A Slice of Japan at Sanuki Sandou

Sanuki Sandou is a Japanese noodle shop located inside the Japanese grocery store on Centinela Avenue and Venice Boulevard.

When you enter the store you're met by foreign foods, products and a Japanese bookstore. Just beyond the bookstore you’ll find the food court, which includes Sanuki Sandou.

At all of the restaurants here, you’ll see plastic replica menu items displayed behind a glass partition, a common practice in Japan. I’ve been to Japan once (my mother is Japanese) and these food displays bring back fond memories of the restaurants we visited there.

Because it was a hot day, I decided to have the cold soba (buckwheat) noodles, called zarusoba (zaru means basket in Japanese). In Japan, cold soba is a staple during the humid summer months.

The noodles were served on top of a bamboo mat lining the plate, with a dipping sauce, sliced green onions and wasabi. The dipping sauce consisted of dashi (soup stock made from seaweed and bonito fish flakes), soy sauce and mirin (Japanese wine).

As far as eating the noodles goes, don’t pour the sauce over them. You’re supposed to take a few noodles, wind them up with your chopsticks and dip them in the sauce briefly before eating. I think I slurped mine down in seconds, they were so good.

After the yummy cold soba noodles, I decided to try the warm udon noodles as well. I ordered the No. 9, which came with two pieces of shrimp tempura. The broth was flavorful and the noodles were thick and a little bit chewy, which was good. (Overcooked noodles would be too soft and mushy.) I let my friend eat the shrimp, which he enjoyed and thought had a nice sweetness to them.

He ordered the “special,” which was a beef udon or soba bowl with egg, shrimp tempura and kayakura rice. The beef broth was very flavorful. He liked the combination of the richness of the egg and beef with the seafood and thick udon noodles. Two slices of fish cake with a bright pink rim added a zing of color to the dish, along with the green onions. He thought the rice was OK, but he really loved the soup bowl.

Triangular-shaped rice “balls” were tempting and I ordered two: the seaweed and mixed vegetable. I wasn’t impressed with either of these and would suggest skipping them. The seaweed rice ball had small black pieces of seaweed, when I expected dried seaweed (nori) instead. The vegetable one needed more flavor and less rice.

Two warnings: This is a cash only place and you can’t order any dishes “to go.” I have heard if you can’t finish what you’re eating you can get a container, but generally, you are meant to dine in. There’s usually a good amount of seating at the Mitsuwa Marketplace and we had no problem finding a table.

Afterward, I noticed the pop-up dessert shop in the lobby of Mitsuwa and I had to check it out. I tried the strawberry and whipped cream crepe with strawberry sauce. The crepe was a little chewy (I prefer the authentic French kind), but I’m a fan of strawberries and cream in almost any form. Overall, this was a light summer dessert, and very welcoming on a hot, humid day.

, 3760 S. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066, 310-398-2113

Hours: Open daily 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

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