TsuruTonTan offers upscale udon with range of flavors

Saimin is Hawaii’s original favorite noodle soup. But as waves of Japanese restaurateurs started arriving in the 1980s, sai­min’s popularity eventually became supplanted by ramen.

It’s easy to see why. With sleeker noodles and many broth options, ramen gave a new generation with broader palates the kind of variety to keep them coming back for more.

Further down in people’s hearts, there is udon. It doesn’t have the same fandom as ramen because most ramen aficionados would say the ratio of noodles to soup is off due to the thickness of the udon noodle.

While there are dozens of ramen shops in Honolulu, until Murakame Udon arrived a few years ago there were no stand-alone udon shops. Murakame managed to persuade more people to give udon a try by serving up inexpensive bowls of the noodles.

Now TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie has arrived to show us what upscale udon can be like, with a variety of broth selections and plenty of appetizers to complete a meal.

The new restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian Center is done up beautifully with decor reinforcing the process of udon making. Artwork featuring white rope are intended to represent boiled noodles, while a wall of sashiko denim represents clotheslines over which udon was traditionally placed to dry.

The restaurant’s name also represents the sounds associated with udon: “tsuru,” a slurping sound; “ton,” the sound of kneading and shaping the noodle dough; and “tan,” the rhythmic sound of the knife on a cutting board as the noodles are being cut. All the noodles served here are made in-house daily.

Before the main event, there are starters of seared American wagyu sushi (two pieces, $13) and sushi rolls such as one with a center of snow crab salad and avocado layered with seared salmon ($13), a top seller in the restaurant’s Tokyo and New York locations. And you may find yourself wanting more than one order of hamachi carpaccio ($11) with a touch of yuzu kosho. When confronted by a pea-size ball of green on the fish, I’ve seen most people swipe it off, assuming it’s wasabi. But there’s no need to do that, it’s just mild avocado.

IN THESE early days, it may be best to stick with sushi because the kitchen staff hasn’t been able to get oil to the right temperature for deep-frying items such as corn karaage ($6) and creamy, spicy shrimp tempura ($12), which arrive somewhat flabby. I do like the sesame cream and accents of microgreens that come with the shrimp. Garlic shrimp ($11) had the same problem, but they don’t skimp on the garlic, which should please anyone who loves the stinky bulb.

For meat lovers, there is an appetizer portion of seared rib-eye ($16) accompanied by daikon oroshi ponzu, again with yuzu kosho.

You can get part of your daily vegetable quota through petite orders of sesame-dressed Brussels sprouts ($7), edamame ($5), cucumber salad ($6) or bonito flake-covered shishito peppers ($7) with yuzu kosho.

Among my favorite udon dishes here are the chilled uni ($22) and truffle cream with crab and mushroom ($20), which are worlds apart. The former is delicate and spare, with noodles that are thinner than what we are accustomed to in Honolulu. The noodles and uni are drizzled with slivers of nori, and the dish is meant to be stirred together immediately in a small amount of dashi before the delicate fresh noodles start to clump together.

The latter is meant for those who love a heavier cream sauce and textures of snow crab, maitake and shimeji mushrooms, and the extra savory addition of Parmigiana Reggiano.

There is also a hot uni cream udon ($22), but I think the cold version highlights the uni better, so your choice depends on whether you want to taste more of the broth or uni.

Unique to the Hawaii restaurant is ahi poke udon ($18), also served chilled in dashi and soy, and finished with an onsen egg. Considering poke is something new to this Japan-based company, they do a good job. But because we can eat poke anywhere, I prefer exploring other aspects of the menu.

TsuruTonTan is also known in Japan for its mentaiko caviar cream udon ($17). With the roe stirred into the mix, it tastes like a creamy seafood chowder.

The heft of the noodles makes all the dishes very filling. If sharing, you’ll be handed a bib because the length and weight of the noodles can make a big splash if your serving and chopstick skills are not up to par.

SOME OF the dishes that did not work for me included the American wagyu shabu curry udon ($23), where the flavor of the curry buried that of the steak, defeating the purpose of ordering the dish. If you want steak, stick to the appetizer portion; if you want curry, there’s a more basic version at $15, or katsu curry for $17.

Lime shave ice udon is another Hawaii concept, and great on a hot summer day. But the lime flavor was not strong enough to counter the saltiness of a pour of soy sauce. Japanese citrus such as sudachi would have been better suited for the dish, but the fruit is not easy to find here. It may help to use only half of the soy sauce offered.

The menu is huge, and because the udon is so filling it would take many trips to try the donburi and sukiyaki udon offerings, so I’ll be back.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.