During my commute on the JR Loop Line, I got off at Nishikujo Station to have breakfast. I went to "Menya Nishikujo" right by the ticket gate. They used to have a location at Bentencho Station a few years ago, but it closed down. Looking at the morning menu, they offered several set meals, all priced at 360 yen. I chose the new breakfast salmon rice set with udon. The lady in the kitchen quickly prepared it by putting salmon flakes on rice, warming up the udon in a bowl, adding green onions and fish cakes, pouring broth over it, and topping it with tempura bits. I sat at the counter and started eating. The noodles were soft and cheap quality, more like the kind you'd find at a supermarket for about 18 yen. The broth was flavorful but a bit on the salty side. For 360 yen, it was a satisfying and filling meal.

I used to stop by a standing udon/soba noodle shop under the elevated structure at the corner before transferring to the Loop Line at Nishikujo Station on the Kintetsu train. It gave off a vibe of the Showa era from the 1950s. When I visited after a long time since before the Corona pandemic, the shop was no longer there. It seems like more and more shops from the Showa era are disappearing. I still have 2 hours before the concert at the Symphony Hall at 2 pm, so I'm thinking about what to do. I've been to the standing soba shop in front of Fukushima Station multiple times, so maybe I'll go to the noodle shop near the stairs next to Yoshinoya by the ticket gate. The noodle shop at Nishikujo Station is quite busy even though it's still before noon. They have a ticket vending machine system. However, the layout of the shop or the operation seems to be problematic. When you buy a ticket from the machine, you have to wander around with the ticket still in hand until the first person at the counter takes it. If there are 5 or more people waiting, they should stop issuing tickets from the machine. It would be better if they could take multiple tickets and prepare orders simultaneously. The broth has a slightly salty taste with a kombu and salt flavor. The additional topping of thin fried tofu was a bit lacking for the price of 100 yen. The mini chicken bowl consisted of 2 frozen chicken pieces on top of rice with a little sweet sauce for tempura. Maybe I should have gone with the curry udon instead. Overall, there is room for improvement.

I stayed at a hotel in front of Universal City Station the day before and today I departed for Kobe. I transferred from JR to the Hankyu train at Nishikujo Station. I was thinking about what to have for breakfast when I saw a udon restaurant right outside the JR ticket gate. It's nice to have a place where you can eat a hearty meal in the morning. They had a breakfast set on the menu, so I ordered it. It came with kake udon, raw egg, rice, and kelp. I had it as TKG. The udon was decent, nothing special, but warm udon on a winter morning is really delicious. And all this for only 350 yen, if I commuted by train, I would definitely become a regular customer.

I came back here and went around various soba restaurants. This morning, on my way to the current site, I stopped by at Nishikujo Station for breakfast. I planned to get the morning set meal (kake soba or kake udon + rice with raw egg) for ¥330. I inserted 200 yen into the vending machine coin slot, but 100 yen was returned to me. Suddenly, I saw a food ticket labeled "Inari" for 100 yen in the ticket dispenser. I realized that I accidentally pressed the "Inari" button above the coin slot while inserting coins. So, I decided to go for kake soba and added 250 yen to get the ticket. I handed the ticket to the staff and ordered "soba, please." I noticed a sign saying "If you need tempura flakes, please inform the staff," so I asked for tempura flakes. The staff placed the tempura flakes in a bowl and added them to my bowl of soba. I sat at the counter seat, took a photo, and then realized I forgot to add shichimi spice, so I went back to the counter to get it. The dashi broth was delicious with a strong bonito flavor. The inari sushi was pleasantly sweet and tasty. I would love to try the morning set meal next time. Thank you for the meal. Soba with tempura flakes ¥250, Inari sushi ¥100, Total ¥350.

Last time on the story: "Since there was croquette soba at the 'Menya' on the platform of Shin-Osaka Station, people naturally think that it should be available at other 'Menya' as well!" "That's not a valid reason!" "If there is no croquette soba, then the end of humanity is near!" "People are not that foolish!" "I, Char Aznable, am searching for croquette soba!" "That's just your ego!" And so on. I've been to quite a few 'Menya' shops around JR Osaka Loop Line stations. In the process, I realized that maybe all shops are out of stock during the summer season. However, there was an exception - 'Menya Nishikujo'. This place was irregular. It was not on the platform, and you had to exit the ticket gate to visit. I was intrigued. There is a certain charm to eating standing soba on the platform during your commute, either going to work or heading home. If you exit the ticket gate, you might as well go to a different place. I visited again (by bike), out of sheer stubbornness. There was no croquette soba, so I had meat soba instead. 'Menya Nishikujo' is definitely irregular. It's not on the platform, and they even have chairs. I've decided to stop going around to different 'Menya' shops. At least until the end of summer. But when the weather gets cooler...

