I came to Nakau near JR Noda Station to eat Charcoal-grilled Chicken Rice Bowl with Chicken Meatball Soup. I purchased a meal ticket at the vending machine at the entrance. The large size costs 860 yen. I splurged and added grated yam for 150 yen. I sat at the counter and handed over my meal ticket. Nakau no longer provides pickled ginger at the table, so you have to ask the staff if you want some. Here it comes - the Charcoal-grilled Chicken Rice Bowl, Chicken Meatball Soup, and grated yam. Half of the rice bowl is filled with charcoal-grilled chicken, while the other half has shredded omelette and seasoned minced chicken. Let's start with the grilled chicken. It's tender and tasty. Looks like thigh meat. The minced chicken is well-seasoned. The Chicken Meatball Soup is rich and flavorful. I made sure to enjoy the soup as well. I ordered grated yam, but when should I eat it? I decided to sprinkle it over the minced chicken, halfway through my meal. It turned out to be a good choice. ★I have a blog called "Eating to Live" at https://pochi12345.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-13350.html

Today, I took a stroll in the direction of Noda on my way home. I found a Nakau restaurant and decided to go in. I ordered the parent and child bowl and the Kyoto-style ankake udon (small) for 600 yen, tax included. I was surprised to find out that the lunch set is available until 5 pm. It made me feel like I got a good deal. The taste was as expected since I had eaten at a different Nakau during New Year's. On my way back, I walked around Nakanoshima. Thank you for the meal.

On a certain morning in June 2019, I had the morning soba tempura set for 390 yen. The set includes kakesoba, rice, and two pieces of tempura. The soba noodles are advertised as being made from 80% buckwheat flour. The light broth seems to complement the noodles well. Even though it's called kakesoba, it comes with tempura and green onions. With the rice and tempura included, you will feel satisfied. It seems like a convenient option when you feel like just soba noodles might not be enough. Thank you for the meal! (*'-')b

I tried a limited-time menu item, the charcoal-grilled oyakodon. I love Nakau's oyakodon, and compared to specialty oyakodon shops, I would say it's one of the best in chain restaurants that suits my taste. Especially, the gradient-like doneness of the egg is often mentioned in online reviews. Also, for some reason, I find the small portion of oyakodon tastier and prefer it, even though the small and regular portions are made by the same person in the same store. Maybe the ratio of egg and ingredients changes? With such expectations, I tried the charcoal-grilled oyakodon (^｡^) I'm not sure if the usual oyakodon is cooked on an IH stove and this one is charcoal-grilled? I couldn't really tell. Charcoal grilling uses far-infrared rays, and just like charcoal-grilled coffee has a different taste and aroma, maybe charcoal-grilled oyakodon offers a different deliciousness? I was a bit hopeful, but couldn't really tell if it was charcoal-grilled. Both the regular oyakodon and the charcoal-grilled one were delicious in the same way, so that's fine. However, I noticed that the table's sansho pepper was gone, and when I mentioned it to the staff, they said they could give me a small packet of sansho pepper. I miss the days when we could freely sprinkle sansho pepper from a bottle, don't you? (^-^)

As someone who grew up in Kyushu, I don't have many opportunities to stop by "Nakau." There are not many stores in Kyushu...I think there is only one store in Kumamoto City based on my memory...but when I checked officially, there is only one store in Fukuoka City as of February 2019. Anyway, it's frustrating to know about it but not be able to go because there are no stores. You might think it's just a fast food chain, but it's frustrating when you can't go even though you know about it. What's good about "Nakau" is that if you get drunk and your appetite is paralyzed late at night, you can eat gyudon, which gives a soft and mellow feeling if it's oyakodon. In other words, it's good that you can eat oyakodon late at night. I indulged in the joy of eating "Nakau's" oyakodon after a long time. I ended up getting the Hiyakara udon set. I was satisfied with the oyakodon. I revisited later and ended up eating katsudon late at night, but oyakodon is still the best.

