TAMOYA UDON JAKARTA

I have never been a big fan of udon, it’s just that I don’t really like thick and slimy type of noodle, but luckily, I AM a big soup person!

When Marugame first came to the scene, I started to appreciate udon more, exactly that kind of feeling when you finally found a good and humble place to have udon in town (tbh I never really looked out for ramen but since the hype of Marugame was pretty big at that time). Last week, I went to have lunch with my brother at the newly opened Tamoya Udon in Emporium, and boy I am now a freaking convert, by convert I mean my interest towards udon and Tamoya is now my favorite place to have udon at the moment.

Tamoya is a franchise originated from Japan and the brand’s first introduced in 1996 by the udon master/creator of Tamoya: Tamotsu Kurokawa, they already have several outlets spread around Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia before opening its first Indonesia branch in Emporium mall (GF, beside Fish and Co). Basically from the ordering method to the large overview of the menus, it’s exactly the same as Marugame where it’s all about self-service, and meals focusing on udons and donburi.

They also have some side dishes (price ranging from IDR 10k – IDR 2ok) that you can choose and ranging from prawn tempura, kakiage (vegetable fritter), dori katsu, eggplant, sweet potato, mushroom, chikuwa, egg tempura, inari rice, pumpkin, chicken karaage and assorted onigiris (IDR 16,5k). I tried their kakiage, dori katsu, and prawn tempura, their kakiage impressed me with the generous amount of onion giving that natural sweet flavor at every bite, their dori katsu may have more generous coating rather than the meat, but since you guys only need pay IDR 18k for each then you just can’t argue.

Their udons consist of two soup base: Kake and Sanuki, Kake is milder in terms of flavor while Sanuki is the more flavorful one, almost the miso base type of soup.

They also have this station where you can refill your ocha and as much toppings as you want (fried crumbs, sauce, chili cuts). Their side dishes are recommended to be served with their signature Tonkatsu sauce.

Spicy Chicken Udon – IDR 55k
Some of the unique points about Tamoya is the Spicy Chicken Udon that you can find only in Indonesia as it’s created specially for Indonesian people, their palate and their interest towards spicy food. The red sauce will give you this spicy and oily soup, but to me it’s still in the “mild” level and quite enjoyable, at certain notes you’ll experience a little tangy flavor.

Sanuki Udon – IDR 35k
My personal favorite was unexpectedly their Sanuki Udon or the cold udon. I did ask to confirm if the stock was the same and it was, but there’s something about the stock when it’s cold that intensify the flavor and richness of the stock, and cold noodles tend to have the firmer texture and I was super fond of that. As simple as the cold udon with cold stock, spring onion and seaweed topping, udon for champs!

Chicken Teriyaki Udon – IDR 55k
If you like the sweeter type of soup, their Chicken Teriyaki Udon would just be the one you should have. Udon with crispy coated chicken teriyaki topping and teriyaki like soup with sweet flavor dominating.

Niku Udon – IDR 50k
Their Niku udon was another favorite of mine, this menu is the good old classic with udon, shoyu beef broth and beef slices, but the beef was very tender and fragrant! Perfect for rainy days (which I believe is coming very soon since we are approaching).

Chicken Katsu Curry Rice – IDR 55k

They also serve the classic chicken katsu curry rice here, the curry sauce was something I never had anywhere else, it was slightly more “altogether”, solid, creamy, richer and intense in terms of flavor, and I was glad that they opted to use the Japanese rice (even though they admit not importing from Japan), I personally feel that when you open a Japanese restaurant, you should at least have that tiny bit of “authenticity”, the more the better for me since I fell hard for Japan since the first day I arrived there.

Ending my lunch with what else better for the hot day? FREAKING ICE CREAMS. To be honest, they’re using Diamond’s Ogura and Green Tea ice cream, but luckily that IS my favorite ice cream brand at the moment so again, purely satisfied. If I’m not mistaken, they’re running this promotion where you can get the ice creams for free.

I seriously have zero complaints towards their udon, they were good, proper and really worth trying, and I am a big fan of the udon’s texture! When it comes to the branding, they might need quite some works to be on that same branding awareness of Marugame since they already have more outlets.

I notice that Emporium is slightly improving when it comes to their F&B tenants, some of the new additions seem to bring a little soul to this mall, I used to go to Emporium a lot, especially during my high school years, to be honest if it’s not because of the Tamoya hype and the occassional craving for Sour Sally’s Black Sakura, I can’t seem to find any reason to go to Emporium, but now I might.

Attaching their current menu for reference!

Tamoya Udon
Emporium Pluit Mall GF
Kawasan CBD Pluit Blok C-12
Jl. Pluit Selatan Raya, Jakarta Utara 14440
Opening Hours: 11 AM - 10 PM
Dresscode: casual
Average spending for two: IDR 200k
Wifi: No
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Map for Emporium Pluit Mall