Monday, November 29, 2010

CLOSED! japanese/food court: i recommend JIKA UDON



(CLOSED :( a/o 1/2011)

JIKA UDON
at Vie Show Cinemas Foodcourt, 2FL
20 Song Shou Road
(02) 2723-9101

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: http://www.jikaudon.com.hk/

hours: 12PM- 10PM (their website says they open at 11am, but I got there at 11:45am and they wouldn't serve/seat until noon)

$

Kid friendliness: high chairs and kids dinnerware available

Visit reviewed: 11/19/2010 (all photos with iphone 4g)



Jika Udon is a solid, quick place to grab a bowl of udon to eat as one of the newer additions to the Xinyi Vieshow Food Court. They have their own separate seating area, so if you want to eat alongside your friends ordering Burger King, you'll have to get your order to go, as I did, and eat in the main food court area.



I uncapped my tempura as soon as I picked it up, so that the delicate crispiness wouldn't get soggy and laid out my lunch- tempura, cold udon and dipping sauce (NT$220). They only give you one sauce for both the udon and tempura, which is fine, since they also include a small bit of wasabi, grated radish and green onion slices.

The udon is quite chewy and QQ and the crispy tempura (with two shrimps) provided a satisfying crunch. It's good to have a sanuki udon place in the area, especially after my original go-to place at Vieshow, Tenpura Sanuki Udon, moved and shut down. I was surprised by the amount of udon that I got- it would have filled a large bowl and was quite filling.



Jika Udon's menu (in English, Chinese and Japanese with lots of photos) is worth exploring- with hot udon soups or cold udon, or options like curry udon, udon with cod fish caviar or udon with chicken or seafood salad which caught my eye, most from NT$100-NT$230.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks yummy! I haven't been to Vie Show in a couple years already :o This makes me want to go back... mostly I have been eating around 西門町 and home-cooking, but can't seem to get good tempura :Þ

OT but have you tried the Fairy Cafe that opened recently in XinZhu I think it was? I have been thinking of visiting because I love theme cafes :D

Ken said...

Dang! Is there still a place in Taipei where Sanuki Udon may be had? I really miss having it!

joanh said...

sparklewolfie: i wish i could explore more around ximending! that area is so fun. i haven't tried Fairy Cafe yet!

ken: Jika has sanuki udon.. you should give it a try.

:)