"I remember you liked oyakodon. So, why don't you try going to "Nakau" as my junior Oishi suggested! It's really delicious! Apparently, they have a limited-time autumn menu with three kinds of mushrooms in the oyakodon, and it was really tasty when I tried it yesterday. I do love oyakodon! I'll search on Tabelog for restaurants in the Noda-Hanshin area! It's a bit far, but let's go for lunch! I don't often go to Nakau because it's not in my usual area, but I actually quite like it. I buy a meal ticket from the ticket machine and place my order. - Oyakodon with three kinds of mushrooms...590 yen (tax included) It's topped with a meltingly tender egg, soft chicken, shiitake, bunashimeji, eringi mushrooms, and mitsuba. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical based on Oishi's impression. But this is seriously delicious! The flavor of the mushrooms and mitsuba is great. The chicken is tender and juicy with plenty of broth, and the egg is so creamy. The broth is just right! Oh, it was so good! I'll come again before the end of the limited-time offer! I got a free ticket for their special egg. Next time, I can have it with double the eggs! Oh, I didn't know they had such eggs! I really don't like these ticket machines. You can't choose calmly. What a shame! - High-cara soba (small)...230 yen (tax included) I ordered it as a set with the oyakodon. It's nice that Nakau has noodles too. - Shrimp tempura...150 yen (tax included) I couldn't resist and added it to my order. I'll share half with my partner. It's so crispy and delicious with plenty of small shrimp in the shell. - Gyudon with egg...150 yen (tax included) My partner ordered this. I've never had gyudon with egg before! I wonder which one is better, oyakodon or gyudon with egg? - High-cara udon (small)...200 yen (tax included) I'll have a bit. Oh, the udon is seasoned with light soy sauce! The soba noodles were seasoned with dark soy sauce, so they change the flavor of the broth. I actually prefer this udon broth! Nakau JR Noda store I wish they would open a store near Noda-Hanshin. Anyway, Oishi, oh, it was really delicious! Thank you for the meal!"

Well, it's great value for money. You can eat quickly and feel full. When you're alone, you can quickly finish your meal and move on to the next thing. It might be the best option for when you're heading to the next place.

In the morning, it's great because the cost performance is good and it's fast.

Wow, sea urchin and salmon roe make the perfect combination.

It's been a while since I last visited. I had oyakodon and yuzu karaage udon. Still delicious.

The restaurant is spacious. There are many Uber Eats orders.

Recently, I feel like my Engel coefficient is increasing, so I know I need to exercise restraint, but I haven't been able to do so. Cooking for myself can be surprisingly costly, so I've been excluding it as an option lately. There are several affordable eateries near where I live, such as Nakau, Matsuya, Saizeriya, Osaka Ohsho, Gyoza no Ohsho, Gyoza no Manshu, McDonald's, ramen shops, soba shops, teishoku restaurants, and curry shops. If I go to any other place, it usually ends up being focused on drinking, which inevitably increases the cost. Despite saying that, I ended up having a drink at Nakau this time. I had a draft beer, spicy cold tantan udon, and shrimp kakiage. The price of beer is increasing at all the restaurants, so I had to resist getting a refill and ended up adding alcohol to my drink at home. I chose Nakau this time because I was aiming for the "spicy cold tantan udon," but the spiciness was not extreme, more like "medium spicy." This perception may vary from person to person, but if I were to compare it to CoCo Ichibanya curry, it would be equivalent to about "level 1 spiciness." Overall, it was a satisfying meal.

From morning, there's a restaurant that gets your energy levels up, Nakau! I get excited ordering from the ticket machine. This time, I splurged a little. I added a fried egg on top of my salmon. And I got a large serving of rice for free! I switched from miso soup to pork miso soup. All this cost around 500 yen! My breakfast turned into a luxurious meal at Nakau. There's nothing to complain about at Nakau. The rice was warm, and the pork miso soup was piping hot! It was delicious. Thank you for the meal!

There was a collaboration project with "Nanoni Shokudo" before, but it seemed difficult to come up with ideas at that time. This time, I decided to try out a slightly unexpected dish at a chain restaurant called Nakau, which is known for its beef bowls. They introduced a new menu item called "Duck Soba," so I decided to give it a try. The dish included duck meat, tsukune (meatballs), and fried tofu, with a hint of yuzu peel adding a nice citrusy aroma. I also ordered a draft beer, which seemed to have increased in price and quantity. Overall, it was an interesting experience, and I noticed that even elderly customers were enjoying the duck soba. It seems like Nakau is trying to cater to a wider range of customers to stay competitive in the market. The competition among beef bowl chains is likely to intensify in the future.

