Matsushita Seimenjo – Writing Udon history for over 50 years already

January 21, 2016May 02, 2016 Life Takamatsu Ritsurin, udon

Just a stone throw away from the beautiful Ritsurin Garden

matsushitaseimenjo_map Matsushita Seimenjo is an Udon restaurant with a long history, which is located in the north of Ritsurin Garden. The shop lies in a quiet alley in a residential area, but it’s not too difficult to find since you can just take the diagonal street from the Ritsurin park straight to the restaurant.

“Seimenjo” means noodle factory

This restaurant did not start out as a regular Udon restaurant, in the beginning it only produced the Udon and sold it to shops that sold it to the customers. But since their Udon were so prominent among customers they decided to open their own Udon restaurant and sell it directly the the hungry customers. Since then, Matsushita has not only become familiar among Japanese people but also among tourists, owing it to the great taste and vicinity to Ritsurin garden.

Enjoy the tasty “Kake” udon that highlights the quality of the noodles due to its simplicity.

Learn how to order Udon

Since every Udon restaurant is different, it might be difficult to order Udon as a first time eater, even Japanese people have difficulties at first if they are new in Takamatsu.
This is why we would like to give you a basic introduction to Udon at Matsushita Seimenjo.

matsushitaseimenjo_menu This is the menu at Matsushita Seimenjpo, the prices here are for, Kake Udon, the most famous and most basic one, but all the Udon menu are the same price.

Top paper – from left to right
Tempura 90 Yen – Tempura are fried vegetables/meat/egg
Croquette 90 Yen – Same as outside as of Japan, pronounced Korokke
Nama tamago 50 Yen – Raw egg, it’s being put directly in the bowl
Onsen tamago 80 Yen – Hard boiled egg, is being put in the bowl
Inarizushi 120 Yen – Rice in sweet tofu

Those are the side dishes, you put them directly in your Udon bowl since it gives extra taste.

① Choose the number of Udon (1 ball = aroud 200 g)
Udon is ordered in so called “Balls”. The prononciation to order is:
Hito-tama = 1 ball, Futa-tama = 2 balls, San-tama = 3 balls, Yon-tama = 4balls

② Tell the staff the number of balls you would like.
If you want a different type, say it now e.g “Bukkake”, “Kamaage”
Tell them what side dishes you would like.
Pay and you will get your Udon in a bowl.

③ Now it’s your time to shine! matsushitaseimenjo_broth After you get your Udon you will boil them yourself!
In the picture above you can see the broth on the left and hot water on the right side.
Put your Udon in one of the ladles on the right, dip it into the hot water for 5-8 seconds, drain the water and put it into your bowl again.
Then pour about 2 ladles full of broth on the noodles in your bowl.

matsushitaseimenjo_pour Like this.

④ Toppings time! matsushitaseimenjo_topping On the right side you see the side dishes we explained about earlier.
On the left side are the free toppings.

Top left: tempura batter
Top right: Green onion
Middle bottom: Ginger

matsushitaseimenjo_seasoning As you sit down you will see the final ingredients and the chopsticks in front of you.

matsushitaseimenjo_udon This is how our Kake Udon looked at the end.

If you’re looking to eat Udon, Matsushita Seimenjo is a traditional Udon restaurant that lets you boil your own Udon!

INFORMATION