I stopped by to grab a quick bite before heading to an event. I ordered the chicken tempura set with soba noodles. I was called to pick up my order in less than a minute, as it was a fast-service type of place near the station. The onigiri was a bit hard on the surface, and the chicken tempura was not freshly fried. It was a bit disappointing for the price of almost 600 yen. If the sole purpose is to fill your stomach, it's fine, but it would be nice if they served freshly fried tempura when it's not busy.

Lunch on August 21st♪ I took the morning off for personal reasons and had lunch at the station before starting work in the afternoon♪ I visited this place after a long time. I ordered the chicken tempura soba set. Eating and drinking only cold items made my stomach weak, so I needed the hot soba to revitalize it! The quick service was great♪ The chicken tempura, as always, whetted my appetite! Time to dig in. Mmm! It's hot! The chicken tempura is delicious! I started sweating from the top of my head! The rice ball that came with the set was also good♪ By the time I finished, I was drenched in sweat. Thank you for the meal.

I really like the toriten here. It's located near the station, almost like inside the station premises. I've been here for breakfast on my way back. I tried various dishes, but changing the udon noodles to Sanuki udon and ordering two pieces of toriten was a good choice. I think there was an option for toriten as a standalone dish, but I could be mistaken.

I ordered kitsune hiyakake udon and inari sushi. The noodles were decent and the toppings were delicious. The inari sushi was very chewy. It was very cheap, so I think it's a good place to go when you're short on time or money.

Chopped udon is made by finely chopping flavorless thin fried tofu and placing it on top of plain udon noodles. When I was a child, I believed this dish was called "tanuki udon," but apparently it's different in the real world. While passing through Nishikujo on a business trip, I finally decided to try out this standing udon shop that had caught my eye. I ordered the chopped udon for 340 yen (using a ticket system). Despite being a standing eatery, there were seats available. I sprinkled some complimentary tempura flakes on top and enjoyed my meal. The thin fried tofu lacked flavor, but for 340 yen, it was acceptable. Most importantly, it was fun to have chopped udon after a long time.

The fox udon or soba comes with onigiri. Well, compared to Hanshin soba, it's really low level. So, no breakfast.

First visit. Ordered the chilled chicken tempura soba. The fried chicken was too hard. Considering the cost balance of 480 yen, it's mediocre.

This is a simple and ordinary restaurant. The zaru soba set is nothing special and the cost performance is not great. However, there are not many other options, so I end up going there anyway.

The fox udon and Japanese-style beef curry bowl. The Japanese-style curry bowl was okay, but the udon was not that great.

Chicken tempura soba and onigiri. The soba was pretty normal, and so was the chicken tempura. It's perfect for a quick meal since it comes out fast. Thank you for the meal!

Lunch set. Chicken tempura soba and onigiri. Almost all customers ordered udon. The taste of soba at a Kansai chain store makes me feel like it's better to avoid it.

The clam and rapeseed flower soba was delicious. The clams themselves were tasty. As for the soba...

On a hot day in July at 3:33 pm, I visited the restaurant and ordered cold stamina udon. The staff seemed a bit unsure of what to put in it, but the taste was like a chain store at the station, so not extremely delicious. However, I was happy that the udon was ice-cold when served. There were few customers at that time, only me, but the cold udon was served properly chilled, which I appreciated. High rating.

I ordered cold chicken tempura with grated daikon on soba noodles. The chicken tempura being cold was a bit disappointing, but the soba noodles were okay. For a udon and soba restaurant inside a train station, it was quite good. The aroma of the kelp dashi in the restaurant was nice.

This is a soba restaurant located inside Nishikujo Station. They have seats available, not just standing. I had some time before my train, so I decided to grab something to eat. I hesitated between this place and the Yoshinoya next door, but ended up choosing this one. I used my Suica card to purchase a cold soba and inari sushi set. The inari sushi was triangular, not the usual round shape. The soba had a small amount of tsuyu (dipping sauce) which was also quite bland. Lately, I've been coming across a lot of bland dishes. I usually don't use wasabi with my soba, but this time I mixed it in. The noodles were normal, and the toppings were also standard. Overall, it's a quick and convenient option for a snack while waiting for the train.