Umai Artisanal Udon Bar

We queued for half an hour or so. The menu came with their fixed type of udon. Would be better if they allow customers to opt for the udon they want. The carbonara cames with bits of bacon and smoked duck which makes the udon more flavourful. The black pork was very tender and goes well with the dish. I love their fusion dishes but price can be a tad expensive.

The atmosphere inside is REALLY warm after it fills up with guests & especially if you're drinking soup like I was. Really regretted not bringing my hairtie with me to tie my hair up 😕

I was perspiring so much & was so uncomfortable to a point where I immediately raised my hand to call for the bill once I finished my food. I guess that helps them with quicker turnover of customers 😂 What's posted here was when I got seated - when I left, they were full-house.

The Ebi Taigamori ($18++) was... Okay.

It was enjoyable on first slurp, but after a while, the double-boiled Katsuo Soup felt very one-dimensional & salty. The tempura batter is quite thick & oily, but the prawns inside were plump & good.

I somewhat liked the chewy texture of the udon, but I didn't find it particularly mind-blowing.

Maybe the other dishes are more unique & impressive... The menu is pretty varied with several types of Udon & cooking styles. I would consider trying them if I come back.

Returned again with my family. The Spicy Carbonara ($19) really impressed my father; I thought that the carbonara-ness was slightly lacking and the dish was more like stir-fried udon in cream sauce. However, the slab of black pork was what our chopsticks reached out for. Although it could have used a bit more char and glaze, it was still really delicious - meaty and fatty in the best ways. Simply wow!

The Yakiniku Sukiyaki ($17) was pretty decent with tons of beef strips in a really flavourful beef broth. Simple but executed well. Also ordered the Mini Saba Misoni Don ($8) and it was alright. The Saba was limp and cold but it was saved by the sweet-savoury miso glaze. Pros of ordering this would be the rice to mop up the carbonara sauce haha.

We also ordered the $10 cocktails - the Ginger Highball which was decently alcoholic but the Cloudy Apple Vodka was all syrup and barely any taste of vodka at all.

Seating area was pretty cramp with tables close to one another - not a place to chat the entire night away. We had the Spicy Prawn Hibachi ($19) which had thin udon in a rich crustacean broth with notes of umami-sweetness. Loved the broth, as well as the generous sprinkles of sakura-ebi and pork mince; they gave every spoonful a nice bite. However, the three 'prawns' they gave were definitely not Seared Tiger Prawns as stated in the menu - from the texture and taste they were more akin to the supermarket frozen shrimps. Disappointing!

Next was the Taru-Taru Chicken Nanban ($14) which had Sweet & Spicy Battered Chicken drizzled with Cream Tartar atop a mound of chewy Sanuki udon. I opted for the cold version, so this came with chilled Katsuo shoyu together with handfuls of bonito flakes, spring + raw onions, seaweed, tempura flakes, and fried shallots. Mixing everything together gives you a noodle base with a smorgasbord of flavours and textures. Thumbs up. But strangely enough, after some bites i started to think this tasted more and more like takoyaki. Moving on to the chicken, i wished it could have been fried crispier as it arrived with the exterior already soggy.

thick fatty slab of pork.
broth is flavourful but light.