Musashiya Udon Noodle

Musashiya is one of the best Japanese udon restaurants in LA! I usually order the wakame udon and the tempura, and they’re both wonderful! The broth is perfectly flavored and the noodles are chewy, but not too soft. The tempuras are delicious as well and these definitely add more flavor to the udon. I’ve also had the niku tsuke udon and the miso tsuke udon before, but I think these are more for tsukemen lovers since the broths are strongly flavored and quite salty. I thought the tsuke udons were fine, but I personally prefer to just stick with the normal kake udon style.
I actually came here on their grand opening last year, and it makes me sad to see that many Unilocalers wrote a bunch of harsh comments about Musashiya based on their opening day performance. Friends, I have to say, Musashiya’s opening day was VERY busy and unorganized. However, that was totally understandable because MOST restaurants don’t have «perfect» grand openings! So many unexpected things that the workers couldn’t predict happens on the first day of work, right?!
Let me tell you my story: I found out about Musashiya’s opening day from an article, and I told my boss (born and raised in Japan) about it since he’s constantly looking for new places to eat Japanese food. He generously took me and my co-​worker to Musashiya on the opening day, and we all got there around 11:45AM. We ended up waiting in line for an hour, got our udons 30mins after being seated, got our tempuras 20mins after our udons, and got back to our office way past our «lunch break.» That was definitely my first time spending so much time with my boss outside of work! LOL. Basically on the first day, SO MANY people came to use the coupons and the servers were just not prepared to handle the long line and the huge crowd. All the servers were friendly, and they were trying their best to deal with all the customers. I guess a lot of the Unilocalers just didn’t understand that though. Despite the hectic lunch time we experienced, the three of us really enjoyed our udons, and my boss was happy that I introduced him to his new favorite Japanese udon restaurant!
Musashiya’s service improved A LOT the second time I came here, and I was really happy with everything! Seriously, it gets better each time I come here. Compared to the opening day, the food comes in much faster, the servers deal with the crowd better, and there are less grumpy customers! I came here last week, and I was surprised that they also changed their restaurant atmosphere. Before it used to be more like a modern café but now it’s more like a stylish bar with all the dim lights! haha.
The bottom line is, ignore the mean comments and just try Musashiya’s udon! I would recommend getting the normal udon and the tempura; you could never go wrong with this order. If you feel like trying something new, then you can order one of their tsuke udons. Eating at Musashiya makes me miss Japan, but in a good way! :)

I have never in my life had anyone be so rude to me in a restaurant. Arriving about 30 minutes before closing there were 3 parties in the restaurant. A family with a 7 year old (or so) an adult couple, and my party, my girlfriend, her mom, 93year old grandmother (both visiting from Japan), and myself. After we ordered the music was playing loud enough it was almost impossible to talk, I asked if it could be turned down a little. It took 2 people to tell me it was supposed to be a lively Izakaya drinking vibe. This was frustrating but okay. 25 – 30 minutes after we ordered I was told that they ran out of rice, so I wouldn’t be getting my Onigiri, and at the time there was no apology. (Another waitress who was very nice did apologize after). But in a non busy Udon place, it took 25 – 30 minutes to get super mediocre udon.
I asked to speak to the manager, just because I didn’t actually get an answer about music and I was unhappy that no one knew or mentioned the rice situation until our food was coming out after taking too long. When just explaining my displeasure I was told that the owner wants a certain vibe and half the people like it and half don’t and the half that don’t shouldn’t eat there. He said he would comp our entire meal and we shouldn’t come back.
I was a little shocked as he still never really apologized, and it had been fairly bad service.
He left then came back as we were eating and just added (with an attitude) that we were «WELCOME to LEAVE whenever we wanted.»
I truly just wanted a real apology, but this was an awful experience and my girlfriend wouldn’t even eat after this.
If we ever want Udon on the Westside again, we’ll get Ramen instead. There is a good reason there was no wait on. Saturday night. Also the Udon wasn’t very good. And certainly not good enough to be that rude.

My new go to Udon restaurant in West L.A. Clean simple environment with an authentic Japanese feel. The Udon is incredibly fresh (you can see them making it!) and is cooked just right. The broth is flavorful without being heavy.
Highly recommend this place if you are looking for a bowl of udon at a reasonable price with quick and attentive service. Lunch can get busy, so go early or after the lunch rush!

