01-05-2025
Fukuoka's Inaba Udon chain comes to Harajuku and we slurp up every last drop of it
Yup, we'd do just about anything for these noodles with a unique tempura topping.
Tonkotsu (simmered pork bone broth) ramen is strongly associated with Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan. While ramen may be the first thing that comes to mind for many people when they think of the prefecture, that doesn't mean that other kinds of noodle dishes aren't popular. In fact, a well-established Fukuoka chain of udon restaurants known as Inaba Udon is seeking to make inroads in other parts of the country with its very first restaurant in Tokyo's Harajuku district, which opened on April 21. Conveniently, it's right next to Meiji-jingumae Station, inside the Tokyu Plaza Harajuku (nicknamed 'Harakado') shopping mall.
▼ Housed in a building that looks like this, there's no way you can miss it!
Almost as soon as we entered the building, we were greeted by a sign guiding us to the new eatery on the building's fifth floor.
Each floor of Harakado isn't all that big, so it's very hard to get lost. We found our way right to Inaba Udon without any issue.
A quick glance around the inside showed that the entire space, including tables and counter seats, could probably seat about 20 people. Ordering is done by ticket vending machine at the start. Once you make your selection and pay, you simply wait for your order number to be announced and pick up the food.
▼ Bonus: you can order in English!
We eagerly browsed through the menu options, which include a selection of both hot and chilled udon dishes, donburi (rice bowls), and special value sets combining the two.
Since it was our first time eating here, we elected to start with the basics. Therefore, we chose the 'meat and tempura gobo (burdock) hot udon' for 1,250 yen (US$8.70), which is the top recommendation in the upper left of the screen displayed below.
The dish comes in a 'modern' version with meat and a 'classic' version sans meat (and thus 100 yen cheaper), and we decided to go with the modern version as it was the top recommendation. We also upped the portion size to be 'extra large' and threw in two pieces of kashiwa inari sushi (mixed rice in a flavorful, fried tofu pocket) for fun. The final total came to 1,610 yen.
After a short wait, the food arrived! A magnificently round disc of tempura gobo served as the visual centerpiece of the dish.
Meanwhile, the inari sushi looked delectable in their fried pouches.
Yup–we couldn't resist rolling the sushi to peek at the mixed rice inside.
The tempura gobo had an interesting composition, being full of air bubbles. We quickly realized that it both absorbed the broth and disintegrated into the liquid very quickly.
As it broke apart, it also freed several pieces of gobo encased within it into the soup. Those weren't the only gobo to be found, however, since the bowl also contained chunks of fried gobo in a manner similar to French fries, which is a popular dish in the region.
We were so distracted while watching the slowly fragmenting tempura that we almost forgot about the beef, but it was also delicious.
Now, onto the udon noodles themselves. They were incredibly shiny and the way that their surfaces reflected light was unmistakably different from Sanuki-style udon, the current most recognizable style of udon in the Greater Tokyo Area that's originally from the island of Shikoku. Unlike chewy Sanuki udon, the texture of Inaba Udon's noodles was soft and springy with a hint of elasticity.
By the way, the restaurant provides optional condiments in the form of shichimi or ichimi pepper if you want to spice up your meal.
As we ate more and more, it became readily apparent that the thickness of the soup and its flavor were changing gradually thanks to the tempura disc breaking up and spreading out. The broth itself wasn't overly sweet, but it might be considered sweet by Tokyo standards. It seemed to be soy sauce-based with accents of kombu (kelp) and dried sardines in equal proportion to its level of saltiness. In any case, it was simply delicious, and we ended up drinking up every last drop.
Inaba Udon could be a fun, new udon experience for anyone in Tokyo who's only familiar with the more typical Sanuki udon served in the area. Given the restaurant's extremely convenient location in one of Tokyo's most popular districts for fashion and youth culture, we think it's here to stay for a long time.
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