Udon Lab is an Udon bar and Izakaya that makes its udon from scratch and prepares each bowl fresh.  They offer 11 hot udon dishes and 6 cold udon dishes, a selection of izakaya appetizers, some donburi dishes, a handful of sushi rolls and three styles of onigiri.  My favorite appetizer was the Saba Miso-Ni, which is grilled Mackerel braised in a sweetened miso sauce and it is exceptional.  The miso sauce was sweet, fishy (in a good way) and full of umami and had a silky texture – I asked for spoon so I could finish the sauce after I ate the Mackerel.  The mentaiko onigiri was also delicious, salty pollock roe in perfectly cooked rice, wrapped in crispy seasoned seaweed.

The Dumplings: Unfortunately, while the menu describes the gyoza as being pork filled, they are actually filled with a mix of chicken and pork.  Since I don’t eat chicken I can had to pass on trying the gyoza.  Thankfully Udon Lab does really great Takoyaki, that had a crispy crunchy outer shell, a super creamy interior and big pieces of chewy octopus.  The Takoyaki were served with lots of Japanese mayo, a pile of finely shredded bonito and lots of finely shredded seasoned seaweed.  Each bite was a delicious mix of crispy and creamy textures and sweet and salty flavors. 

The Location:  Udon Lab is located in Manhattan’s Korea Town neighborhood, on the main drag of 32^nd street between 5^th and 6^th Avenues.  It is on the north side of the street closer to 6^th than 5^th Avenue.