The weekend was hot. I mean, really hot. I went to mow the lawn and got a serious sunburn. And my stomach felt kind of empty, but not really. I decided to go to AEON to have some cold udon. Surprisingly, it wasn't too crowded. There were various events happening in different places that day. I had been to Takikawa in the morning and when I came back, my body was burning from the sunburn. I thought the chain udon restaurant would be crowded as usual, so I went to the AEON chain store. It was a bit busy in the parking lot, but surprisingly not crowded inside. So, I easily made my purchase. I've had the tempura here before, but never had it freshly fried. So, I decided to skip the tempura this time. Instead, I wanted to try something cold and limited, so I ordered this. It said small size, but I didn't know small was actually small. I didn't know that medium was 2 servings. Sesame Tantanmen for 590 yen. I'll have the cold Tantanmen in small size, please. But then I was asked, "Which one would you like?" And I was like, "What do you mean?" Turns out there were three options: sesame Tantanmen, salad Tantanmen with 6 kinds of vegetables, and pork shabu Tantanmen. I had no idea, so I just chose sesame Tantanmen. The amount of cold udon in small size was quite generous. It's a perfect size for when you're not very hungry. And the sesame Tantanmen I tried for the first time was delicious. The sesame flavor was strong, and the soup was creamy and good. However!! It was spicy. Quite spicy. It's on a level where even people who like spicy food might find it too spicy. I found out that you can adjust the spiciness, but I'm not sure if you can make it spicier or if they can make it less spicy than this. People who like spicy food might enjoy this during the summer. If the staff had made it clearer that there were three options, it would have been easier. Thank you for the meal. ⇒◇I liked the taste of the sesame Tantan, it was good◇

I had cold udon noodles with squid tempura, fish cake tempura, and a salmon rice ball. The udon and broth alone are delicious, so I was completely satisfied with the meal. One piece of fried food and a rice ball were enough, but maybe an inari sushi would also be good. It's really nice to be able to enjoy the taste of Sanuki udon easily and affordably. Thank you for the meal! ★

Zaru Udon Small 360 yen Today's lunch was at Hanamaru Udon Aeon Mall Asahikawa Station Front store. Since it's in the Aeon food court with various options, I decided to go for the Zaru Udon to have a quick meal. Although it may look small, the udon noodles were chewy and surprisingly filling.

Feeling unwell. Didn't get enough sleep last night. Today's travel time is about 6 hours? Not feeling hungry, but need to eat. Putting my health first today rather than focusing on my food log. Couldn't find a soba restaurant around here so I went for udon. Got the grated daikon for 360 yen! Amazing! It's been a while since I had it, but the delicious taste really warmed my body. I ordered one serving, but it wasn't enough, two servings seem too much, so having a 1.5 serving option would be nice. Ah, I feel better now! Thank you for the meal!!!

