Sanuki Sandou

On a rainy day I needed some udon, it seemed like all of LA felt the same way, the food court at Mitsuwa was packed.
For lunch we had a curry udon and a plain udon with tempura. The udons were served extremely hot and made to order however they both tasted like the the mixes came out of a package. There is no comparison to Marugame Monzo or Oumi Sasaya. The shrimp tempura was heavily breaded with a little anorexic shrimp hiding inside.
If you take Sanuki Sandou for what it is, food court food, you will have a good time, if you’re looking for super killer traditional udon, you will be disappointed.

Ok, so I have tried their curry and tendon, so my review is based on those.
Where do I begin? You never can go wrong with curry, but their curry, you can. I could taste dashi (you use for noodles etc) in curry, and it’s overpowering I couldn’t taste curry. It was like they put curry over Yoshinoya beef bowl. I don’t want to say this but their curry is the worst curry I’ve ever tasted. I’m from Japan and I know Japanese curry.
Tendon… Fried part isn’t nothing like tempura. Thick, crunchy fried vegetables and shrimps. I got this awful heartburn after, and my son who ate one shrimp tempura I gave him also had a bad heartburn. My tummy started feeling heavy while I was eating, and I couldn’t eat anymore.
If you are craving tempura (noodle or rice) your best bet is Hannosuke two stores down.

I came here because I was craving udon and for less than $ 8 you can’t complain. The portion is decent and the meal is very fulfilling. The Nabeyaki came with a piece of tempura shrimp, an egg, some meat, and mild flavored broth. I highly recommend adding some Shichimi Togarashi for extra spice and flavoring.
Is it the best udon in the area? Of course not. But if you don’t want to wait in line at Santouka, this is a nice alternative.

Quick service and good food. Sometimes hard to find seating but you will eventually lol. Beef cury rice bowl was delicious. A small bowls with a side of kimchi filled me right up. :)

Delicious curry beef udon! Great oolong ice tea! Quick friendly service. I will be back!

You know when you have an older brother or sister and they get like ALL THE CREDIT? Like you could be doing some seriously sick things in life, but you just get overlooked because your older sib is just sooo awesome and soooo cool.
Yeah, well, Sanuki Sandou GETS YOU. Sanuki is basically the younger brother or sister always in the shadow of its over-​achieving siblings, Santouka or Hannosuke.
However, Sanuki is straight-​up amazing. We’re talking some seriously cheap prices for some seriously great quality foods – mabo tofu bowls? BOMB. Soba? AMAZE. Curry? JUST AS GOOD AS ANY OF THE OTHER PLACES.
I’m absolutely serious in the fact that the Japanese food here is really great, especially for the price. The servings are quite huge, and this is one of the few places in LA or really anywhere where $ 10 (remember that they do cash only here) goes a long way.
Your food will come out in ten minutes or less, I guarantee it, and the food court itself is super pleasant to eat in. You can even get some grocery shopping done afterward at Mitsuwa, the place Sanuki lives in (so does that make Mitsuwa the parents? I don’t know, this analogy was bad to begin with).
Whenever I go to Mitsuwa’s food court, I’m usually the only one of my friends who goes to Sanuki, which I’m slightly proud of. However, I do believe the general populace needs to know that this place is a total gem and my go-​to.
So, younger siblings of the world, this one’s for you.

Good Japanese noodles. Nothing that stands out but just good spot after some grocery shopping. The simple mini soba noodles in the hot broth is only like $ 3. It’s not the best quality but it’s always hot, consistent, and service is always good too, and that’s why I gave them 4 stars. Only if they accepted cards though. Prices might go up a little but I really think it’s time they’ve adapted.

Overall: Sanuki Sandou is underrated. The other places in the food court are dishing out really great food, but why not stop by Sanuki sometimes? The food is pretty good and there’s no line!
Bean Curd Udon: It’s a decent udon. The broth was good. It was light but flavorful. The udon was firm and chewy. I’d definitely get this again if I were ever in the food court.
Tendon: The portion was more than decent for the price. It came with an assortment of vegetables and 2 decently sized shrimps. The tempura was perfectly crispy and well cooked. The sauce was good, not too sweet or salty.

We arrived 10 min prior to closing, we order 19 and 15 and it was delicious. Would totally recommend.

I came here during my lunch break on a Thursday and surprisingly I was able to find parking quickly. Every time I’ve been to Mitsuwa, I’ve only gotten the ramen in the shop next to this one. This time I decided to try something new and I ordered lunch from Sanuki Sandou.
I ordered one of their combos, which consisted of a small beef bowl, small plain udon noodles, and 2 croquettes all for under $ 12. I think I was too greedy because when I got my order, there was way too much food. The croquettes come with this dipping sauce in packets and it thought the combination was okay. I probably wouldn’t order the croquettes again. The plain udon noodles were surprisingly flavorful. I just added some red peppers to give it an extra kick. My favorite from the combo was beef bowl. The beef was thinly sliced and full of flavor. The beef bowl also came with an ample amount of rice.
Overall, I think a small beef bowl is the perfect amount for lunch the next time I come here. Sanuki Sandou also offers other dishes that I would interested in trying. Also, this shop like many others in the food court in Mitsuwa is CASH ONLY.

