Yume Ga Arukara, Boston's cult udon counter, opens its first NYC shop on Fifth Avenue
The eight-bowl, udon-only menu from Cambridge, Mass., is now at 271 Fifth Ave. near 30th Street, with two floors, a glass-enclosed terrace and late hours on weekends.
Photo: Yume Ga Arukara
- Yume Ga Arukara fully opened its first New York location on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 271 Fifth Ave., between East 29th and 30th streets, Eater NY reported.
- The menu is eight udon bowls, four hot and four cold, with or without thin-sliced beef, spicy or plain; extras are an onsen egg, more noodles or more beef.
- Noodles are made in house every day; hot bowls use chicken broth and cold bowls are dressed with tare, per Edible Manhattan and What Now New York.
- Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday through Sunday, What Now reported.
- It started in 2017 as a food-court counter at Lesley University in Cambridge and was No. 8 on Bon Appétit's 2018 Hot 10 list.
Yume Ga Arukara, the noodle shop that began in a Cambridge, Mass., food court, celebrated its full opening on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 271 Fifth Ave., between East 29th and 30th streets in NoMad, Eater NY reported. It is the restaurant's first location outside Massachusetts.
What to order
The menu fits on an index card. There are eight dishes, and every one is udon: hot or cold, with or without thin slices of marinated beef, spicy or plain. There are no appetizers or desserts; add-ons are an onsen egg, extra noodles or extra beef, Edible Manhattan reported. Its critic suggests starting with the spicy cold niku udon, topped with paper-thin ribbons of beef.
The noodles are made in house each day on a machine imported from Japan, according to What Now New York. Hot bowls are served in chicken broth and cold ones are dressed with tare, a seasoned sauce; What Now says the broth components take up to 12 hours.
The space and hours
The Fifth Avenue shop is the largest of the three, with bar seating and an open kitchen on the ground floor, a main dining room upstairs facing Fifth Avenue and a glass-enclosed atrium terrace. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday through Sunday, What Now reported. The restaurant's own website still listed only its Massachusetts locations on Sunday, so check its Instagram, @yumegaarukara, before you go.
Why the hype
Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Juan Carlos Vidal opened the first counter in 2017 at Lesley University's food court in Cambridge. It drew national attention when Bon Appétit ranked it No. 8 on its 2018 Hot 10 list, and it added a Seaport location in Boston in 2024. The name translates to "because I have a dream."
The opening lands in a busy month for NoMad and Flatiron; Eater's October list also includes Delphine Brasserie at the Ace Hotel on West 29th Street.
- Eater NYA Boston Udon Expert Debuts in New York (NYC restaurant openings, October 2026)
- Edible ManhattanUdon of a New Day: Yume Ga Arukara Opens in Flatiron District
- What Now New YorkThe Udon Restaurant Behind a Bon Appétit 'Hot 10' Has Opened Its First NYC Location
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