Noodle master Shuichi Kotani now rolling out handmade udon on Flatbush  

By Scott Lynch

The last time we ate Shuichi Kotani’s handmade noodles we were slurping up soba in an old garage in Greenpoint, his buckwheat beauties loaded with luxe ingredients like duck confit or, basically, a full sashimi platter. Great stuff in a very chill, very cool environment.

Now Kotani and his business partner, who goes by Mister He, have given us more great noodles in Brooklyn, this time on a bustling stretch of Flatbush near Barclays. Muteki Udon stars big bowls of its fat namesake noodle made a bunch of different ways — including several perfect-for-summer cold dishes — and it’s a great addition to an area that can always use another (pre- and/or post-game) option.

“I already have two handmade ramen stores, in Jersey City and Hoboken,” Mister He tells Brooklyn Magazine. “And me and this guy [points to one of the huge photos of Kotani on the wall] are doing soba at Uzuki in Greenpoint. So this time we wanted everybody to taste fresh udon noodles.”

The core of the Muteki Udon menu is, unsurprisingly, the bowls of udon. The noodles themselves are delicious: thick, hearty, and robustly flavored whether made the usual way with wheat flour or vivid-green with matcha. The latter variety is served chilled in a shallow pool of rich broth and topped, in my case, with slabs of salmon sashimi and enough ikura, or salmon roe, to swim in every spoonful. Various seaweeds, shisho and pickled ginger complete the refreshing package.

Beef sukiyaki udon, $25 (Scott Lynch)

And the beef sukiyaki bowl is maybe even better, a hearty, slippery tangle of Kotani’s regular udon in a chilled tsuyu soup, paired with a mound of shredded meat and, among other umami enhancers like scallion and nori, enough “spicy chili crunchy garlic” to get your attention. This dish is not listed as “cold” like the salmon matcha bowl, but it’s not under the “hot broth” section either. In other words, on a pleasant summer evening, it’s just right.

Salmon ikura matcha udon, served chilled, $30 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

There are a bunch of other udon options as well, including one with ebi tempura, one with tuna sashimi, and one with Sangenton pork curry. Based on the noodles alone, these all are probably worth your while. And if noodles aren’t your thing, you can also get various meats and fishes (including the sukiyaki beef and the salmon sashimi) laid atop trays of rice.

Appetizers tend toward the expected, like karaage fried chicken, seaweed salad, fried octopus balls (also known as takoyaki) and edamame, but the big winner here is the restaurant’s most gimmicky-sounding dish, a six-pack of fried cheeseburger gyoza, which are well seasoned, delightfully gooey, covered in a thin layer of chewy dough, and juicy as hell.

Akashi takoyaki, or fried octopus balls, $11 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The space is broken into a large bar and eating area up front and a more intimate dining room in back. Japanese beers are $10 to $12, and bottles of sake range from $18 to $130. And take a moment to appreciate the ceramics in and on which everything is served; Mister He fires all of these himself. “We create all our own ceramic bowls and cups and wooden trays,” says Mister He. “We want everybody to not only eat and enjoy our food, we want to combine it with our art.”

There are six fat cheeseburger gyoza under that chewy dough, $12 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Muteki Udon is located at 234 Flatbush Avenue, between Sixth Avenue and Bergen Street, and is currently open on Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday from noon to 10:00 p.m. Closed Tuesday