Delicious tempura dishes! I got the small bowl, but I should have gotten the large one. My mother ended up eating majority of it…
Next time I will be coming back to this little plaza strip and getting a bowl for myself!
Great selection of Japanese food though — really recommend the food court. And for dessert, definitely get the green tea ice cream, it is TOO good!

I come here for the soba (mm, salty broth) and the beef curry udon (hearty flavor, tender and plentiful beef). Awesome options when you’re just not feeling like the ramen next door. I also like that there are lots of small bowl options so that I can get two things and add more variety to my meal! Quick service and easy ordering with the numbered items on the menu :)

CASH ONLY. Tired of my usual heavy goto places in the food court, I was feeling a light sorta lunch so I stopped by here for some simple soba noodles w/​bean curd and a tempura egg on the side. The noodle broth was light yet really flavorful, and the buckwheat noodle consistency was perfectly firm. This can be perfect for a cold day! This alone earned a solid ⁵⁄₅ for me.
Mabo don was also really tasty, and even the leftovers I took home tasted amazing after heating up. Note that this is spicy though, so if you love spicy, go for this! Also ⁵⁄₅.
The tempura egg, however, was NOT the half raw and half done type as shown in the display which had me disappointed. It seemed like they completely boiled the egg before deep-​frying it into tempura. This was misrepresented and thus, minus 1 star. I wouldn’t recommend getting this.
I feel that this place is a bit underrated, their soup broths are pretty legit and their prices are right! I don’t mind though, while everyone else is standing in line at the next stall, I’m enjoying a shorter wait time here: D

Sometimes one just wants mom & pop Japanese food. Not sushi per se, but the hearty homey dishes. I have my favorite mom & pop places back in SF, but I’ve finally found my favorite place in LA!
This place has basically every type of Japanese entrée you could want (but no sushi). Ten-​don, oyako-​don, katsu-​don, udon, soba noodles, etc. I’ve only had their katsu-​don so far. At $ 6.95, it’s super affordable. It’s also super filling, and super delicious, what you would expect and imagine from a katsu-​don. It was a little salty though, but just drink that wonderful water they have next to the cashier (they have styrofoam cups for you, ready to go!). It’s even cold, too!
This is a great place to go if you’re hungry, don’t want to cook, don’t want to eat with anyone, or don’t have any one to eat with, and don’t want to spend more than $ 8.
Cons:
Cash only. Argh. But I’ll live.

It was a decent place to eat inside Mitsuwa…
I had their Udon with Fried Shrimp on the side. The udon was good but on the bland side… I expected more flavor. The fried shrimp was good… The batter was crispy and not overly fried. My friend got their soba noodle and said it was ok.
Overall it was ok.

I love their beef donburi bowl. It’s cheap, no frills, and even comes with a runny egg if you want that is a pretty fabulous addition to the beef and ginger.
The best aspect of Sanuki is their perfectly cooked rice. It’s light, sticky, and clearly cooked with a level of care you only get from authentic Asian cuisine.
It’s not the greatest spot for much else, hence the 4. I’ve tried the katsu and egg square box before and it was pretty lame compared to the traditional beef donburi with egg.

It’s nothing too special or intriguing, but the food is quite good. The beef bowl consists of perfectly seasoned and cooked rice. It has the right amount of bite to them. Mixing it with the slightly sweet beef and spicy pickled ginger makes it a great lunch.
The egg tempura was fried perfectly with a crispy shell. If only the yolk was runny, that would’ve made it even better!
Prices are pretty reasonable and fair for the portion.
Service: Cashier is friendly.
Ambiance: Casual food court seating. Great place to grab a quick lunch by yourself or with a friend or two.

Every now and again I crave a quick bowl of soup on a cold day, and this is the place that I generally go. I have the «Number 11» with udon noodle — very tasty!
Sanuki Sandou is located in a food court inside Mitsuwa, a large Asian market. There is typically a long line at the place right next to Sanuki Sandou, but it’s not my kind of place as every bowl appears to have some kind of sliced mystery meat in it.
I personally prefer to have shrimp tempura, which comes with the udon at Sanuki Sandou, and I don’t have to stand so long in line for my food.
The seating area in this food court can get so crowded that you could be standing around holding your hot food on a tray praying that a seat will open up so you can sit and enjoy your meal. So if it’s busy, it’s best to scope out the seating arrangements before you order.
Parking can also be a challenge when it’s busy. If parking is not available in the parking lot, there really are not a lot of alternative places to park — you just have to wait until a place opens up.
Not a warm bunch of employees either, but they are still cordial.
For a quick bowl of soup on a cold day when the parking lot is not too full, this is a nice little place.

My kids loved the udon and Katsu bowls. They also offer a variety of musubi and ramen bowls with Shrimp Tempura.
After your meal head to grocery store for some great Japanese fruits, vegetables, snacks and delicacies.

I love Mitsuwa market because of these Ramen «stands» in the right hand corner of the store. This one is my favorite… I love the beef curry with the soba noodles… dish includes sliced white onion and is wonderful when topped with the red Japanese pepper. Try it with a can of sweetened ice green tea… so good!
This place like many of the others will not wrap your order to go, but will provide you with to go containers and bags. I recommend two people… one person to hold the container steady and the other to swiftly pour the soup into it… less spillage.