Otafuku Noodle House, Los Angeles

Who am I to argue with Kazuto Matsusaka of Beacon fame, formerly executive chef at Chinois on Main? When I read years ago in a review of Japanese restaurants that he used to drive down to Gardena on a free evening with his wife to partake of the Udon and Soba dishes here, I was intrigued. Of all the noodle joints in LA, he chose to come here. When I further read that the owner makes his own noodles here, I was on the freeway. And have been coming here ever since.

Back then the restaurant was half the size it is now and I was the only gaijin in the joint. And I mean gaijin; I was the only person there who did not speak Japanese. Now he has expanded into the place next door, but the quality and the taste remains the same, superior in every way. And on return visits, a few caucasoids have been spotted.

Unpretentious to the core, this place could be your neighborhood stop in Tokyo on your way home from work. As well as the noodles, they also serve a select variety of delicious izakaya dishes. And to complement them, a varied and very reasonably priced assortment of sake and soju.

I always have a hard time ordering because everything is so good. Do I order the same thing as last time, or do I expand my horizons? I am cursed with being adventurous but last night, luckily, my dining partner ordered the tried and true, the awesome, Cold Udon with Fish Cake! Yes, that is how they describe it here, in mangled and cheerful Japanglish subtitles. What it is, IS: a hockey puck sized, shrimp and scallop tempura offering of perfect crispy and tender delight. If you come here for the first time, shout for it as you walk in the door, meditate on it as you wait for it, bless it as you eat it, dream of it on your drive home. I could end my review here!

So, knowing I had the possibility of at least one mouthful of bliss, I braved the unknown and went for 3 items I had never tried here before:
Oden (taking a chance here on a dish of processed pre-fab potential)
Otafuku Homemade Fried Chicken
Wlld Mushroom and Gravy over Crispy Rice. (Now that choice, that was scary.)

The Oden was really good. Really. Three different style fishcakes, flavorous (new word, I like it), in a rich, slightly sweet broth, with 2 pieces of daikon, cutting clean the different tastes. All gone!

The Fried Chicken..was…My Gawd, it is the best I have yet eaten. End of story. How do you describe it? Karaage 2.0? Squared? You provide the superlatives. I am drooling as I write this. Seriously.

Waiting for the Wild Mushrooms in Gravy, which came last, I was priming myself for a let down, my first at Otafuku. How could it be good with that name? And then when it was served, I thought forget it. It looked like a chinese translation, a heavily sauced mixture of enoki and shitaki mushrooms over those little thinly packed rice cakes. I hesitantly tried it and, ah, had some more, thank you very much. The sauce that looked so goopy was light, with citrus accents, the rice providing a nice crispness and balance, the mushrooms slightly chewy. Not bad at all. My companion concurred. Ok, I may not order it again, but not because it was bad, simply because it is not a dish that slays me, and there are so many dishes here that do.

The noodles here are excellent, all three versions, Udon and Soba, 2 varieties. They are served hot or cold, of course, and if cold you get a pot of steaming noodle water at the end to pour in the dipping sauce, for a lovely broth. This is my preferred version, as I always feel that when served in hot broth, noodles tend to get a little soft. The tempura they produce here is absolutely the best, once again, I have ever eaten. How do they make it so crispy, without being greasy, with the contents, shrimp, eel or vegetable, so tasty and perfectly cooked? I have no idea, but I keep going back.

As mentioned above, they expanded to next door at the beginning of the year, and have doubled in size. I hope they have not finished decorating the new addition, because as it is now, it is a bland, white-walled room, period. Make sure to sit in the original room when you go, maybe even at the small counter facing the busy kitchen. The small radio on top is always tuned to jazz, just loud enough for you and the kitchen to hear. The waitresses are friendly, the owner bustles about, everything is under control. I love it here.