On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I had the pleasure of giving a friend of mine, Sae, a tour of Tufts. It was a perfect day to tour campus since it had snowed the night before, blanketing everything in a shining layer of white. The tour went great, but by the time we got back to Mayer Campus Center, we were both frozen to the bone. In a moment of genius, I pulled her onto the shuttle to Davis Square, promising her warm food just one bus stop away. With faces bundled into scarves and hands shoved into gloves, we made the trip to Yume Ga Arukara.
Surprisingly, when we arrived we were seated right away, with no line holding us back from a warm bowl of udon. The restaurant’s interior didn’t stand out to me much, other than the fact that the entire space was filled with the delicious smell of chicken broth and ginger. It’s simple and clean with bright lighting, cream-colored walls and light wood furniture, letting the food — and aroma — do most of the talking.
The menu is short: four cold and four hot udons, all made from the same chicken broth base with variations of beef and spice. We both opted for the Hot Niku Udon, which had sliced beef and homemade chicken broth topped with scallions, crispy tempura batter, dried shrimp and Japanese pepper flakes. The ordering process was speedy (I mean, it better be with so few dishes), and our food arrived quickly, steam pouring nonstop from both filled bowls.
The udon was, dare I say, the perfect dish for such a freezing day: hot, flavorful and filling, warming us up and — probably due to the mountain of chili I poured on it — clearing my sinuses. The noodles were chewy, delicious and, I think, even better than the cold version of the dish. The beef, while flavorful, was a bit fatty. I can definitely see myself ordering this version of the udon (hot or cold) without meat next time.
Now, hot soup is a pretty obvious thing to order on a day when the world is trying to give itself hypothermia, but I’ve been to Yume Ga Arukara many times, including in the olden days (this past August and September), when it was still warm outside and the sun still set in the actual evening and not at 4 p.m. every day. The first time I ate there was when my friend Maddie dragged me to Porter Square at the beginning of the fall semester — a bit ironic, considering that on MLK Day I was the one dragging Sae along.
That day, Maddie and I walked onto the Lesley University Porter Campus looking for food and were instead greeted by a line of people so long it curved down the hallway. We got in line, while I deeply questioned Maddie’s claim that it wouldn’t take that long to be seated. She was right, though. The restaurant runs like a well-oiled machine, with a host taking orders from people while they wait in line so that food arrives shortly after you’re seated, streamlining the wait-sit-order-eat process.
On that warm day in September, I ordered the Cold Niku Udon (as pictured), and I will say that it beats the hot udon by miles. It may just be me, as someone who prefers iced coffee year-round, but although the elements of the hot and cold udons are nearly identical, the cold broth tastes richer. Maybe it’s the slice of lemon wedged in the middle of the dish, or maybe it’s because the noodles don’t keep cooking in hot broth and thus stay perfectly chewy.
My only qualm with the food is that udon doesn’t make for very good leftovers — the tempura turns soggy and the broth becomes fishier. At about $18 a bowl — a bit more if you add a jammy egg or get the dish spicy (which I definitely recommend) — the portion sizes are generous, making me even more upset that it doesn’t hold up as leftovers. That said, my 23-year-old cousin, who grew up in Cambridge, swears that Yume Ga Arukara is one of his favorite places to order takeout from. Overall, the restaurant is delicious, and I recommend that anyone who is even remotely partial to noodles go and try it.
By the time Sae and I left Yume Ga Arukara, we were no longer shivering, both of us warmed from the inside out. Later that night, she texted me to say how much she loved everything: the noodles, the tour and the whole Tufts experience, which felt like the real seal of approval (everyone pray she gets in!). Yume Ga Arukara isn’t flashy, and it doesn’t need to be. It’s the kind of place you end up at when you’re cold, hungry and in need of something comforting, and it delivers every time. Whether you’re dragging a friend along or being dragged yourself, it’s worth the trip; scarves, snow and all.
