Udon Mugizo opened Tuesday for outdoor dining and takeout at 180 Castro St., the former home of hot pot restaurant Shabuway.
Udon Mugizo serves many variations of fresh udon noodles. Photo via Instagram.
Carlos Herrador, executive vice president of franchise operations for the company that owns Udon Mugizo, said they wanted to bring a dedicated udon restaurant to Mountain View.
"There are a lot of restaurants in this area but no udon restaurants in the area," he said. (A few miles away in Palo Alto, Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar specializes in udon noodles.)
Udon Mugizo serves numerous styles of udon, including tonkotsu udon with chashu and egg, nabeyaki udon, curry udon and several kinds of cold udon. Mugizo's "signature" udon is served with cream sauces, including the one that Herrador said "people always ask for": udon swimming in an uni-based cream sauce, uni, parmesan cheese, shiso, green onions and nori. All of the noodles are made in house, as well as soba noodles, and can be customized with toppings such as fish cakes, vegetable tempura and pork belly.
The menu also includes gyoza, takoyaki, donburi (rice bowls) and tempura.
The Mountain View restaurant is open daily from 11:30 a.m to 2 p.m. and 5:30-10 p.m. Udon Mugizo will soon add delivery, Herrador said.
Udon Mugizo is run by the same owner of Marufuku Ramen in San Francisco, which is also expanding to the Peninsula soon. Marufuku is set to open in downtown Redwood City in October, Herrador said. They're also planning to open another Udon Mugizo in the San Jose area next year.
