Wakaba Japanese Noodle Restaurant 若葉日本料理 (closed)

Wakaba Japanese Noodle Restaurant (2 November 2017)


Wakaba (GPS: 5.32284, 100.28246) is a non-halal Japanese noodle restaurant in Penang (that is now closed). It is located at Elit Avenue in Bayan Baru. Wakaba specialises in home-made Japanese noodles, using flour imported from Japan. As of now, it is the first Japanese restaurant in Penang that I know of that makes its own noodles in-house.

The noodles are made in-house every morning.

The three Japanese noodles made inhouse at Wakaba: Ramen, Udon and Soba (14 May 2018)


The inhouse-made soba at Wakaba. Notice the dark specks on the noodles, this is from the skin of the buckwheat. (14 May 2018)


Unlike most of the Japanese restaurants in Penang, Wakaba is owned by a Japanese, Mr Masaki Nonomiya, and its chef is also a Japanese, Chef Takashi Kadowaki. I had the pleasure of meeting the both of them, on my two visits to the restaurant.

Chef Kadowaki doesn't speak much English, but has over 24 years of experience as a specialist in Japanese noodle making, which includes making the dashi だし stock from scratch.

Mr Nonomiya, on the other hand, has been living in Penang since 1995, and are accustomed to local taste. When he set up the restaurant, the intention was to showcase authentic Japanese noodle dishes to the Penang market. His chef also has limited exposure to local tastebud, so the dishes was prepared as Japanese as it gets, to suit the Japanese expatriate community as well as locals.

I love Japanese food, and have been searching for a Japanese restaurant in Penang that preserves Japanese noodles. I asked members of my Penang Restaurant Food, but my discovery of Wakaba came via my wife's colleague who had eaten there before.

Address

Wakaba
1-1-31, Jalan Mayang Pasir 3,
11950 Bayan Baru, Penang.
Phone: +60 4 637 1122

Wakaba is open daily from 11:30am to 2:30pm and from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.

With Mr Kedrick Kok, Manager of Wakaba Japanese Noodle Restaurant (14 May 2018)


With Mr Masaki Nonomiya, Owner of Wakaba Japanese Noodle Restaurant (14 May 2018)


Chef Takashi Kadowaki and I at Wakaba. (2 November 2017)

Our visits to Wakaba

List of Restaurants in Penang and Restaurants in Malaysia