With the recent cold snap that has decended on Seattle I decided the best thing to do was to warm up with a hearty bowl of soup. But I wasn’t going to be satisfied with just chicken noodle or clam chowder. No, I wanted something different. So I turned to a Fremont restaurant that I’ve always equated as a cheap lunch spot, Yak’s Teriyaki.

When I worked in the Fremont area Yak’s was always a good choice for a quick lunch to go. Their grilled teriyaki chicken was tasty, moist and slightly crispy fresh off the grill, with conservative use of teriyaki sauce. But that’s not what I had in mind as I approached the counter and placed my order. No, I wanted soup and my choice fell on Yak’s Udon Soup.

Yak’s Udon Soup is a slightly spicy vegetable broth in a large bowl holding tender broccoli and carrots, mushrooms, a grilled chicken thigh and firm pink shrimp. Lets not forget the noodles for which this dish gets its name - Udon. The soft, flavorful noodles were in abundance in the bowl. With a great flavor all their own, they were only enhanced by the melding flavors of the other ingredients. Like the grilled chicken thigh. While not coated in sauce it is the same chicken one would get during lunch. Deboned and butterflied flat then chargrilled and sliced. A cripy exterior for the juciness inside that held up well floating on top of the soup. The shrimp must have been cooked just under done otherwise sitting in the steaming hot broth they would have turned to rubber but biting into one proved they were still plump and tender.

While not a traditional American soup, Yak’s Udon proved to be just what I needed to face a chilly early evening in Seattle.