Udon Gama-Dashi — Restaurant in Honolulu

Super happy with the experience and food here!

Ambience: Super cute, clean small shop with friendly workers, very reminiscent of Tokyo shops. Very easy to park with parking lot right outside. It is kind of a weird service model. They brought us a menu but we had to go up to order and pick up our own food and put our own tray away.

Food: We decided to share a bowl since we had just eaten at Ono poke & we were so full but after we finished we wish we had more because it was so good!! We got the regular size cold udon that has chicken tempura, grated daikon, lemon, and green onion and a side of shrimp tempura. The noodles were nice and thick and had chew without being too soft. It was our first time trying cold udon and it was so refreshing. The broth you pour on top was nice and cold and had good flavour that coated the noodles well. The lemon added a nice refreshing zing to it. Tempura: they were made fresh to order so it took a bit of time, but they were both hot and crispy and a great contrast to the cold udon. The chicken tempura was white meat but it was so juicy!!! Although it was lacking flavour. Definitely had to dip it in the sauce otherwise it was too plain. Shrimp was delicious although small.

Overall if you were to compare to Marugame, I’d say this shop is a higher quality & more authentic udon shop with a wider variety of options however it is a bit more expensive and would take longer to prepare. I do think they need to change their service style and decide what kind of restaurant they want to be (quick fast food or formal sit...

​I visited Udon Gama-dashi with coworkers on a Friday for lunch. Since it wasn't too busy, we were able to get a booth without a wait. My initial impression was that the ordering process was a bit confusing. The sequence requires you to first find a seat and review the menu, then go up to the cash register to order and pay. You're given a buzzer to let you know when your food is ready for pickup.

They use a self-service bussing system; after you finish eating, you take your tray to the back of the restaurant, near the restrooms, to drop it off.

​The restaurant serves Hakata-style udon noodles with a variety of options at a reasonable price, very similar to Marugame. We all enjoyed our dishes. I tried the regular Niku Gobouten Udon. The udon and broth were delicious, but the beef (niku) was a little chewy, and I wasn't a fan of the tempura gobo. However, the tempura soft-boiled egg was a delicious addition. My coworkers also enjoyed their meals.

​The atmosphere was clean and spacious, making it a good spot for small groups and families.

​Overall, it's a solid restaurant with good food and reasonable prices. It's a great option for a quick, affordable meal that won't hurt...

I know this is a new place but I feel compelled to write this review. The place seems to be competing directly in the style of Marugame (long lines in Waikiki).

I ordered the Nikutama (beef and dashi broth) served hot. Unfortunately, the udon was lukewarm, the poached egg it was served with was cold, and they only gave a tiny 1oz portion of the braised beef (even though I ordered a large size), which was also tepid. While the taste of the noodles was good, the temperature of the food was really disappointing.

I also grabbed two pieces of shrimp tempura and a piece of pumpkin tempura, all three of which were very cold and soggy. Another annoyance was I saw a pile of (presumably freshly fried) shrimp tempura in the back that was not available to self serve grab, as if they were waiting for the cold pieces to be grabbed first. Dinner for my fiancee and I was ~$45 after tax and tip. Food is not cheap so it has to be good!

The staff seem very nice and the taste of everything was good, just need to work on delivery and food temperature.

They also have weird opening hours (restaurant closes at 7:30pm on...