It was disappointing... various things were disappointing... Hmm, why did it turn out like this? Hanamaru Udon. How long has it been since moving here from next door? This is my second time eating here... I've had Hanamaru Udon many times before. But, for some reason, I was flustered, or maybe I was absent-minded, it was as if I was a foreigner eating for the first time. Look at the menu. First, look at the menu. Oh, today I'll have a hot dish. So, I ordered a small size Kake Udon. And while waiting... I was told to bring the tray over... a bit forcefully. Ah, I made a mistake like a first-time visitor. Then, I picked up the tempura and went to pay. Oh, there was an app... so I opened it, but it asked me to log in again. I panicked. I took out my Ion card. What would you like to pay with? I asked. Then, I was asked how I planned to pay again... Ah, PayPay... I said. Then I was told that Ion card points would not be earned, so I put it away. I couldn't log in to the app and ended up not being able to use it. And it continued... Before sitting down... Oh, there was tempura... I remember. I searched for it but couldn't find it. When I looked closely, it was hidden in the back of the shelf. Did the person before me put it back there? Or was it never used here before? While thinking about it, I put it in and it all spilled out. You see, if you've had Hanamaru before, you'll know that the barley tea is in a container like a water cooler with a wide mouth. So, if you make a mistake, it spills out. Before pouring, I bumped my elbow on the corner... and got into this situation. Furthermore... my wallet was left open and spilled out. I was really fed up. I picked it up and tried to eat, but... Oh!! I forgot to sprinkle salt... I took the plate over, but couldn't find the salt. It was hidden in the shadows. While thinking about why this happened... I finally sat down and the next thing was that the tempura was quite soggy. Well, of course, it had been over 5 minutes since it was made. It might have been close to 10 minutes. Oh no, what a mess. In that case, it would have been better if it was cold but at least cold. It wasn't too soggy. I tasted it. But, it wasn't as soft as I thought it would be. However, it was soft. And whether it was originally like this or because of the tempura, the broth was quite salty. Wait, was Hanamaru this salty? It was that salty. Did the salt spill...? I hadn't mixed it with the broth. Oh no, I messed up. The tempura is cold. Oh, that's right! I should just put it in the broth. So I did... Oh, I forgot to sprinkle salt on the tempura. The broth became even saltier. I'm done for... I'm really done for. But, I finished it until the end. On the way out, I remembered that today was the Tuesday market at Ion. I looked in front of the store, but there was no indication. Looking at the sign inside Ion, I saw that the seaweed udon was on sale. It was a frustrating end to the year in the food court. Thank you for the meal. ⇒◇Hanamaru Udon, the noodles have a good texture, but◆

I love simple food the most. I realized this especially when I went to Takamatsu. The udon itself is delicious, so I gave it a high rating. I also bought some rice from another store and snuck it into my bag. Then I ordered a medium-sized udon. As a result, my stomach was so full (laughs). I always make the same mistake, but I never learn. Maybe that's what keeps me motivated to continue using Tabelog. I decided to enjoy the food by adjusting the portion. That's all, lol.

You can enjoy three different flavors of tantanmen: white, black, and red. I tried all of them, but unfortunately I accidentally deleted the photo of the black tantanmen. It was also delicious, but I can't convey that now. However, both the white and red were tasty. The white one was more basic, while the red one was the spiciest. But it wasn't too intense. I had the red one without soup and chilled during the hot weather, and it gave me the energy to keep working hard in the afternoon. Udon is really delicious. Goodbye x3 ^^

This is around Asahikawa Station... as usual, with limited time, heading straight to the food court at AEON. It's lunchtime and quite crowded. When in doubt, it's "Hanamaru Udon." My usual go-to is the "Udon + Oden" set, but there was a sign saying "Oden temporarily unavailable" (sigh). I lined up with about 5 people and ordered the "Hiyashi (regular) @340" and "Assorted Vegetable Tempura @140." They said it would take a bit of time, so I received a buzzer and waited at my seat. The buzzer went off in 4 minutes, and I got my udon. I sat down and dug in. The udon here has a stronger fish broth flavor compared to Marugame, which is lighter. The tempura had "onion, carrot, pumpkin, burdock root," I think. It's not super crispy since it's pre-made, but it's tasty enough. It would be delicious if they served it fresh on a tempura rice bowl. I wish they didn't stop serving oden in the summer... I prefer it over Marugame, but oh well. I really like the daikon radish here, and I wish they would also offer ponzu sauce. I'll definitely be back to one of these places. Thank you for the meal.

