Tsurukawa Udon

Restaurant turnaround at The District at Tustin Legacy has been significant since the COVID-19 pandemic: As just one of many examples, popular burger chain Five Guys exited its long-held space there in 2021, followed by Rakkan Ramen from 2022 to 2025, then nearly a year passed before another noodle shop arrived to replace it. But we’d call the new restaurant an upgrade – Tsurukawa Udon surprisingly brings Orange County something new, specifically himokawa udon noodles, as well as offering good to great versions of more common udon and Japanese izakaya dishes, plus mostly canned or bottled drinks.

One note up front: Tsurukawa Udon isn’t part of a chain, but is commonly owned with several different Japanese and Korean concepts based in Northern California. This may explain why this seemingly one-off place spent money on oft-neglected but meaningful details – including memorable bowls, spoons, and chopsticks – and was already operating pretty smoothly after a briefly bumpy opening. On our early July 2026 visit, service was solid in the space, which is tastefully but not elaborately decorated, seating around 30 people inside and another dozen or more outside on a patio.

What’s new here are the aforementioned himokawa udon noodles, a novelty from Japan’s not particularly well-known Gunma prefecture. Unlike traditionally thick, tube-shaped udon, himokawa udon are flat, roughly an inch and a half wide, and thin without being too delicate to pick up or fold. While Tsurukawa Udon is far from the only OC restaurant serving wide noodles, it is – as of mid-2026 – the sole Japanese restaurant offering them as a permanent menu item. Served either hot with broth ($18) or at room temperature (“cold udon”) as a plate with 10 large noodles and two dipping sauces ($19), they can be ordered as sets with salad, tempura, and other items for $6 more, or enjoyed alone. Other udon versions made with creams, different broths, or kimchi range from $17 to $21, and can be upgraded to flat noodles for a $2 surcharge.

While we wouldn’t describe the lone plate of cold udon we ordered as filling enough by itself, it was genuinely fun to eat – akin to tsukemen, but with greater yield due to the larger noodles. Black sesame and citrus-soy dipping sauces made the ribbon-like noodles only a little more slippery on chopsticks and decidedly stronger in taste, pairing their light, wheaty chewiness with strong nutty or yuzu flavors. The set we ordered included delicious, perfectly battered and fried shrimp and vegetable tempura, a nice tomato and greens salad, and three sweet Japanese pickled radishes, as well. Most people would consider the set to be a complete meal, minus drinks or desserts.