夢茶房 (Yumesabou)

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A very local udon shop near Kikukawa station(Toei Shinjuku line). I eat here often because, 1) it is delicious, 2) it is cheap to start off with and you get a 50yen discount coupon everytime, 3) it opens everyday and all day, 4) even when it is crowded, they won’t ask you to share tables with strangers, 5) I live (sort of) nearby. ^^;;; There are many good udon shops in central Tokyo so I guess there is no need to come all the way here just for the udon(there is nothing to see in Kikukawa), but anyway….
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とり汁うどん(大)、¥780。鳥の唐揚げ(小)、¥300
Udon with chicken dipping soup. Tori no Kara-age(fried chicken). Both are good.

For udon with dipping soup(which this place has a large variety), you can choose the udon from cold, atsumori(hot), or kama-age(see below).
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もつ煮込みうどん、¥680。茄子の唐揚げ、¥300。
Motsu-nikomi(giblet stew) udon. Fried aubergine.
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力うどん、¥800。 もつ汁うどん(大)、あつもり、¥780。
Chikara udon(udon with mochi).
Motsu-jiru Udon(udon with giblet dipping soup).
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もつ煮セット(ざるうどん)、¥880。カレーうどん、¥800。
Lunch set with motsu-nikomi, zaru-udon, and rice cooked with vegetables. Curry udon.
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天丼、¥1000。 カレーとり汁うどん(並)、¥680。
Tendon(not so recommended). Udon with curry chicken dipping soup.
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鴨汁うどん(並)、釜揚げ、¥800。いかと里芋の煮物、¥500。
Kamojiru(duck soup) udon (kama-age). Simmered squid and satoimo.
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手羽餃子、¥400。
Chicken wing stuffed with minced pork. Very good!
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ねぎごまうどん、¥630。なす汁うどん、¥680。
Udon with sesame and spring onion. Udon with aubergine dipping soup.
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天ざるそば、¥1200。 とろろ昆布うどん、¥650。
Tenzaru soba(tempura is so-so). Tororo-Kombu(shredded kombu in vinegar) udon.
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もつ煮込み、¥500。夢茶房うどん、¥700。
Motsu-nikomi. Tastes better when you order it on its own.
Yumesabou udon.
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えび汁うどん(並)、¥680。餃子、¥350。
Udon with prawn dipping soup. Gyoza(don’t recommend this).
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焼肉丼、¥750。 肉じゃが、¥490。
Yakiniku don(the beef a bit tough). Nikujaga(portion quite small).
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塩とり汁うどん(並)、¥680。豚の角煮、¥780。
Udon with salt and chicken dipping soup. I like this one the most out of all the udon with dipping soup. Buta no kakuni(the pork is not simmered enough and the portion is small for the price).
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しゅうまいセット(きつねうどん)、¥880。納豆+キムチ+生玉子うどん、¥1050。
Lunch set with shumai and kitsune(aburaage) udon.
Kimchi udon, and I asked for natto and raw egg topping. I think this combination would be better for cold udon without soup. ^^;;;

Menu(J): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

夢茶房 (Yumesabou)
Add: 2-6-16, Kikukawa, Sumida-ku
Tel: 03-3846-8196

志な乃 (Shinano)

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A friend recommended this little soba place in the middle of an office area. There is always a long queue at lunch hour.
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合盛(大)、¥1250。けんちん汁(並)、¥400。
Aimori(soba+udon). Soba is thick and hard type, while udon is soft and springy type. Both are homemade and are very good. Eat with a light dipping sauce, and also spring onion, wasabi, shiso, grated radish and grated ginger. Kenchin-jiru with lots of root vegetables in it.
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冷麦、¥1500。
Very cooling Hiyamugi. Though I ended up ordering a small portion of hot Kenchin-jiru.
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けんちんそば(並)、¥1150。五色そば、¥1050。
Kenchin-soba. Hot soba in Kenchin-jiru.
Five-colour soba. Hot soba with kamaboko, aubergine tempura, quail egg, shiitake mushroom and leek.
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とろろ合い盛り、¥1350。
Tororo Aimori: soba and udon with grated yam and quail egg.
In general, I like the soba more than the udon, and menu that are served cold are better than the hot ones. The staff are very friendly and the atmosphere is warm.
Lunch menu(J): 1, 2.

志な乃(Shinano)
Add: 3-1-4 Higashi Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3664-9795

丸香 (Maruka)

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月見山、¥500。おむすび、¥120。
Tsukimi-yama: cold udon with raw egg and grated yamaimo. Nice sanuki udon with chewy and solid texture. In my first visit, I didn’t expect the tsuyu sauce for the udon to be that salty and I added too much without tasting it first….it was my fault but the waitress was kind enough to change the whole thing for me. Considering it was packed at lunch time, service was friendly!
Omusubi: rice ball cooked with the water used to boil the udon.
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カレーうどん+野菜天ぷら、¥785。
Curry udon(winter menu) and vegetable tempura.
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釜たま+かしわ天、¥680。肉うどん+とりめし、¥945。
Kama-tama: hot udon with egg. Kashiwa-ten: chicken tempura.
Niku-udon: udon with pork. Tori-meshi: rice cooked with chicken. Niku-udon and Tori-meshi are Saturday-only menu.
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かけ(大)、丸天、げそ天、¥785。
Kake: udon with hot soup. Maruten: Satsuma-age with squid in it. Geso-ten: octopus leg tempura.
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ぶっかけうどん、えび天、¥730。釜揚げ、¥470。
Bukkake udon. Ebi-ten(on the side). The staff told me Ebi-ten is kamaboko with “whole shrimp” in it, but I didn’t expect it to mean “whole shrimp with shell and head and everything”. Not used to eating shrimp’s shell….
Kama-age: hot udon to eat with warm dipping sauce.
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釜玉山、ごぼ天、¥730。 つけ、鯛ちく天(磯辺揚げ)、¥570。
Kama-tama-yama: Hot udon with raw egg and grated yamaimo – this is my favourite! Gobo-ten: I thought it was tempura of gobo(burdock root) but it was actually a cold kamaboko with gobo inside.
Tsuke: cold udon to eat with cold dipping sauce. Tai Chiku-ten: chikuwa tempura. The fish used is “Tai”.

