Speaking of “Sanuki-Udon”, I should not forget to introduce “Marugame-seimen” which is now has over 120 stores all over the world, including stores in Malaysia, Vietnum, Australia, Indnasia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Sanuki-Udon is the most popular type of udon which is famous for thick noodle from Kagawa prefecture.

I visited Marugame –seimen in Shinagawa. Although I say it is in Shinagawa, it actually located between Shinagawa and Kita-Shinagawa (North Shinagawa).
It gets very crowded around lunchtime because there are many business offices around Shinagawa area.

The entrance of Shinagawa store

Lucky me! There is no queue outside!

The sign of “Marugame-Seimen”

I took me a few minutes to decide what to order…and I finally decided cold Kake-Udon. Kake-Udon is udon noodles in broth.

fancy sign

boiled Sanuki udon

It confuses me to decide what to pick from many kinds of Tempura. While I was still deciding on Tempura, my Kake-udon came!
Just slide your tray to move forward.

Every Tempura looks fantastic!

Finally I decided to have my favorite Chikuwa (a tube-shaped fish paste) and Satsumaimo (sweet potato). If you are lucky, you can get the ones that's just cooked.
This consideration of the store makes people to come again.

Just cooked sweet potato

You can have spring onion and tenkasu as much as you like for topping. Tenkasu are crunchy bits of deep-fried dough produced as a byproduct of cooking tempura.
The smell and taste of grated ginger makes it much better♪

Toping

There you are, my special cold kake-udon with spring onion, ten-kasu and grated ginger! It is hard to believe it’s only ¥500! Marugame-Seimen is a wallet-friendly store! You can get most of the food with just ¥500 coin♪
There are also rice balls and Inari which are especially popular among male customers. It is also great because there is a wide variety of side-menus.

Cold-Udon

Sanuki-udon has chewy texture and a pleasant clean finish. It is popular especially during summer. The accent of grated ginger makes udon more delicious!

Chewy udon noodles

By the time I finished my udon, other customers were already gone. People leave the restaurant as soon as they are finished, and that makes the seat turnover much faster. Very efficient business, huh?

Inside the store

My favorite part of Marugame-Seimen is that it's always easy to find a seat and we are able to have good meal immediately. In addition, the workers are very friendly and powerful.
Their popularity comes from their consideration towards the customers.

writer：yoko