Early Reports From Onya Are A Generally Positive Mixed Bag
Photo courtesy of The Eaten Path
Onya, the Japanese noodle chain owned by the company that brought Beard Papa to the US, opened on Monday and Midtown Lunchers have wasted no time in checking it out. It’s not really fair to judge a place on its first week (especially one that makes its noodles fresh, and will most likely get better with time) but the reviews seem generally positive.
As promised yesterday, James Boo weighed in on his blog The Eaten Path and seemed generally pleased, if not completely blown away:
“Onya’s curry udon… is certainly well done; I could see this kind of broth easily going down the path of too thick or too salty, but Onya’s preparation avoids these pitfalls to give us a hearty udon option… I wasn’t at any point disappointed by the food, which is likely to improve as the kitchen staff finds its bearings here in New York. The sheer diversity of menu items and sizes makes a meal here extremely convenient, and I’ll be going back soon for the cheaper udon and mini donburi options.”
Questions about service, and an Osaka born blogger weighs in… after the jump.
Onya is set up like an assembly line, and not surprisingly service has been a little questionable. Apparently they decided to offer takeout (despite yesterday’s report), although they are still recommending strongly against it based on this email from Lunch’er Jason:
“I just got back from Onya on 47th. It’s definitely worth trying, even though they’re brand new. The service is still in the “a bunch of people stepping over each other because they don’t know whose station is whose” phase, but the food is the real deal. Had the kamaage (?) udon, and a couple of pieces of vegetable tempura. It was absolutely delicious, and filled up my moderately-fat-man belly (your fat-man mileage may vary).
One thing, though: They recommend you eat it in-house, and I’m inclined to agree. The noodles are super-fresh (like, there’s a guy making them as you walk in) and udon is notorious for going downhill quickly. I might get some to go next time, but I’m only a couple blocks away. I might caution against taking these noodles on a cross-town journey.”
Finally, the blog Ramen and Friends weighs in from the perspective of somebody who was born in Osaka:
“The flavor of dashi was very good for udon, and I enjoyed the thick, almost cube like shape of noodles. I wished to be a bit more chewy since it was cold udon, but overall, it was tasty and satisfied my Osakan starch craving. But if you are hungry, I advise you getting full size udon since half size was about five slurps.
If you want a quick, mean and hearty udon satisfaction, I would go to Udon West, but Onya offers a nicer atmosphere and amazing service. I am glad to see a nice udon addition in the city. “
Proper Midtown Lunch +/- coming soon…
Onya Japanese Noodles, 143 E 47th Street (btw. Lex+3rd)
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:00 am, September 16th, 2009 under Onya.
4 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
I love udon! Perfect for this cool weather.