Zaru (https://www.zarufl.com/) is a Japanese restaurant in Orlando’s Mills 50 district, arguably the best neighborhood for dining out in the entire city. There is no sushi on the menu; instead, Zaru specializes in Sanuki-style udon noodles, made with wheat sourced from the Kagawa Prefecture of Japan, then fermented and aged. For those who might not have encountered udon, the noodles are much thicker than ramen, pho noodles, and the vast majority of long Italian pasta, but they have a wonderful chew to them. I recently met two colleagues from my old workplace for a quick (actually somewhat rushed) lunch at Zaru, and it was the first visit for all three of us. Despite the long wait to get seated and another long wait to get our food, at least we were able to catch up.
Because the menu isn’t on the website, I took this photo. Apologies for cutting off the left side, but the appetizers on the bottom left are referred to as Zensai. The udon noodles are on the right column, separated by cold and hot varieties, followed by different add-ons for the udon. 
One of my colleagues ordered the yaki gyoza from the Zensai section, pan-fried pork, cabbage, and scallion dumplings. But they were served in a unique and beautiful way, connected by a paper-thin, lacy, delicate, crispy crust.
This is what one of the gyoza looked like, with shards of that crackly crust that looked like wings and a crown. 
I think both of my former colleagues ordered the nikutama udon, served in a hot dashi broth (seasoned with kombu seaweed and bonito flakes for an umami flavor) with sliced beef. This is one guy’s bowl with an onsen egg, served soft-boiled with a yolk somewhere between runny and “jammy,” and a tempura-breaded shrimp added on. 
I ordered the spicy miso tantan udon, a brothless udon dish with ground pork, spicy miso, fine shreds of nori (seaweed, the dark stuff at 11:00), and an onsen egg. As you might guess from the name, the flavor profile of the tantan udon was very similar to dan dan noodles, that classic Szechuan Chinese dish that inspired Japanese tantan udon and tantamen (tantan ramen).
It came with the same accompaniments: sesame seeds, finely diced negi (green onions), shoga (fresh grated ginger), and kombu (little squares of dried kelp) in the small bowl on the left, plus crispy tempura flakes in the bowl on the right to add some nice texture.
Here it is after mixing things together and doing a bit of a noodle pull. Celebrity chef David Chang always says that a soft-boiled egg is a way to add “luxury” to every dish, and he was definitely right on here. This was a real winner. 
I also ordered a cold udon dish, hoping to share it, but I ended up with all of this one too. This was the mentaiko tsukimi udon, topped with marinated pollock (fish) roe, shiso leaves, an egg yolk, scallions, and sesame seeds. The umami-rich broth beneath the udon noodles didn’t do much for me cold, but I’m sure it would have been much better served hot. I am always drawn to roe as an ingredient, but who knew I would “roe” this decision? 
These seasonings were on the table, in tiny covered dishes with tiny spoons: a delicious spice blend on the left and crunchy mustard seeds on the right. I liked the cold noodles better after finishing most of the broth and mixing in the crispy tempura flakes and some of the spice blend, which I hope wasn’t a big faux pas. 
Despite the long wait for lunch on a weekday and a server that didn’t seem to like answering our questions (or maybe just didn’t like us), Zaru’s udon noodles are terrific, with an addictive chewy texture. I could tell all the ingredients were of the highest quality, and I liked the spicy miso tantan udon a lot. That said, I don’t know if I’ll be back anytime soon, but I’m glad I finally got to try it, and I encourage anyone who has been on the fence to give it a shot. Zaru has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award, for restaurants that serve high-quality food at great value, so if you don’t trust a librarian who blogs about restaurants, why not trust a tire company that gives awards to restaurants? It makes about as much sense!