The other day, I went to Udon Prefecture and had Sanuki udon, which left an impression on me. It was from a chain store, though. By the way, there was a Marugame Udon in Takamatsu, so I decided to have lunch there to show my respect for their nationwide expansion achievements. How do you like to eat Sanuki udon? I seem to prefer soy sauce udon, where I can adjust the flavor with the soy sauce on the table. But here, they pour soy sauce over the grated radish first. It's in a food court, so it can't be helped ^^ Maybe I just like my udon a bit stronger in flavor. I enjoyed my meal while reminiscing about my trip. Next time, I'll go to Marugame Udon (lol)

I went to Ion. It was just past lunchtime. In the back of the food court, there was a new Mac that had just opened, but... I chose this place. Hmm, among the several shops here, I decided to have udon. It was Hanamaru Udon. This place used to be located closer to the new Mac, but they moved. The store is now bigger. The udon itself had a firm texture. It was better than another chain store's udon. However, I didn't quite like the taste of the broth. I ordered the Chicken Karaage set meal for the first time. Since March this year, all stores have introduced the Karaage from a place called Torisen. Torisen is a Karaage specialty store with only 4 stores in Tokyo, 1 in Saitama, and 1 in Okinawa, under the Hanamaru Udon group. It seems like they will expand, but maybe they won't open many standalone stores if you can eat it at Hanamaru. At Torisen, you can have unlimited cabbage and rice, but here at Ion Asahikawa Station store, you can have a free rice upsize. Of course, I went for the upsize. 4 pieces of Karaage cost 690 yen. By the way, you can change the rice to udon, but Karaage and rice... rice seems to be the winner. There is also a topping of Karaage for udon, but if the rice was udon... it would feel a bit strange. The dressing came with sesame seeds to sprinkle by yourself. This is how it should be!! I bounced back to the rice, took a bite of the freshly fried Karaage. Hot!!! It was freshly fried and quite hot, the meat juice could cause a burn. But this is the essence of fried food. By the way... the Karaage was soy sauce flavored, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. It had the taste of THE Karaage, a basic flavor that everyone would like. If you go to Torisen, you can choose from soy sauce, salt, garlic, and they also sell Oyakodon. Maybe they will add more menu items in the future. Thank you for the meal. ⇒ ◇ Impact A little bit weak, I felt ◇

I tried having a dinner of bukkake warm egg udon with salt kalbi don and two types of tempura. It was quite satisfying, especially when combined with rice dishes, it felt like a substantial meal. The thickness of the udon noodles added to the hearty feeling. The tempura served as a nice palate cleanser and added a good touch to my solo dining experience. As we are entering the cold season, I look forward to shifting towards more warm dishes.

Today, I went to the station in front of Aeon. Kentucky Fried Chicken has closed down, and the food court feels a bit lonely now... When I looked around after a long time, I noticed that something had changed... Hanamaru Udon is no longer there!!! The place where it used to be is now a wall... I thought, but then I looked to the side... and realized that it had moved!!! In its place, there is now a new udon restaurant. However, the soba restaurant is no longer there. It seems like they have revamped the place... The summer udon menu looked refreshing and perfect for the season. They had some kind of summer udon written on the menu. The space has definitely expanded, so they might have added more items. The tempura section seems to have expanded as well. However, the freshly fried feeling is still missing... It would be nice if that changed too. The size of Hanamaru Udon noodles is always a mystery to me. They have small, medium, and large sizes, but I can never decide if the medium is the standard or if I should go for the small... I used to always go for the large, but now I hesitate between small and medium. Based on my memory, I feel like the medium used to have a decent amount. This time I went for the medium, and indeed, it was quite filling. It seemed like more than the regular udon at Marugame Udon. The broth at Hanamaru Udon has a strong Kansai-style flavor. People from Kanto or Hokkaido might find it a bit lacking in soy sauce flavor. Personally, I think adding a bit more soy sauce would enhance the taste. The dashi flavor is strong, which is delicious. The noodles have become different. It was labeled as summer udon... Yes, they are quite firm with a great texture. This is the true chewiness of Sanuki udon. Marugame Udon should definitely learn from this. Well, at least the Marugame Udon store in Asahikawa. Perhaps it's the softest among all Marugame Udon stores nationwide? Who knows... From the tempura section, I tried the chikuwa isobeage. It had nori sprinkled on top, which was nice, but... When was this fried?? It was hard and cold, even harder than eating chikuwa straight from the fridge. I don't usually seek chewiness in tempura, but... haha... I wish Hanamaru Udon would improve their tempura with each visit. In that aspect, Marugame Udon manages to keep their tempura warm and freshly fried, unlike this one. Despite all the comments, I finished the meal. Well, if you're going to eat it anyway, just eat without saying anything... Some might think that way. But... if I don't say anything, I can't write a blog post, right? haha... Anyway, a blog is just my personal opinion, so please feel free to try different places and share your thoughts and recommendations. But in the end, I'll probably go back there again. Bon appétit!

