Men Chirashi is bright and welcoming, but it’s also — for the moment, at least — a noodle joint by and for the locals and insiders.
…The udon at Men Chirashi is the real deal. You can watch it being made in front of your eyes: “Freshly rolled; freshly cut; freshly cooked” is the manifesto here. The rest of the menu hews to the same excellent template.
… Leave it to the crew at Men Chirashi to get inventive. Kamatama (hot noodles with a raw egg yolk) is now a standard. But kamatama-yama, the same with grated maru-imo yam on the side, is a slithery, slimy step into the unknown.
Adding bacon and Parmesan in place of the yam, they stray into Italian territory: Carbonara udon anyone? But where they really go to town is their deluxe (¥1,500) version made with Beurre Bordier, a wickedly rich, high-end French butter…
The idea is to offer dashimaki tamago, omelet wrapped in hot dog buns. To get an idea of how good it’s going to be, you can already order the omelet — but only at dinner. That’s when Men Chirashi morphs from noodle shop to mellow izakaya (tavern) mode offering a good menu of small plates, both hot and cold, and enough drinks to encourage you to linger all evening.
More in The Japan Times on Sunday here: http://jtim.es/b9Qr30ncou1
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