I have tried this place twice. First off, IT IS EXPENSIVE. Not like a fancy restaurant expensive, it’s just not the price you want to pay for a bowl of udon. I have gotten the sesame udon which is I believe Number 1. First off, their freaking tempura is overpriced, bruh! And don’t be tricked. They might give you a big bowl, but the portion is actually average or very poor. I’ve seen them fit all of it in a small red bowl. They don’t serve the noodles in a traditional wooden service bowl, just an average black one.
I also got 2 orders or chashu rice balls with my friend, and omg it was bad. Not the flavor, it was bland. What bothered me the most was that THERE WERE BITS OF DRIED UP RICE IN OUR RICE BALL. Omg when I bit into it, it was horrible. The rice balls are supposed to be soft not have freaking pieces of dried rice grains.
The first I went, the service was horrendous, the wait staff was MIA and the girl was not acting very professional.
The second time was better, but I think it was because we were the only two customers in there for a while. very disappointing.

I feel a little bad rating this place a 2 star, because it probably deserves better. Just not from me. I’ve only been once, and will not return. The menu is relatively small, and I don’t mean how it’s focused on udon. Even in that department, they don’t have much variety. The only soup udon options on the menu are very plain (in description, I did not try them), and so I went for the #1, their miso tsuke udon. It has the most interesting ingredients, and so it seemed like a safe bet.
The miso tsuke udon comes in three parts. First, and best, the udon itself served in hot water (can also be ordered cold). The bowl is enormous, and the amount of udon in it is a fair amount. By udon standards, it’s an extra large, or perhaps two store packages of single serving udon. The udon itself was a fine texture, though nothing special. It’s hand made, but didn’t seem particularly distinctive to me. Still, it was as good as I expect udon noodles to be. Four stars for the quantity and quality.
It’s only downhill from there. The ingredients come separate, which is fine. The picture on their website is accurate. There is some meat (a fatty pork that’s pretty standard in ramen), some type of mushroom, some shredded dried seaweed, and half a marinated egg. Marinated egg was tasty. Mushrooms were fine. Seaweed is seaweed. Pork was too fatty for my taste. Aside from the marinated egg, none of it really had much flavor, which makes sense when you get to part 3. So all in all, it was O K. Not a lot of goodies, but what you see is what you get. Three stars if you like the fatty pork. Two otherwise.
And finally, the broth. Upside, there’s a lot. Downside, for me, is that I didn’t particularly like it. It was simply too sweet, and aside from that, not particularly tasty. I’m not really found of sweet, and that was surprising when I expected a miso broth. My wife likes sweet just fine, and she still didn’t care for it. If you like it, great. But for me, 1 star. That’s a problem when the entire meal hinges around a bunch of flavorless ingredients stirred in that bowl of sauce.
Strangely, they have a tray of random condiments (ketchup, mustard, mayo, bbq sauce…) at every seat. I was tempted to abandon the broth and experiment, but in the end I just used the broth very lightly and ate the ingredients largely plain and tasteless. Now if you’ve been there, you know they also have insulated pitchers labeled «hot water» at every table, so you can dilute your broth to taste. The water itself was room temp, but of course I’m sure you can ask for a refill. Why didn’t I use it? I just didn’t think it would help me. But if you do like the taste, and it’s just too much, go for it. Just ask for a fresh refill.
Maybe I just don’t understand Musashiya, but I won’t be returning. Myojo udon with some fresh vegetables any day.

The curry udon was super smooth and very thick. It was tasty! The udon with the squid was pretty fishy but that’s how you know it’s authentic right? Each udon wss about $ 12-​$ 13. It’s pricey but it’s a big bowl of udon and pretty great quality. I’m surprised these Westwood students can afford this but hey I used to be one of them ;)
This place is nicely decorated and feels very clean and open. It’s a modern udon shop for sure.
Service was great on a Friday afternoon.

I’ve been here a few times now and overall I like it. It’s a little on the pricey side and the service can be kind of slow during peak lunch hour, but the noodles are good and the décor is clean and visually appealing. The first time I came I tried the wakame udon, which was good but the seaweed was a little overwhelming for the portion. The next time I came I tried the soy tantan tsuke udon, which is my current favorite — a little meaty, a little spicy, total comfort food. I’ve also tried the pumpkin tempura, which was perfectly crispy and not too greasy. The first time I came they were also giving complimentary rolls, which I found less than impressive after becoming addicted to the blue crab hand rolls at sugarFISH.

