Tomukun – Ann Arbor, Michigan

                I have decided that I need to get downtown and pick a new place to eat on the weekends if I weather permits.  Being that we are now officially in winter and we live in Michigan, it may not always be the best conditions to drive into town.  I will do my best to get to new places, as well as getting you updated with the tasting reviews.

                I have found most Asian restaurants in our area much Americanized: lots of breading, frying, and sauces.  Having spent time in Hong Kong and Taiwan when I was younger, along with having friends throughout the years from the countries in that part of the world, I wanted more authentic foods.  The dishes they make at home are wonderful and that is the taste and experience I want to continue to have.

                I simply stumbled into going to Tomukun online.  I was searching the restaurants in town, scrolling down the names, clicking to look at the menus.  I clicked on the link for Tomukun and was first drawn in by the beautiful photos of their food, You had me at Hello!  Clicking my way through the menu I loved the diversity of the dishes.  Primarily a noodle bar, but the flavors and combinations offered are from various regions.  This was the place to try, and I was not disappointed, they Knocked My Socks Off!

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I decided that I wanted to try a few things to get a feel for food

Drink, well they have a full bar offer various beers and mixed drinks.  I went for the Kirin Ichiban, a pale lager, wonderfully crisp, light, and refreshing.  A good choice for light foods, it will not interfere with the aromas of the noodles to come.

Kirin website: http://www.kirin.com/

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Starter:  Tako Yaki  (with Octopus)

The first one I ate whole and it melted in my mouth.  Wow!  Wait a minute, don’t these have octopus in them?  Second one, I bit in half to look inside.  Yup, there was a small piece of octopus (perfectly cooked to tender), surrounded by dough and fried.  Went for the full bits on the last two, glad I didn’t have to share those tasty treats.

More on this dish here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

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Noodles:  Duck Udon

I am a fan of duck and was impressed with the meat served in the broth.  No skin or fat was on the duck meat, it actually had crispy bits.  Yes, that is right crispy bits while in broth, I was giddy!  With the bowl of noodles you also have a jumbo spoon, this helps you scoops out tasty bits, but don’t forget about the broth, once all the pieces I could get with my chopsticks were consumed I could not stop slurping the broth. 

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Since I had such amazing food I had to bring some home for Rob.  He stayed home to fix something with his computer, but I had to share the goodness.  He was going to get the Butter Corn Raman, so I ordered that carry out along with Dumplings and Pork Buns.  One of the best things about the carry out is that they package the broth separate from the noodles and other ingredients, no soggy or mushy bits!  Reheated the goodies for dinner, Awesome, Awesome, and Awesome! 

The Pork Buns were appetizer size, if you want full pork buns check out Belly Deli on South University.