My dream is to help people find delicious food that does not just give them the energy to go out and tackle life, but also helps them feel inspired, improve their day, and share a memorable experience with their family and friends. As part of working on this dream, I will tell you about my favorite noodle shop in Greater Boston area, Yume Ga Arukara.

If my kids ask me “Why do you work everyday? I want to tell them “Because I have Dreams.”You can find this written on the wall of the restaurant. — If my kids ask me “Why do you work everyday? I want to tell them “Because I have Dreams.”
You can find this written on the wall of the restaurant.

first impressions

It's been over a year since my first experience at Yume Ga Arukara, so here is what the first experience might be for new customers.

Before you go, make sure to check their Facebook page and find their monthly hours post. Currently, they are open for lunch and dinner every day except for Mondays when they are open only for dinner. It does, however, occasionally change some months and it also depends on holidays. Another important thing is to get some cash. The restaurant is CASH ONLY, but there is an ATM in the building where you can grab your $16 which is how much the most expensive item on the menu costs before any customization.

For the first time visitor, the location is a bit confusing (see above). The restaurant is located in Lesley University Porter Square building along with multiple Japanese and Korean food stalls as well as a “new” izakaya. After you navigate through the maze that is this building, you will see either the unique set-up (all seats facing the kitchen) of Yume Ga Arukara or the long line that wraps around another restaurant. Although I frequented the restaurant before there was any wait to get in, nowadays you must be ready for a 20+ minutes of wait unless you are there right when they open. But don't worry, the wait is worth it. I have waited up to 1 hour and 15 minutes for their food and I don't regret a thing.

This is how the line looks when you’re about 20 minutes away from sitting down with a bowl of noodles

As you get near the front of the line, their staff will get your party size and order. Don't panic, the menu can be found online (even on this post!), posted along the line divider, and at the front of the line. The menu items are limited to 3 different types of niku (meat) udon noodle dishes: Cold Niku Udon, Spicy Cold Niku Udon, and Hot Niku Udon. Even with such small list for the menu, you can customize your dish with more noodles, none or more beef, and sometimes special toppings such as onsen eggs. After placing the order you can pay and wait for your seats to open up.

This is 95% of the shop captured in a photo. For such a small restaurant the system is very efficient.

Once there's enough space for your party, you should grab your utensils, drinks (water or hot tea), and napkins from the self-serve area before finding your seat. You will either get sat at the front row from where you can witness the magic that is the production of Yume Ga Arukara's udon noodles or at the back row where you can patiently stare at the backs of people in front of you while you wait for your food. Can you tell that I have a preference in where to sit?

Once you take a seat, the noodles take no more than 5 minutes to appear in front of you. From then on, between the delicious noodles that you won't be able to put down and the guilt of having a long line of people staring at back of your head, it should only take about 10-15 minutes to finish the bowl. It also helps that they discourage electronics usage (you can take pictures, but maybe wait to finish before posting it). After you finally put down your chopsticks and get ready to leave, they will encourage you with a "perfect!" if you have finished both noodles and the broth and a "good job" if you have finished at least the noodles.

the dreamiest of all noodles

This is where the magic happens. Look at those beauties.

If you have never had udon noodles, you're missing out. Yes, ramen noodles, soba noodles, vermicelli noodles, and hand-pulled noodles are all great, but there's no noodle as pillowy and soft yet chewy as the udon noodles. As a rice cake lover myself, I just can't get enough of the chewy bouncy smooth texture of udon noodles, which reminds me of Korean rice cake.

Yume Ga Arukara’s full menu as of December 2019

So which menu item will you choose?

Cold Niku Udon with extra noodles and double beef (Don’t judge. I was hungry after an hour wait)

My go-to is their Cold Niku Udon ($13). It is served with rich soy-based cold broth with beef, lemon, ginger, scallions, tenkasu (Japanese crouton equivalent), and seaweed strips. The broth is sweet and savory with little bit of salty finish, the beef is sweet, and the lemon and ginger adds an extra depth to the whole dish. Everything works together to complement the noodles. Also, after trying all of their options, I can definitely say that the texture of the cold udon is the chewiest and the flavor is rich yet not too over-powering. Also, you get 50 more grams of noodles compared to the Hot Niku Udon!

So red. So beautiful. Spicy Cold Niku Udon.

Next item on the menu is their Spicy Cold Niku Udon ($16). Rather than the sweet savory soy broth, it comes with chili oil base topped with udon noodles, beef, scallion, dried tiny shrimp, tenkasu, spice mix, and more chili oil. The texture of the noodles is very similar to that of the regular Cold Niku Udon as expected, however, the flavor is quite different. The dish is not crazy spicy as long as you enjoy spicy food, but I felt that it lacked the depth of flavor found in the other options as the only flavoring was the chili oil and chili spice mix. Also, unless you've got a stomach made of iron, I would not recommend going for the "perfect" with this particular dish as most people's stomach does not enjoy having a half cup of chili oil in it. Trust me.

I’m “warming up my soul” just by looking at this picture of Hot Niku Udon.

If you want something that will "warm up your soul" during cold New England winter, you should definitely order a bowl of their Hot Niku Udon ($16). The broth is similar to that of Cold Niku Udon with more depth, less salt, and a bit of a kick from the spice mix topping. In this broth, you can find softer version of their delicious udon noodles (due to soaking up the hot broth), beef, scallion, dried tiny shrimp, tenkasu, and Japanese spice seasoning. The broth is hearty and warm and goes very well with the soft pillowy noodles.

Now for a quick rundown of their customization.

Noodles: normal order of cold udon comes with 350g and hot udon with 300g. You can add 100g for $1 or 200g for $2. However, you can also call them in advance to get up to 1 kg of noodles. If you follow Yume Ga Arukara on Instagram, you can see some of these amazing humans who have ordered and finished a 1 kg of noodles.

Beef: Do you have a pescatarian* friend? They can enjoy Yume Ga Arukara too. Although the regular bowl comes with 50g of beef, you can get no beef (-$2), double beef ($2), or triple beef ($4).

*unfortunately the broth is not vegetarian friendly as it is seafood based.

Special seasonal items: Keep an eye out on their social media for occasional special items such as onsen egg topping, kimchi pork belly udon, and spicy hot niku udon.

final thoughts

The perfection that is udon noodles (and verbal validation I get when I finish a bowl) by Yume Ga Arukara keeps bringing me back there for more. However, I think it's worth mentioning other great things about this small udon noodle shop. The Yume noodle shops were founded by Tsuyoshi Nishioka who wanted to support and encourage people to have dreams, plan to achieve them, and share their dreams with others. I may not be able to explain their back story as well as other outlets (Bon Appetit, NPR, WBUR), but I can tell you that as a customer I always felt welcomed and the staff seemed very happy and genuine. The occasional times when they had the time to to ask me about my dreams, I got the sense that they truly cared about everyone's dreams and couldn't wait to have each person come back to tell them the story of how they achieved it. The friendly environment, food that is simple yet satisfying, and the feeling of being surrounded by fellow noodle lovers is probably what keeps everyone waiting over an hour for a bowl of udon.