Tsurutontan is a Japanese udon restaurant chain where the founder opened his first restaurant in Osaka, Japan in 1979. Then, in 1989, the first TsuruTonTan-Noodle Craftsman’s Hospitality restaurant opened up after the founder did extensive research on various styles of udon noodles. Their first international location outside of Japan was opened in 2016 in New York City. Now, they have expanded their locations to include Boston, another Manhattan location, and one in Hawaii. According to their website, the restaurant name includes the word “tsuru” to represent the sound of someone slurping their noodles. “Ton” represents the udon noodles being shaped and kneaded, while finally “Tan” stands for the sound of Udon noodles being cut.
Their Boston location is in the busy Kenmore Square area near Fenway. There are two levels, and during our visit we were seated in the upper level dining area. With simple design and minimal décor, the dining area was comfortable and inviting. We noticed they have Happy Hour and Lunch Special menus available. We started our meal with the fabulous grilled maitake (Japanese for “dancing”) mushrooms with truffle oil $10/ HH $8. This savory mushroom dish matched well with the infused truffle oil that magnified the intensity of its earthy and peppery flavors. Then we got the fried oysters $12/ HH $9 that were panko crusted, served with some greens and a mini salad with a lemon wedge. The crispy panko (dried crustless white bread flakes) crusted oysters, along with their fresh ones, were delectable and easily eaten in two bites.
The premium omakase (Japanese for “leave it up to you”) meal, set at $35, included eight nigiri pieces and one roll (with upgrade options) as well as your choice of Udon (with upgrade options). The nigiri (Japanese for “two fingers”) has raw or cooked toppings with wasabi over vinegar sushi rice, with options including tuna, hamachi (aka Japanese amberjack or Yellowtail tuna), salmon, white fish, scallop, unagi (marinated fresh water eel), uni (sea urchin) or ikura (marinated salmon roe). Everything was fresh, delicious and made to order. For an extra $3, I got the dragon roll with unagi and the avocado California makimono roll, then I spent an extra $5 for the tonkatsu (fried panko crusted pork loin) curry udon upgrade. The dragon roll satisfied our unagi craving, and went well with the rich avocado and basic inside-out California roll consisting of fake crab meat, cucumber slices and sushi rice with nori seaweed. The tonkatsu was fried to perfection and juicy. The Japanese curry went well with the tonkatsu, as it was milder than Indian or Thai curry in spice, and tasted a little sweet with a thicker-than-water sauce. The udon came in beautiful big pottery bowls made by a pottery artist in Chicago. Udon is a thick noodle made with wheat flour (served in many ways) that has a nice springy bite and consistency. The truffle crab cream udon $20/ HH $16 is topped by snow crab, shimeji mushrooms, maitake, truffle oil and parmigiano reggiano cheese in a light creamy truffle infused broth. The earthy mushrooms along with the broth were surprisingly light in taste despite the cream and cheese.
Do check out their affordable “Happy Hour” menu, available all day Sunday through Thursdays, Friday from 12pm – 6pm, and Saturday 12 pm-5pm. Their service was attentive and friendly. Next time you are in Fenway, do check out TsuruTonTan for their great udon and appetizers.
Tsurutontan Udon Noodle Brasserie
512 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
857-233-2839