At major gyudon (beef bowl) chains, there is a trend of starting with a few drinks and ending up at "Nakau." While Yoshinoya has an official term for this called "Yoshinomi," other gyudon chains do not have a specific package for this. Matsuya and Nakau, for example, do not explicitly support drinking. They only offer drinks as a side to their main menu items. One clear difference between Yoshinoya and other chains is the use of ticket machines. Yoshinoya relies on verbal orders and settles payments later, while Matsuya and Nakau use ticket machines. In a drinking situation, the "let's order for now method" is common. This means that drinkers typically order only what they intend to consume immediately, rather than all items at once. This approach is disrupted by ticket machines. The presence of ticket machines is seen as a hindrance by drinkers, as it does not align with their ordering style. While the use of ticket machines is necessary for efficiency in today's job market, they may not be suitable for drinking scenes and should be avoided. The review also touches on the advancement of AI technology, which could potentially lead to ticket machines being able to cater to intoxicated customers in the future.

I learned about the existence of Roast Beef Donburi at MyRebi and decided to visit Nakau for the first time in about ten years. It's located near JR Noda Station, so it doesn't really matter which Nakau you visit. I usually prefer Yoshinoya for my beef bowls, occasionally Sukiya. I rarely go to Matsuya. I recently tried a Roast Beef Donburi at a certain store in Namba and it was delicious. I wanted to try it again, but it's not the kind of place I can easily go to alone. However, I can easily go to Nakau alone. I ordered the Roast Beef Donburi special for ¥1190, which is quite expensive! It was served in a stacked container and surprisingly tasty for Nakau. The sauce with soy sauce, mirin, and black pepper complemented the tender roast beef well. The onions, seaweed, and sauce were a good combination. The wasabi cream in a packet that resembled mayonnaise was also good. I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. I will definitely go back again. I wonder if it's a limited-time offer? I should go again before it's gone. Thank you for the meal!

The expression "ある…" used in the title of this review is reminiscent of the famous work by the late mystery writer, Seicho Matsumoto, titled "A Certain 'Kokura Diary' Legend." This work was published in 1952 and won the Akutagawa Prize the following year. Matsumoto's mysteries, or rather detective novels, are quite impressive, and he is one of the authors who sparked my interest in mysteries when I was in junior high school. On this occasion, I visited Nakau after hearing a story from a staff member at my regular cafe (referred to as A-san) who said, "I saw an amazing lady at Nakau." According to A-san, the lady came to Nakau and ordered a gyudon, but upon seeing the dish served, she declared, "This is not gyudon!" The details of the exchange are omitted here, but the lady was quite upset, and the Nakau staff had a hard time dealing with her, causing A-san, who was present, to be indirectly affected as well. Nakau's gyudon, as indicated by the term "wafu" attached to it, has a recipe that differs from what is commonly known as gyudon, particularly the gyudon at Yoshinoya, which has become the de facto standard. As can be confirmed in photos and in the announcements played in the store, the main ingredients are more similar to sukiyaki. Despite this, the lady said something like, "Gyudon should not have shirataki in it," which could be seen as an objection or complaint. Perhaps she had been going to Yoshinoya exclusively for a long time. A somewhat sad story can be glimpsed here. There are various variations of gyudon, and I think Nakau's wafu gyudon is closer to the standard, but it may not have been understood by someone who has been loyal to Yoshinoya for years. And so, it became a long time since I had Nakau's gyudon. While operating the familiar touch-screen ticket machine, I felt a slight sense of discomfort. Not in a bad way, but more like, "I feel like the usability has subtly improved." - The selected menu is listed and constantly displayed on the screen. - The voice guidance instructs, "Insert money when you have decided on your menu." With these changes, the fear of hearing phrases like "Insert money first" that I had experienced before seems to have disappeared, but I am writing this based on memory, so I am not certain. However, at least this time, I was able to smoothly purchase a ticket without any objections from the machine. Thank you for the meal.