I have enjoyed my time eating here. This is NOT for people who are fast pace and want something quick to eat. For that, try fast food places like In n Out. This place is a sit down place and can easily go over an hour of eating.
Their broth is very flavorful. They give you both hot and cold options for some ramen choices. One bowl is enough for 2 – 3 meals for me.
The service here is nice and very accommodating.
For parking, there’s a 90 minutes free parking near Fox Theater. Otherwise there are meter parking right outside.

If you had to wait in a line for Udon, I’d still go to Marugame Monzo instead of Musashiya.
Though the service and workers were great, the food was not as good as I had hoped. Still, it’s a good option to have in Westwood for the college kids and people in the area. Not the best Udon I’ve had, but it’s hard to live up the standard at Marugame Monzo and their Zaru Udon.

I really like this place! I walked by a few weeks ago and finally decided to give it a shot. I got the #1 with a roll and a deluxe tempura. The udon was really good. Super chewy and you could tell it was fresh. The soup base was a bit salty so I just mixed it in with the udon soaking in hot water. It was perfect after that.
The tempura was awesome. I never had a soft boiled egg tempura, it was amazing.
Definitely coming back!

It has a modern, jazzy vibe. The servers were very friendly, even though they got my friend the wrong water (iced instead of warm). The décor is nice — there’re travel books and Japanese tea cups on the wall to look at as we wait for our food.
The large table width, however, makes the seating VERY AWKWARD when dining with a friend. You’d have to either sit on the same side, with strangers sitting across (which is what happened); OR you can sit across from each other and eat in silence (which is what happened to our neighboring table). With a stranger possibly half-​hearing our conversation, I felt the need to act more normal in front of my best friend.
Anyways, the udon was pretty decent. This is what we ordered:
Kake Udon ($ 8) — It was light and refreshing, but gets bland after a while. I had to add a few good shakes of chili powder. I wouldn’t recommend it if you like heavier flavors.
Meat Udon ($ 9.5) — I tried some of my friend’s. It is A LOT tastier than the Kake. It’s also on the sweeter side, which compliments the fishy soup base. I like it.
Fried Squid ($ 3.5) — the MOST WORTH item we got. It’s perfectly battered and fried, when you can still taste the squid. We loved the combination with mayo!
Overall, the food here is decent, but not wow-​ing. Although the udon comes in a bowl twice my head size, the amount served is actually normal. Thus, the food here is overpriced, even for Westwood. My college student budget most likely wouldn’t allow me to come back again.

I get my infusions done only two buildings away from here and I’m super happy this place opened up. It’s a perfect after infusion lunch. I’m always craving a comforting bowl of noodle soup after my infusions and this place hit the spot. The seating is mostly communal and the music is a little loud, but I really like the interior. It has a mix of modern western and a traditional Japanese look. Service here was alright, a little slow, but nothing majorly good or bad. I ordered their Miso Tuske Udon noodles, cold, and a coke to drink. Very happy that they have coca cola here. My Mom ordered their large mixed tempura.
They make their udon noodles in house. You can even watch them make it. A chef was making them right behind me, really cool. Our food took a little longer to get to our table than I expected, but it was worth the wait. We got the udon first. It’s served in a huge bowl, it seemed as if my whole platter was bigger than me. I served my Mom some udon since we split and then dug in. The udon was slippery and long so it’s kinda hard to eat Tuske style. I think next time I’ll just get udon soup. The miso and sesame broth was very flavorful, a little sweet at first, but then it had a spicy bite in the end. The pork and bamboo shoots that were served with my udon were just alright, nothing amazing. I gave my egg to my Mom so I didn’t try it. I’m not a big egg fan. Our tempura came soon after my udon. My Mom was raving about it so I took a break from my udon and tried some. I got a piece of shrimp and a piece of chicken. The shrimp was ok, a little soggy on the inside, it was probably previously frozen. I’ve never had chicken tempura and I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. It was really good. The batter was crispy and crunchy and the chicken was moist white meat. I think next time we get tempura we’ll just get their chicken, it was delicious. I also liked the tempura dipping sauce with the daikon radish, it brought freshness the fried tempura.
Udon is my favorite type of noodle. Most people are more into ramen, but udon is my favorite. I’m so happy that this place opened up and I will definitely come again, maybe I’ll try a soup next time instead of dipping noodles. Hope this place makes it.

