Udonya Tokoton — Restaurant in Brisbane City

A cozy Japanese fast food joint, comparatively cheap, acceptable food but nothing outstanding with some areas leaving more to be desired.

Food is acceptable for the price, expect around $20 a head including sides and a drink but there are definitely ways it could be better. Including

fried foods being rotated more often during services, their self-serve tempura station is set up so the fry chef cooks in batches and puts the food under the heat lamps until it is served, however, in some circumstances food may not be taken and end up sitting under the heat lamps for hours to dry out and get greasy. Some food may even be cold on the inside. A good fry chef should keep minimal display products and semi-cook to order which is not done here.

broths and flavours have almost too simple flavour profiles. While it does taste ok the sauces and soups have no real complexity or taste. Understandable due to the price but could be done better by a better kitchen team.

Service here is done differently obviously due to its self-serve cafeteria line set up. While the set up is supposed to make things efficient, the slow speed of service often means queues of up to 20 minute waits can occur which is not acceptable for a fast food intended restaurant.

Two things need to happen, the chefs need to be faster at their jobs, which are actually quite simple due to the streamlined menu and pre-bought products (it is evident many of the ingredients are bought in such as the takoyaki) or a better waiting system to allow guests to sit down while waiting to get their order taken. A simple buzzer system could be implemented to do this.

Attitude is also a problem here. While no one expects the same level of personal attention as a tableside full service restaurant, the chefs need to be aware and pay attention to the language and tone they use with customers. No matter how stressed they are with service or orders, they need to treat customers with respect and let the customer choose the pace at which they’d like to dine, and not force a pace onto the customer. They need to also be aware of body language and the expressions they give as that can also make many diners feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Much of these issues may be due to the fact that staff members may not be from a professional culinary background. Even as such training and better leadership should be expected.

A note should also be made that there is no AC in the dining area, which in the Australian summer is simply inconsiderate to your patrons.

4 stars is the final score only because the price is very very low so concessions must be made when giving a review accordingly. 5 stars could be obtained with faster service, fresher fried goods, higher quality...

Edit 31/12/2021: Downgrading from 3 stars to 2 stars. I think it was the fourth time I'd visited now; lost count to be honest. The line was super long, but it wasn't particularly busy inside. The way they served customers was: 1. take their order; 2. make their order; 3. hand order to customer, who then slides down past the side dishes and drinks; 4. pay for everything; 5. sit down. If they changed the way they did things so that people ordered and paid, then sat down, then had their order called up, it would make things a lot smoother. In saying that, there was only 1 person taking and making orders, and 1 at the register.

I suppose the other negative thing is the way they ask for your proof of vaccination. It was very straight up "I need to see your proof of vaccination" instead of a more hospitable "could I please see your proof of vaccination?". It was a very un-Japanese way, and I'm of a Japanese heritage myself.

In honesty, I don't think the gyu-don (beef bowl) or the tantanmen (spicy egg noodle) is that great; I still only find their curry worthwhile.

Would I come back? Maybe for the curry, but in all honesty, I think I'd rather just skip the long queue and poor customer service and go to Mr Curry instead.

Original review from 2018: I came here twice; first time I had a curry and that tasted just marvellous. The second time I had a karaage bowl which left me disappointed. I understand sweet chilli karaage tastes good, but not with that particular sauce. Therefore my views of this place are somewhat mixed.

The place is extremely small and doesn't have many seats. Ordering is done by lining up at a counter: first you place your order of your main meal and take a tray; second you take any sides you want; third take a drink if you want; fourth pay for your meal; fifth sit down at an empty seat. After you've done eating, you take your tray and empty dishes to the washing area.

Because there's minimal interaction with staff, the customer service aspect is lacking. Food is not presented well; think of it as like a cafeteria. The serving size is decent and it is priced well, but if you take sides you will end up paying a lot. Overall, it's mediocre but I'd definitely come back for the curry because it's one of the best I've had...

We finally found a Specialty Udon restaurant in Brisbane. TLDR; salty, slightly overcooked, can try. Not sure if I'll be back.

Ordering style: Pretty similar to the ones in Japan and Singapore. The tempura items were not too specialty tho. The usual items like various veggie tempura such as, sweet potato, lady's fingers, onions, assorted fish cake, were missing.

Menu: Quite an extensive menu, Udon, Soba, rice and curry options are available. They should try to streamline and focus on good quality udon. I think the quality of food will be much better.

Price: Reasonably priced. Value for money portion size.

Udon: Texture was overcooked for me. Good udon should have a bite, it should not be soggy and flaccid. Might be a one off thing.

Broth: Too thick and salty. It was a notch below drinking shoyu directly from the bottle. If you've been to a few udon restaurants and kiosks in Japan, you'll know what I mean. Broth should be golden, clear and rich. Not salty rich but flavour rich. You can taste the layers of ingredients that made the tasty Broth. This, I feel is the most important part of a good bowl of udon.

Meat: It was a Tuesday so we got an automatic upgrade from Medium to Large. Not sure how long this promo will last. But the portions were definitely value for money.

Tempura: Batter is heavier than usual, you can tell that it's time for an oil change when it's too greasy.

Takana was abit disappointing. Not as tasty as the other Japanese places in Brisbane.

Mochi was a decent surprise. Very chewy skin and delicious cream filling.

Will be back to give it another go. Hope the food will be better this time round. To be fair, I'm comparing it to the Japan and Singapore standards. But I'm sure they can do alot better.

Had a healthy flow of customers. This place is...