Kirin

3.5 Wish I could have given them a 4 but… Dude where’s my Natto!
This is a Japanese style pasta place in the Marukai market. After seeing pictures of the type of spaghetti they offered and finding that they had natto ~ shimeji pasta I was quick to text my fellow Ramenaholic and Nattoaholic Unilocaler Cathy S to come try this place out during lunch.
As I looked over the pictures of what they were offering I immediately notice there is no natto spaghetti. No freaking way I saw pic on Unilocal!I asked the guy and he said they dont. Whaaaaaat, Seriously that bummed us out. I know not a lot of people would’nt order it and that may have been the reason it was taken off the menu but we really, really really like seriously really wanted to try it. So as air was being let out of our now popped bubble of natto excitement we decided to order the mentaiko spaghetti
.
Mentaiko is the spicy version of cod roe. Their pasta had good taste. The roe is already salty and seasoned so most places don’t add much more seasoning to the dish. Unfortunately the pasts was kind of cold. The roe, if tossed in hot pasta would get cooked and that, I’m certain is the reason why that pasts was cooler. I personally like my dishes to be hot. and I wouldn’t have minded if my roe was cooked at all. That’s how they are served at Bön Marche in HB. There was not a lot of squid mixed in the pasta which was a bit sad but the portion was perfect. Not too much and not too little.
All in all it was a good bowl of pasta. Just wished they had the Natto Shimeji as that would have made my day!
Will come back and try some of the other pasts dishes they offer.

Natto, Natto, where for art thou Natto?
Looking forward to some awesome Natto and pasta (spaghetti) with my Natto and Pasta psycho friend Lica N. Seriously, was thinking about it ALL weekend! Who would have thought a marriage made in heaven like this exists in the culinary world?
I took the wrong exit to meet with Lica N. and was a tad late. I called her in a panic, where in a disappointing voice informed me that the Natto Spaghetti (shimeji pasta) was not on their menu and we were out of luck… My heart sank…
I need to sick Anpanman
after them!
Settled on mentaiko spaghetti
. Mentaiko
is my next favorite. The dish was was quite tasty, pasta room temperature. Wassup with that? The warmth of the pasta really brings out the flavor of the roe and these just sat there waiting to be consumed. Obligatory amount of squid was placed on the top, along with the shredded nori (seaweed). All in all it was good, above fair. The portion was perfect, was not overly stuffed!
Food — 3 Stars — good, but could have been better if the pasta was warm/​er.
Ambiance — 3 Stars — in a food court located in Marukai
Service — 3 Stars — ok.
Don’t think I will be back.

the food is good for the price I like the Garlic mixed mushroom its such a nice light pasta and good for those that don’t want any meat!

Not as great as Bön Marche but still pretty awesome spaghetti. Just finished eating the napolitan… it’s sweet and zingy with spices. Looking forward to other spaghetti combination like sansai, salmon, and cod roe.

my first review after a VERY long hiatus from Unilocal~!
my friend and i went to eat at kirin bc we LOVE japanese style pasta. I ordered the mentaiko, calamari, and seaweed one, she had the garlic shrimp one.
the presentation was nice and the noodles themselves were really well cooked.
the sauce? im going to say it lacked a LITTLE. usually when i have mentaiko spaghetti, i expect creamy salty goodness, (that sounded a little wronggg…) but this was just screaming for a little more oomph! it was FULL of mentaiko though… they dont scrimp on that! :)
my friend’s garlic shrimp spaghetti was also a little on the bland side, the sauce being more soy-​sauce than garlic tasting, although still remaining very light tasting… maybe the sauce didnt adhere to the spaghetti? personally, i think a touch more garlic, soy sauce and some butter added into the mix could make it incredible.
all in all i would eat there again~~ for the price, about $ 6.50-ish, its a great deal for some japanese style pasta

I found out the Japanese spaghetti restaurant open.
I ate Mentai, Ika (spicy cod roe) Spagetti.
It taste so good. It was better than package one.
May be they are improving now. I saw suggestion box.
I wish they keep surving good food.

I was doing some grocery shopping at this great Japanese Market — Marukai and I saw a little flyer advertising the opening of this new Japanese Pasta restaurant.
Before I get started… I am going to cut them some slack since it looked like they announced their opening well before they should have. They don’t have signs or menus posted besides a photo-​copied sheet on their walk-​up counter. So if you are feeling intimidated and there is already someone else there looking, you may have to do some waiting just to see what they offer. Drinks were only bottled water and cans of Japanese ice coffee and tea… The Japanese pasta idea caught my attention because my last trip to Japan earlier in the year left me wanting to eat some back home in Southern California… I figured what better place to give it a go than a place that specializes in it. If you haven’t had it, you’d probably be real scared to even order what I went with — which is a Japanese staple.
I had the spicy cod roe with calamari and seaweed. Don’t worry… sounds scarrier than it is. The cod roe is just the orange fish eggs that you eat on the outside of your california rolls everywhere else and the calamari was just the plain white cooked strip variety. The seaweed is nothing other than the nori that you find your favorite sushi roll wrapped up in…
The presentation was nice and it looked mighty appetizing… but it really lacked flavor and pizzaz that you normally get with this dish. I think the last packet mix that I bought at Marukai was more flavorful than this one. Maybe it is was the opening weekend jitters… who knows… but I hope they get their act together or they won’t stay open long. It seems like sushi boy, the bakery and daikokuya ramen are the only ones with staying power in this supermarket foodcourt.