Udon Komadori: Pesto Udon & Other Fusion Flavours + Free-Flow Salad Bar At Bencoolen St

When it comes to Japanese food, there are three options I always go for — ramen, sashimi and UDON. Naturally, when Udon Komadori hit the streets of Bencoolen, I just had to give it a try.

Being a picky udon eater ever since I tried one of the best udon places in Japan, I had high expectations. Udon Komadori opened their doors on 1 September 2018, introducing fusion udon to Singapore.

Located just across from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) along Bencoolen Street, it’s just a five-minute walk from Bencoolen Station.

Udon Komadori may seem like a small enterprise, but they were actually brought over in partnership with a Japanese restaurant company.

The restaurant’s brightly lit interior invites you to step in for a meal, and can easily accommodate 30 to 40 people, allowing customers to enjoy their bowls of udon comfortably.

Udon Komadori specialises in serving fusion udon with a range of appetisers. The free-flow salad bar that comes with every bowl of udon purchase makes this place even more worthwhile. They even have an option for a warm salad dressing, which isn’t common in other restaurants.

With so many bowls of fusion udon to choose from, we decided to try three of their popular udon options.

Their udon noodles are carefully prepared, using with Hokkaido flour. In addition, each bowl consists of ingredients freshly flown in from different prefectures of Japan.

The Mentai-Egg Udon (S$15++) might be a popular choice with our Singaporean crowd. The soup base of the udon is made from mentaiko (spicy cod roe), and the chefs at Udon Komadori managed to create a broth that isn’t too salty.

The dish came with a generous piece of spicy cod roe, which was a little too briny on its own. But paired with the udon, it wasn’t overwhelming and made a good combination with the noodles. The udon had just the right amount of chewiness, which made each bite very satisfying.

The Pesto Genovese Scallop Mush Udon (S$15++) was a unique choice of fusion udon, which pleasantly surprised us. The noodles were consistently chewy, indicative of their kitchen standards.

For those who prefer sauces with stronger herb flavour, the pesto base is refreshing and will meet your expectations. The aromatic sauteed mushrooms also added an earthy flavour to the dish and the scallops released pockets of sweetness.

Next, we had the Mushroom Truffle Udon (S$15++). Instead of getting dashes of truffle oil to flavour the dish, we were delighted to see actual truffle slices served atop the noodles.

The creamy mushroom base was akin to having a bowl of mushroom soup. The deep earthy aroma of the truffles only came through a few bites later and wasn’t too overwhelming, which made this dish hearty and comforting to slurp up.

You can opt to upsize your bowl of udon from 200g to 300g or 400g for FREE. Perfect for all you big eaters!

Udon Komadori also provides chilli pepper condiments that you can sprinkle on your udon for more flavour. They offer two versions: the original chilli pepper and a yuzu chilli pepper.

And what I love about their condiments is that they’re customised to complement their udon dishes. For instance, the yuzu chilli pepper is great for adding a refreshing tangy taste to the creamy udon. Customers can buy a bottle and bring it home after their meal.

If you’re still feeling peckish, I recommend getting the Aburi Gyu Sushi (S$8++/2 pieces). Fragrant Koshihikari rice is blanketed by thin slices of slow-roasted US beef and coated with a layer of in-house steak sauce.

The fatty slices of meat melted almost immediately, coating my tongue with a buttery layer that we simply could not get enough of. Needless to say, the sushi was inhaled within seconds.

Udon Komadori serves up quality bowls of warm and hearty udon at reasonable prices. If you’re up for fusion flavours, they definitely don’t disappoint.

Even if you’re a traditionalist when it comes to udon, you can still head over with your friends as they also offer regular udon and yaki udon.

Pop by and give Udon Komadori a try. Who knows, you might find a new udon favourite!

Expected Damage: S$18 – S$25 per pax