While we were in Boston, we found an interesting Japanese eatery called Yume Ga Arukara. The literal translation of that is “because I have a dream.” It is located inside the Lesley building at Porter Square.

They have some shops and other eateries in the inside. They all share a public rest room. Yume Ga Arukara was tucked away in the back, and since we got there little after the lunch rush, there was no line. It is a counter-service eatery that specializes in udon.

They have a counter seating looking into their kitchen, and another counter seat behind it. Total of maybe around 20 seats. It was pretty busy the entire time we were there, people kept on coming and coming. At first, you need to decide what to eat, then order and pay at the cashier, and then take a seat. It is a cash only, so don’t forget to bring some cash! They had complimentary water and hot tea (self-service) right by the cashier, which was great.

We sat at the bar looking into the kitchen. The kitchen was very clean and all the staffs were moving very efficiently. They were all Japanese, which was great! Time to get some authentic Japanese udon! They had an interesting writing on the wall, that goes very well with the name of the eatery.

An awesome thing about this place is that they have their own udon noodle machine!!! Yes, their specialty noodles are handmade, every day! I was so excited when I saw this happening right in front of my eyes…

As for their menu, they only have two items. Yes, TWO! They have Cold Niku (beef) Udon ($12), and Hot Niku Udon ($15). The bowl of the cold udon is huge compared to the hot one, but the content or the portion of the noodle is about the same. From here, you get to have them as is, or get extra noodle and/or extra beef for additional cost. You can also have them without beef which will reduce the price by $2. The broth is not vegetarian broth, the cold one is has fish flakes (and several other ingredients) in the broth, and the hot one has the same ingredients plus chicken in its broth.

I ordered Cold Niku Udon ($12) without getting extra amount of beef or noodle. It was quite beautifully done, shiny wheat flour noodles were placed like a precious pearl sitting in an oyster. It had thinly sliced beef, lemon, seaweed, daikon radish, ginger, and scallion.

It was very refreshing and noodles were super silky! The texture of noodles was fantastic, since it was extremely fresh. The broth was light, more translucent in color. It was more on the sweet side, since the broth has mirin and brown sugar. I liked it very much!

My hubby went with the Hot Niku Udon ($15) without extra amount of beef or noodle also.  It had much more soup in the bowl, since it is more of a traditional style of udon (hot). This one had beef, scallion, and shichimi (Japanese seven-spice).

Hot udon was great too. The broth was thicker since the broth also includes chicken broth. It was golden, could really taste the chicken in the broth, and to my surprise, it had lots of tiny dried shrimps in it! Beef was thinly sliced, very juicy and packed with flavor. Yum!

The Japanese staffs here were nice, friendly and polite. When we finished, we got “good job!” by one of the staffs for finishing both of the bowls completely. It felt good to get the shout out! LOL. They can be strict about cell phone usage, as have a policy of no cell phones while eating. Taking photos are ok, but not talking, texting or emailing from what I hear. It is good to focus on the food that you are eating, it helps to really appreciate the flavor and texture of the food.

Yume Ga Arukara 夢があるから – 1815 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140