At the end of May 2021, it seems like a coup d'etat as Aeon is closing as many as 11 specialty stores. Amidst this, I visited a place that is preparing to open a new store in a different location. It was my first visit. Due to health reasons, I chose a limited-time udon dish for the first time. Seriously, it was delicious. I may not be used to eating like this, but it's really good. The prices are not that high, so I have vowed to visit frequently. (Quite exaggerated, lol)

The limited express train I was supposed to take was canceled, so I arrived in Asahikawa from Rumoi four hours later than planned. Also, the special express train from Wakkanai was delayed by an hour and a half due to operating from Wakkanai, so I was able to relax at the food court in Aeon.

I like hand-made udon noodles♬ Soba noodles are difficult, but with udon noodles, I sometimes try making them myself... (*^ω^*) It can be fun, with some attempts ending in failure and others in success... I also like udon chain restaurants that have a chewy texture similar to hand-made noodles, and I often visit them♡ They are cheap and delicious♡ I have been to both the Nishi and Ekimae branches of Hanamaru countless times...♪*ﾟI usually go for "kake udon" and often add tempura, like "ebi tempura" on this day...♪*ﾟActually, the rate of ebi tempura is quite high ( *^艸^) Their tempura is delicious, so I sometimes get takeout. With udon, you can choose the amount, so it's just right when you want a smaller portion at odd times...♪*ﾟWarm udon noodles tend to get a bit soft, which is a bit disappointing... It would be nice if they also offered "nabe-yaki udon" like Marugame Seimen... I wonder if they have it now? I'm starting to crave nabe-yaki udon♡ Thank you for the meal~( *ˊᵕˋ* )

I went to Asahikawa Station to pick up a friend coming from Sapporo. I had some time before the limited express train arrived. I was feeling a bit hungry as I hadn't had a proper lunch because I was busy (lol). We were going to a drinking party later, so I couldn't eat too much, but I also didn't want to drink on an empty stomach and get drunk easily. I thought about eating some standing soba at the station, but it was quite crowded, probably due to the evening rush hour. In times like these, the "food court" directly connected to the station is really convenient. I decided to go for udon since it's light and can satisfy my current hunger without overeating. They were promoting a limited-time "clam udon" quite prominently, and it looked delicious in the photos. I ordered the "clam udon (small)" (540 yen, excluding tax). It was ready in about 3 minutes! Sometimes the actual dish looks different from the photos, but this udon had plenty of clams just like in the picture! It even came with a shell opener. The clams were relatively large in size. It's nice to get this much for the price! There was also plenty of seaweed in the bowl. It had been about 3 years since I last had udon at "Hanamaru Udon," and I was pleasantly surprised by the firm texture of the noodles. I thought, "This is not to be underestimated," as I ate. The broth for this udon was different from others, with a white-ish broth flavored with dried fish stock. After finishing the meal, I looked at the clam shells in the shell opener and saw there was quite a lot. It was a satisfying bowl of udon!

