet corn chowder at Soup Spot.

Soup Spot (on 31st St btw. 7th and 8th Ave) cares about your health. I know this because every time you get soup it comes with a piece of fruit. They love us! On any given day they will have more than a dozen different soups ranging from chowders, vegetarian, chicken and rice, gumbo, apple and squash and many more other soups. There are so many reasons to love Soup Spot. Besides the piece of fruit, the menu changes daily, it’s cheap and it’s awesomely good.

On my most recent trip, for $6, I got a small spicy crab with sweet corn chowder and half of a turkey sandwich. That of course came with a piece of bread and an apple. $6!! It’s $3.68 for a small and $4.90 for a large soup without the sandwich. The spicy crab chowder had just the right amount of kick to it, enough to let you know it’s there. Also they used real crab meat in the chowder. Of course I’m not the only person that likes this place, once the weather turns just a bit cold people will line up for their soups.

The only down side to Soup Spot is that it’s tiny inside, therefore the rest of the people will have to wait outside in the cold dreaming about drinking that perfect cup of soup.

Ultraclay is fond of the karaage curry udon at Udon West (on 46th btw. Lex+3rd)

Udon, curry and fried chicken – is there’s some other combination that better defines comfort food for me, I haven’t found it yet. And I need comforting. It’s just so cold.

Udon West’s karaage curry udon ($8.50) has long been one of the few things I appreciate about winter. The broth is hearty without being heavy, the noodles are thick and chewy and the chicken chunks are meaty and well seasoned.

Jeremiah enjoys the Maryland vegetable crab soup at Westerly Natural Market.

Tucked away in the back of Westerly Natural Market (8th Ave. btw. 54+55th), beyond
the rows and rows of organic snacks, natural vitamins and fresh proteins and
produce, sits a row of steaming pots of soup. You ladle your own soup into a 16 oz.
container for $4.49 or a 32 oz. one for $7.99 (the 16 might need to be supplemented
to make a full lunch, the 32 is a crapload of soup). The offerings change daily (there’s
a schedule on their website), but pretty much everything is available everyday in a
16 oz. serving in their refrigerated section.

My favorite is their Maryland vegetable crab soup. It’s basically a delicious, slightly spicy vegetable soup with cabbage, celery, corn, tomatoes, onions, potato, zucchini and a healthy does of Old Bay. As a bonus, it’s loaded with little bits of crab that lend that signature flavor to every spoonful. The lack of crabmeat chunks would be disappointing if the soup weren’t so delicious.

Chris H adores the spicy vegetable chili at Cer té (on 55th btw. 5+6th).

On cold days, i’m drawn to spicy soups like white on rice. And if my go-to spicy soup, yuk gae jang at Cafe Duke, is unavailable, then Cer té’s spicy vegetable chili ($5.95) serves as a reliable backup. This chili is deceptively spicy, and chock full of chunky carrots, zucchini, and al dente pinto and black beans. Despite the fact that I’ve documented decadent lunches here on ML, I’m actually kind of a health freak, and even once dabbled in vegetarianism (I’ve since come to the light). Even as a full-time omnivore, Cer té’s spicy veggie chili is so satisfying, I don’t really miss eating meat. Whether you’re a vegetarian, flexitarian, or meatatarian, it’s hard not to like Certe’s spicy vegetarian chili.

And last, but not least, Mamacita really wishes that Yushi still carried their sake ramen. (She’s a drunk through and through.)

Got a favorite soup of your own?  Throw in the comments…

Related:
Lunch’er Grace Reports: The Ultimate Midtown Soup List

Let me just admit something off the bat… unlike like many bloggers who consider their opinion worthwhile because they have access to software that transmits their words onto the interwebs, I will admit that there are some things I don’t have a ton of experience with (so maybe my opinion should come with a grain of salt).  And one of those things is Japanese udon soup.  Even though there are many cheap versions all over Midtown (a lot of delis now carry it), it has never really made it into my repertoire of lunches. (Sauteed udon is a different story!)  If I want soup, I usually go with ramen… and when it comes to ramen, two of my three favorite places (Menchanko Tei & Men Kui Tei) were kind of bashed by Rameniac.  So either he’s wrong, or I don’t know shit about ramen either.

So, with that in mind- I headed over to Udon West, the third outpost of the East Village chain which replaced Teriyaki Boy on 46th btw. Lex+3rd a month ago.

The same group that owned Teriyaki Boy, owns Udon West, but there is no mistaking the decor change.  Udon West is a sit down restaurant that bears more resemblance to Momofuku than a lunch place that could be in a mall food court.  The menu, however, is a different story.  It’s practically the same as Teriyaki Boy. Is it possble they didn’t change the food? 

We ordered three different dishes, to see what was going on:

The Oyaku Don (chicken, egg and onion over rice) was slightly better than pre-packaged fast food Japanese but not as good as the version at a place like Katsuhama.

The plain udon broth was really salty (a good thing if you like your broth really salty), and had a nice flavor but it wasn’t mind blowing. From my limited experience, the noodles seemed a little overcooked and not much better than what you would get from one of the delis in Midtown.

I’m pretty sure Curry Udon w/ Fried Chicken is just the regular udon with a scoop of their curry sauce added into the bowl (that’s what it is at Teriyaki Boy), and it was my favorite of the three. The fried chicken probably helped… ($7.50)

For comparison sake, a few days later I picked up a bowl of the curry udon w/ fried chicken from Teriyaki Boy:

My dining companion said the Teriyaki Boy version was actually *better* but I’m not totally convinced. The fried chicken at Udon West seemed like it was a higher quality product, but the noodles and broth are not so much better to make a huge impact either way… and that’s probably not a good thing, if you are looking for a lunch to match your surroundings at Udon West.

In the end, the prices are right (everything is under $10 unless you want a combo) and the place is perfect if you are looking for fast food Japanese in a nice sit down setting. Expect anything more any you may be disappointed.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• The prices are really cheap, and it’s nice to have some Midtown Lunch’ish food in a nice setting
• It’s just good Japanese fast food
• The fried chicken was good, and may have even been cooked fresh. (And if that’s any indication, I’m guessing the fried tempura is good as well)
• The broth is a little better, and slightly more refined, than what you would get at a deli (but not that much better)

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• It’s probably not the same food they served at Teriyaki Boy, but you can’t be completely sure (and that’s not really a good thing… unless you loved Teriyaki Boy, and wished the place was nicer!)
• The udon seemed like the same noodles you get at most take out delis in Midtown
• You can’t really compare ramen and udon, but if you are a huge Menchanko-Tei, Udon West’s noodles are not as high a quality product as Menchanko Tei’s ramen (and not that much cheaper either)

Udon West, 150 E. 46th Street (btw. Lex+3rd),  212-922-9677

Last September it was reported that the shuttered Teriyaki Boy (on 46th btw. Lex+3rd) would become a Japanese noodle shop, and surprisingly it has happened in the time frame they specified. Udon West has opened in the old Teriyaki Boy space, serving up 13 different bowls of Udon under $10. They also have teriyaki, curry, and combinations (although the combinations are all over $10), and I believe they are the same Udon West with locations in Flushing and on St. Marks in the East Village. It will be interesting to see how this place competes with Menchanko Tei, one block over on 45th btw. Lex+3rd…. but at least while the  weather is still cold I’m guessing there is room for both. Let the soup wars begin! Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

A shot of the pretty nice interior is after the jump…

Udon West, 150 East 46th St. (btw. Lex+3rd),  212-922-9677