This is a very cute udon spot that makes you feel like you are either in NYC, and not in Westwood. It has a nice modern Japanese design. I had been wanting to try it for a while, since they are supposedly famous in Tokyo for their udon.
I had the Mentai Ankake Tamogotoji Udon, and my boyfriend got the Miso Tsuke Udon (both were $ 12.75 each). We also got the assorted Tempura to share ($ 5.50). I really loved the Mentai Ankake Tamogotoji udon! The broth is what made it special, I thought. It was clear, thick, and very savory. There was pink egg roe that was placed in the center, but then became scattered throughout the dish when you ate it. I think the egg roe was what made it so tasty — it gave that nice fishy flavor on top! The udon noodles were pretty good too. But comparing to ramen noodles at Tsujita (I’m only comparing because they’re both noodle places from Japan), I would say Tsujita is more mindblowing.
BF got the MIso Tsuke udon, which is the dipping style udon, their specialty. I didn’t really like that broth much. He thought it was fine, but ultimately liked my broth better than his.
Tempura was good, but didn’t really seem worth it for the price. You only get maybe like 4 pieces for the $ 5.50. Some of them are like $ 2/​piece of tempura. Maybe I’ll get the 1 piece tempura next time? I still don’t know if that’s worth it. But you will definitely go home satisfied, and not completely stuffed (in a good way).
The bowls are HUGE, kind of like the XL bowl you’d get from a phở restaurant. However, even though the bowl is humongous, the noodles and broth only fill maybe half of it. So it’s kind of annoying, sitting next to your date with this clunky bowl and it being half filled with noodles and soup.
I’m returning to Musashiya for udon in the near future. I’d recommend it for all my friends too! It’s nice that a new, legit noodle shop opened up in Westwood.

As the star rating states, this place was a-​ok.
The restaurant space looks open and nice where you can see the chefs making fresh udon noodles. Lots of light and seating.
As we entered, we wrote our name down and was told there was a 10 minute wait for a party of 2. I stood to the side and the hostess told us to wait outside. I was cold so I asked if I had to wait outside even though there was room inside and she said yes. Grr… whatever.
So about 15 minutes later, a spot opened up at the bar area. It was a tight squeeze but we fit. They have hooks below to hold your bag, which is good. Server dropped off menus. None of the staff here is very friendly. Had to ask for water and utensils. Tried to order a combo but was told that they don’t have sodas (although someone next to me was drinking a coke).
Ordered the Nike Tsuke Udon (beef udon) $ 12.75 and it was super salty. Even after using the hot water at the bar to dilute it, it was still super salty. The beef was flavored nicely and the udon noodles were super fresh, but that was it. Nothing exciting.
My sister ordered the wakame udon $ 8 which was fine. It was udon.
We had to wait about 25 minutes for our food to come out. The servers never came back to check on us or to even refill our water. We had to hunt someone down for the check.
Servers weren’t mean but definitely not friendly or attentive. Food was OK but not sure if it was worth the money.
It’s directly across the street from Whole Foods.

Finally, a decent japanese noodle place in Westwood (or at least north of Wilshire).
Went there with a friend during their grand opening, so they had a BOGO deal on the udon. Additionally they also gave out complementary handrolls! (Although since they ran out of the handrolls on their menu, they just served us ones with some imitation crab meat in them.) Not the greatest handrolls, but the generous gesture was definitely appreciated.
Since it was the opening weekend, the line was pretty long, especially when we went at around 7pm. We ended up waiting around 40 min to get seated, and another 25 min or so before we got our food. I figure that after the opening weekend, these lines will get shorter and the food out faster.
I ordered the #3, the soy tantan tsuke udon, and my friend ordered the #5, mentai ankake tamagotoji udon. It wasn’t my first choice, the #1, but I wanted something to dip so I got the #3.
First of all, the bowls are HUGE. Like you could fit 2 faces in there. Yes, faces are an appropriate measure of counting. However, it just makes the sparse amount of food inside look even smaller (not the best marketing strategy, I feel like). Then from my first bite, I found that my dipping soup was really salty. I know it’s supposed to pack a punch, but maybe I’m just used to my tsukemen at Sawtelle. And the udon, there were like 10 long strands, at most. Okay, maybe 12. Fine, 11.
That was the same with my friend’s bowl. Her’s was really overpowered by the fish flavor and the texture drowned with the egg. It wasn’t the best, but I guess given the BOGO deal, I felt like it was alright.
Basically, the bowls that we ordered weren’t the best, but given the service and the deal during the grand opening, I will give them a pass for that. I’ll definitely be coming back to try the rest of their menu (and giving them a chance to redeem themselves)!

