Today's lunch was a light udon as I'm avoiding heavy meals from night restaurants! I decided to try this place on a whim! I visited around noon on a holiday, and there was a line of about 6 groups ahead of me... It seems quite popular depending on the store... But the turnover was fast, and I was able to get in after waiting for about 15 minutes! The restaurant has 5 counter seats, 4 tables, and a tatami area in the back? Looking at the menu... I usually go for burdock tempura or meat, but this time I decided to try something new with this dish! - Oyako Toji Udon (590 yen) After about a 5-minute wait, the udon arrived at my table! Huh? The menu description made it seem like the oyako don was supposed to be on top, but the soup was so much that it buried the oyako toji... (As I kept eating, I found out that there was actually plenty of oyako toji in there) The soup had a good balance of kombu and bonito dashi! I personally like yuzu pepper instead of shichimi togarashi, so I added that to my udon! The udon noodles were chewy and soft, with a firm texture that you don't often find in Fukuoka-style udon, but it's nice to have once in a while! The oyako toji had a bouncy texture, with tender chicken thigh meat and fluffy egg coated in the soup, and they paired perfectly together! I added some green onions and tenkasu from the table to change up the flavor halfway through! Being able to add toppings for free is another charm of this place! I finished every last drop of the soup! It was delicious... Thank you for the meal!

Located at the foot of Mt. Aburayama, a place for Fukuoka citizens to relax. It is close to Hikaru Undo Park and Hanabatake Engei Park. The restaurant has counter and table seats. There is also a limited-time menu available until 8/8. One of the dishes is called "Wacchuu" for 690 yen, which is a collaboration project with a radio station. It is a cold noodle dish with minced meat, komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach), sesame seeds, shrimp tempura, and eggplant tempura. You can add as much green onions as you want, and it comes with chili oil for those who like it spicy. Another dish is the meat udon for 600 yen. My companion enjoyed this dish on a hot day. They also offer a collaboration menu with eel donburi. Thank you for the meal!

Sometimes I crave udon from Uest. I tried a new dish, gobo tempura udon, which wasn't available before. I love the abundance of gobo tempura, it's a comforting familiar taste. Fukuoka udon is usually soft, but Uest's udon has a chewy texture. The broth is light and easy to eat.

Late night dinner refugees, everywhere seems to close around 9pm - or O.S. (°_°) But I thought, maybe West would be open! And it was! However, last order was at 9:30pm. Just made it in time! I ordered the burdock tempura udon, and the burdock came on a separate plate. Oh, was that how it was at West? The burdock tempura was delicious and crispy! I'm not a big fan of West's udon, but my husband likes it. The pickled mustard leaf rice ball we ordered together was fluffy, slightly warm, and delicious! I'd like to try their motsunabe (tripe hot pot) someday.

I had a quick meal of thin noodle meat udon with one kashiwa onigiri for 770 yen. Thank you for the meal.

Tomorrow's examination requires dietary restrictions, so I had udon. I enjoyed both the kashiwa onigiri and the thin noodle meat udon.

"Nakaji Udon and Onigiri"

The closest "West" from my house, haha, it might be my first time coming here... It was quite crowded even though it was a late lunch time! West seems to be popular everywhere. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the tempura, so I skipped the mixed tempura and went for the shrimp tempura udon instead. Not much of a difference, right? They offer a free pickles all-you-can-eat service here, exclusive to the Hikaru store. The udon noodles at West are smooth and have a nice texture that is just right! I always think they are similar to Kagetsu's frozen noodles (^_^;) I like it because the tempura, especially the round tempura, is delicious. The broth is... average, I guess.

Today I had udon at Uesuto (West) Udon! I'm thinking about what to order... I found a great deal on the menu for the day - a half portion of udon with wakame and burdock tempura! This is a good deal. I love burdock tempura, so I decided on the value udon and a kashiwa onigiri. The best part is that at Uesuto you can add as much green onion as you want! I added plenty of green onions! Having only half of my favorite burdock tempura was a bit disappointing though... The kashiwa onigiri was also very delicious!

December 23, 2012 November 16, 2014 April 11, 2015 March 16, 2016 August 14, 2019 June 13, 2021 "Burdock tempura + round tempura udon"

I use this place once a month. I usually go for the classic kakiage-don set, but this time I tried the meat udon with gobou tempura topping, and opted for the thin noodles for the first time. I also ordered a pickled mustard leaf onigiri and a chicken onigiri. As expected from a popular ranking, the meat and gobou tempura udon was amazing. The broth was indescribably delicious. I added some yuzu-kosho halfway through, which added a whole new dimension of flavor. The onigiri were also consistently good. The thin noodles had a nice firm texture. Overall, I was very satisfied.

On Saturdays, Udon West gets crowded because some menu items are cheap. I went to Udon West in Hikaru on a Saturday after playing with my grandchild at Hikaru Sports Park in the morning. When we arrived at 11:30, there were about a third of the customers present. Since I was with small children, we sat in the back in a raised seating area. I pointed to the mini beef bowl set from the Saturday-only menu and ordered the shrimp tempura and mini beef bowl set (usually 850 yen, but 760 yen on Saturdays). After waiting for 7-8 minutes, the plain udon and mini beef bowl arrived. We waited a while longer, but the shrimp tempura did not come. I called the staff over, pointed to the menu again, and said, "I thought I ordered this set," and finally, two shrimp tempura pieces arrived. The shrimp tempura was hot and delicious, and the udon and broth were good as well. However, the beef bowl was not very tasty. When it was time to pay, they said, "That will be 850 yen," and I explained, "That's strange. I ordered the 760 yen set," but they didn't seem to understand (the two shrimp tempura pieces were considered toppings). It took quite a while for them to understand, and honestly, it was quite unpleasant.

Once again, it's about West. I went to West Hinata for lunch. It was around lunchtime, so the restaurant was about half full. It was hot, so I ordered the tempura soba. When it arrived, it was tempura soba, but the tempura was terrible. The oil seemed dirty, and the tempura had a color more like fried food than tempura. The pumpkin and eggplant were mushy. It was the worst, to the point where I thought this is unacceptable for an udon restaurant. I noticed later that even the tempura crumbs on the table were discolored. If only I had noticed sooner...