Funky Udon

Note: not what we actually ordered, but looks tasty nonetheless

After a visit to Marukai market for tonight's dinner makings, we stopped by our usual post-Marukai lunch spot, Sanuki No Sato for a noodle fix. We were absolutely famished, made worse by a grocery store trip on an empty stomach, so we ordered quickly: we ordered a hiyayakko (chilled tofu) appetizer, followed by the kamo (duck) udon and the motsunabe (tripe) udon. The chilled tofu hit the spot, a simple dish of chilled udon topped with bonito, thinly sliced scallion, grated ginger and a soy sauce based dipping sauce. I'll be definitely making this at home; a simple, refreshing summer dish. Unfortunately, the waitress would not reveal what was in the special dipping sauce, I'll have to do some experimenting. The tripe udon was tasty and the bits of tripe were quite funky (in a good way); the dish was hearty, almost stew-like with carrots and a miso soup base. I quite enjoyed it, but not sure I could finish a whole bowl by myself. The duck udon was a nice complement, with lots of fresh thinly sliced japanese scallion and a lighter, clear broth. While I'm used to duck udon made with seared, medium rare duck, like at SEO, Sobaya and the much missed Honmura-An, all in NYC, this duck had nice, lightly grilled flavor, even though it was fully cooked. Sanuki No Sato is a convenient spot for a quick, post-Marukai bite to eat. Portions are ample and we both left stuffed. As usual, it was packed by the time we left, around 12:30pm. Next time, if we aren't starving and have the patience, we will try a return visit to Ichimiann, another soba and udon specialist just a little farther away.

Sanuki No Sato
18206 S. Western Ave.
Gardena, CA 90248
Tel: (310) 324-9184