The newest udon contender in West LA with an awesome BOGO deal during their Grand Opening!
The workers are adorable and enthusiastic, which really help with the long wait sometimes. When we were finally seated, we were brought complimentary hand rolls. Our orders were immediately taken and were brought out in a timely manner. I am not sure why their bowls are so huge here, but portions are just standard. I tried the Miso Tsuke, one of their dipping udon options had a rich broth and thick pieces of chashu. Overall, their menu was limited during their opening, but I still had a good experience here and would definitely come back to try other items.

I was so excited to try this restaurant since I’m an udon fanatic. I came during lunch time on Saturday, the weekend of their grand opening. It took almost 2 hours from start to finish (most of that time was just waiting) and I was very disappointed with the experience.
The service was very bad. The waiters/​waitresses were nice but they didn’t know what they were doing. I had to ask for water multiple times in the beginning and then no one ever refill the water after. The food took over 30 – 40 minutes to come out and then they also gave us the wrong bill at the end.
As for the food, we got #1, squid egg udon, tempera soft boiled egg, and karaage chicken. I thought the soup/​sauce for #1 was very interesting but I’m not a fan. The squid egg udon was good and it came in such a big portion. Karaage chicken was good but I wished there was more seasoning. The soft boiled egg was great.
I hope they will get better at their service soon because bad service will keep people away.

Just ok and a bad attack of salt overdose. Not impressed by the hand made udon. Could well have come out of a package. Monzos is better with the udon and uni sauce. The tempura is quite good. The udon with the dipping sauce is little too salty. Quite busy since it was written up as a new place and got a lot of attention from foodies. The discount coupons helped in attracting customers but I wonder if it can sustain a following. Felt quesy after, which came from the excessive salt in the soup. Be warned, do not drink all of the soup as it contains a lot of salt, especially if you are vulnerable to effects of high salt intake like I.

My boyfriend and I were really excited for this place to open, especially since we live so close. So when I Unilocaled «udon» and saw that it was open and already had 5 stars, we didn’t hesitate to check this place out. We came here the day before their «grand opening», and we came at 5pm (when they open), so we were their first customers for dinner and got seated right away. It was a bit strange being the only people dining at the restaurant… anyway, the seating arrangement is also a bit strange. There is a long communal table, but we ended up sitting at one of the smaller tables. The two of us sat right next to each other since the tables themselves are kind of wide with dividers in between, so you can’t really talk with the person across from you. I think that’s how it’s supposed to work.
On to the food. We ordered the california roll ($ 3 with the udon), the miso tsuke dipping udon ($ 12.95), and the deluxe assorted tempura ($ 13). The california roll came out first. It’s slightly larger than a handroll, but still small. The roll is like a regular california roll but with several pieces of salmon. It tasted kind of fishy, but it was still good.
The miso udon came next. The noodles came separately from the sauce. The sauce came with curry powder that you can add for more flavor. We tried the sauce with and without the curry. We both thought the sauce was interesting, but too sweet even with the curry powder. The noodles were good though, but I can’t really tell the difference between their fresh handmade noodles and regular udon. I don’t think we’d get this miso flavor one again but would definitely try their other items.
Our favorite part of the meal was probably their tempura platter. It seems pretty pricey at $ 13, but it comes with gigantic tempura prawns, two large pieces of tempura chicken, two runny soft-​boiled eggs, among other vegetables (eggplant, squash, etc). My bf said it was actually a good deal for the price, considering all that we got.
Anyways, I give props to this place. I’m not Japanese, but it felt very authentic to me. The restaurant is clean and modern looking, the servers were attentive and polite, and the food was fresh. I am surprised that the 5 star rating went down to 3.5 within two days, but I feel like the ratings will go back up again once more people start coming and reviewing. I’m happy that there’s a new place to eat in westwood :)

I am so happy that an udon restaurant finally opened on the west side, I was getting tired of having to drive down to Torrance or DTLA.
Like many cuisines udon can be very regional, Musashiya’s flavors are different from other udon restaurants. Tonight I shared the NIKU TSUKE UDON, which was a little sweet almost like Sukiyaki, the KAKE UDON was full of flavor and almost had a smoky taste. The tempura was really good but a little expensive for what it was.
Is it the best udon in the US like they advertise, no… however, it’s really tasty. I had a great dinner and will definitely be back. Will udon be the new ramen?