At 3pm, there is still a line at Kunitoraya.
I already discussed how my friends and I tried to eat at Kunitoraya (39 Rue Sainte-Anne) a couple of weeks ago, but we were thwarted (they ran out of soup)! It all worked out because we had a delicious udon meal at Sanukiya. Kunitoraya was still on my list so after my birthday visit to the Louis Vuitton family home and workshop, I thought it would be great to grab dinner there. Plus, it’s a Chinese tradition to eat long noodles on your birthday (the noodles represent longevity). Talk about killing two birds with one stone!
Kunitoraya Udon
Tempura Udon
Curry Udon
I was so appreciative of my classmates who ALL came out to have dinner with me and celebrate my birthday after the LV visit. Even though Kunitoraya is a tiny restaurant, they opened us the basement and let us occupy the entire space. I ordered the Kunitoraya udon, which had thinly sliced strips of pork and daikon in a miso-based soup. My friends ordered the shrimp tempura udon and the beef curry udon. I really liked the broth of my Kunitoraya udon and the dish totally reminded me of something my mother would make me. It was really “homey” tasting and comforting since I couldn’t actually be with family on my birthday. The noodles were SUPER long so it looks like I’m going to live a very long life!
I tried the broth of the tempura udon and I liked it. It was a lighter, cleaner broth with a strong green onion taste. It definitely wasn’t as complex as the Kunitoraya udon broth, which had more of a fermented bean taste. My friend’s beef curry udon was super disappointing. There was barely any meat in the udon and the sauce wasn’t thick enough.
Final Verdict: Sanukiya’s udon wins by a landslide. I’ve never had noodles with such wonderful texture and I would gladly return to Sanukiya every day if I could. Kunitoraya was still very good and I would definitely eat there again, but Sanukiya will always be my first choice.
My amazing classmates who came to dinner. Thank you, guys!
