RIGHT in the guts of Canberra House looking like it belongs in a food court, is a strange little Japanese restaurant called Kudos Taste.

It looks like a mom and pop operation and there is much clapping of hands and shoutings of “HAI” and cheap delicious Japanese food as cooked in Japanese homes appears swiftly.

I’ll confess when I ordered mixed tempura and udon noodles I wasn’t actually expecting my tempura to arrive soaking in the noodle soup.

Japanese food can often have a steep learning curve like that.

But for $9 it was a pretty good lunch and they have much else besides on the menu with a great authentic feel.

[This article is the twenty second in a series on cheap lunches to be found in and around the city. If you have any suggestions leave them in the comments or email them to john@citynews.com.au . The complete series can be found on our cheap lunches tag]