As common for this kind of cheap udon places, the tempura are not made on order – only if you are lucky that your tempura will come hot. Once I tried asking the staff “Can you bring me whatever tempura that are just fried and still hot?” and she said she couldn’t do that. ^^;;; From what I have tried, the vegetable tempura was hot, octopus leg tempura and Tai chiku-ten were warm, but the chicken tempura was already cold and didn’t taste so good. There is always queue at lunch time and you will usually have to share the huge long tables with strangers.

Menu(J): 1, 2.
Also an English review here.

丸香
Add: 3-16-1 Ogawamachi, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku

神田まつや (Kanda Matsuya)

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大ごまそば、¥850。
Famous soba place established in 1884. The present building – dated from 1925 – is one of the historical architectures in Tokyo.
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そばとろ、¥900。天丼、¥1900。
Soba toro(grated yam). Tendon(rice with prawn tempura).
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かしわ南ばん、¥950。 力うどん、¥950。
Kashiwa(chicken) Nanban. Chikara(grilled mochi) udon.
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にしんそば、¥1000。鴨南ばん、¥1600。
Nishin soba – soba with smoked sweet-flavoured herring(Kyoto origin). The fish tastes like the canned ones…not my cup of tea.
Kamo-nanban(Duck soba). Very good!
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親子南ばん、¥1000。 花巻、¥850。
Oyako(chicken and egg) Nanban. Hana-maki – soba with seaweed.
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鴨せいろう、¥1600。カレー南ばん、¥950。
Kamo(duck) Seiro. Curry Nanban.
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鍋焼うどん、¥1000。
Nabe-yaki udon – udon hotpot.
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おかめとじ、¥1000。 おかめ、¥950。
(Right)Okame soba : soba with Yuba, tamago-yaki, shiitake mushroom, kamaboko, bamboo shoot, seaweed, spinach.
(Left)Okame-toji soba: Okame soba with egg on top. Very good!
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寄せ鍋うどん、¥1200。 小田巻きむし、¥1100。
Yosenabe Udon. Super delicious! So many ingredients(including my beloved mochi) in it.
Odamakimushi: chawanmushi with udon(just a little bit) at the bottom. Need to wait for 15mins but totally worth it.
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かき揚天丼、¥1000。 雛そば くさきり、¥1000。
Kakiage-tendon. Not only kakiage, but also two prawn tempura. The prawns are smaller than the more expensive “Tendon”, but tasty enough.
Soba made with yomogi(limited period).

Not only soba, udon is good too. Tsuyu(soup) is delicious. Nothing I ordered was disappointing but yosenabe and okame-toji stand out the most. Portion is not big, so I always order L portion, which is an extra 100yen(the price quoted above are all for regular portion). The staff are very friendly but they don’t keep very good track of who ordered what. I always order L size but they never remember that – I have to remind them to charge me 100yen more each time. ^^;;

Look at the queue during New Year holiday…normally it is crowded and you may have to wait a bit and share a table during busy lunch hour, but I’ve never seen a queue like this outside a soba place…
Menu(J): 1, 2.
神田まつや
Add: 1-13, Sudacho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3251-1556

山本屋総本家 神田和泉店 (Yamamotoya Souhonke)

07040400610704040062

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親子味噌煮込みうどん、¥1250。
Nagoya miso nikomi(stew) udon with chicken and egg. Thick, hard, chewy, handmade udon noodles served in boiling hot miso soup. The original shop is very famous in Nagoya. The branch I went in Akihabara is tiny, with a few counter seats on the ground floor and a few tables on the second. Single portion consists of a big bowl of soup but not much udon. Probably better to order 1.5 portion(+250yen), or like many salarymen do – order a bowl of rice(200yen) to eat with the leftover soup.
Menu(J) here.
山本屋総本家 神田和泉店 (Yamamotoya Souhonke)
Add: 10-8, Ichiban-chi, Kanda Izumicho, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3861-5030

すみた@十条(Sumita@Jujo)

060214 005060204 046

060204 051天ざる、1000円。かしわおろしぶっかけ(温)、740円。
Very famous shop for Sanuki(讃岐) udon – thick, firm and chewy type from Kagawa Prefecture. I visited twice and had the cold zaru udon with tempura, and the hot soup udon with Kashiwa(chicken) tempura and grated radish. Both are very good but I prefer the cold udon which has a firmer texture. The shop is very tiny and always very crowded.
すみた