As a former resident of Kagawa Prefecture (also known as Udon-ken), I’m a little fussy about my udon.
Okay, a lot fussy.
I have apprehensively tried a couple of noodle shops in Tokyo since arriving here, but have always left feeling disappointed and a little sad.
So, when a friend mentioned an udon chain serving good udon, I immediately went on an udon-hunting rampage.
I was surprised to find that Marugame Seimen has 66 branches in Tokyo alone, and can be found in most other prefectures in Japan, Hawaii, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea and Russia.
I headed to the branch in Kita-Shinagawa, which is huge, with big windows letting in lots of natural light, and plenty of big tables and booths.
It’s set up like a proper, Kagawa-style self-serve udon shop; place your noodle order with the person standing at the end of the long service line, and they’ll dunk your noodles through hot water to heat them quickly, then toss them into a bowl with your preferred dashi (broth). Put your udon on your tray and slide it along to the tempura and rice ball section, where you can pick and mix whichever delicious extras you want with your noodles.
Keep sliding your tray along, grabbing a drink if you want one, until you get to the cash register, where you will be delighted at how inexpensive your meal is.
My usual is the simple kake udon; noodles in a light broth to which you can add green onion and tempura flakes, which costs only ¥280 at Marugame Seimen.
I was impressed with how it stacked up to Kagawa’s udon. The broth was real udon dashi and the noodles were a good shape and nice and firm. The tempura pieces and rice balls (¥80 ~ ¥130) were good too.
My overall feeling (aside from homesickness for Kagawa) was relief that I had finally found somewhere that does decent udon.
Since discovering Marugame Seimen, I have snuck in to several of the branches for a quick bowl of noodles, and, while I think the Kita-Shinagawa branch is the nicest venue I’ve seen, I’m always happy with the noodles, and the value for money is great.