Asahikawa Station AEON. Back entrance. I usually enter from the parking lot side entrance. I don't see the front entrance much... This side has a more luxurious feel with a wooden sign that says AEON in English, and it lights up. It feels more upscale here just because of the sign... The front entrance is like a department store, quite spacious... Yes, the front entrance is better haha. Is AEON fun? Today, what place will it be? If it looks delicious, please click the "↓" button!! ⇒ Try pressing it once!! Food Court The food court occasionally changes. It's been quite calm here lately. There are a total of 10 stores in the food court, and there are 19 other stores, including cafes and taiyaki shops. There are also several dining places on the 4th floor, so there are quite a few food-related stores here. Hanamaru Udon I've been liking Hanamaru Udon recently. The noodles here have more chewiness compared to another chain store. However... the number of tempura pieces is quite small. The menu is also harder to read here. The cheapest one is written in a way that you can't easily find it... haha. They recommend udon with toppings for most of the menu items... When I just want simple kake udon, it's a bit troublesome. If it's not there, I get confused. It's written quietly at the bottom right corner. Service prices range from 150 yen for a small kake udon to 290 yen for a cold bukkake udon with lemon. Does it cost 60 yen for lemon and dashi? Please put a little more soy sauce on the grated soy sauce, and make me udon without the grated daikon. Even if it's included, I don't want them to add it. Asking them to remove it makes me feel like I'm losing out... This Set I don't usually order the ○○ udon. I'm fine with a simple one. So, no need for beef, konbu, etc. in my udon. Just udon with tenkasu. That's good enough for me. I don't dislike having various ingredients in it, but in the end, I prefer the simple one. Luxurious Tenkasu Festival Hanamaru Udon's tenkasu is difficult to scoop with the small ladle-like spoon. It's also quite challenging to adjust the amount accurately. If you add it randomly... it becomes a mountain. And sesame seeds. This is a must. By the way, you can add as much green onion as you want. Chikuwa Croquette There are few options for fried food here. Well, I think there are different types available. But the ones I want to choose... are limited, so... I don't usually go for croquettes, but this time I thought I'd try it. This is good. It's rare to have warm udon. Is this the first time this year? I can't remember... I don't like it when the noodles become less chewy when they're warm. The firmer they are, the better, but it wasn't as firm as I thought. Of course, it's softer than the cold one, but not as soft as I expected. Taste-wise, it's just right with the broth and tenkasu. Croquette. There are people who dip croquettes in soup, right? Do you add it to the soup? I can't do that... Why make the crispy one soggy with soup, and then let the croquette absorb the soup? It's not a croquette anymore, in my opinion. So, I had it separately. It was slightly greasy though... I want to eat croquettes freshly fried without sauce. Thank you for the meal. ⇒ ◇ Cold udon with broth and tenkasu, that's all I need ◇ And I ended up eating croquettes again Preview ==========

I went to eat udon and always have trouble deciding what tempura to get. This day, I chose a small size squid tempura on top of noodles and a tempura with a half-cooked egg. I indulged in eating two tempura items. The squid tempura was delicious! Thank you for the meal. ( ´ー`)

Basic, Hanamaru always orders the "grated soy sauce" cold. With plenty of sesame and shoyu. Grated soy sauce (small) 253 yen. When traveling, I tend to overeat and drink. At times like that, I look for something cheap and easy to digest. Furthermore, I look for a place where I can eat "grated daikon". Grated daikon is more effective than stomach medicine when feeling bloated, in my opinion. I don't know about others. Plus, you can also get some ginger. If pickled plums are available as an option, that would be great! By the way, this Hanamaru is tastier than the store I used to occasionally visit before. That store was famous for being disappointing even among Hanamaru locations. Sigh. I would like to go back to Shikoku to eat "Sanuki udon" (Kagawa) and "Naruchuru udon" (Tokushima) again. I dream of slurping udon in the northern lands.

In Asahikawa, if you want to eat Marugame Udon, you have to go to the food court. The food court is crowded and chaotic, but I find it convenient because you can bring your food from different places to eat. On this day, I had a collaboration meal from Pepper Lunch, a small Kake Udon for 150 yen. I customized it with tempura flakes, ginger, sesame, and shichimi pepper. It was delicious! Thank you for the meal!