CURRY UDON AND KAKIAGE GO WELL ON A CHILLY DAY
28.01.2025
We have had a cold change come through Shunan. There has been light snow and rain, but that did not stop us from having a good relaxing day. We were both up around 8.00am this morning but it was the sort of day you had to force yourself to get out of a warm bed.
I had my usual breakfast, which is very Aussie, with cereal and a sliced apple. Mami just had rice with natto so we obviously have very different tastes. Natto is fermented beans and are usually sold in a polystyrene box about 5cm square. It smells awful and is sticky like glue. If you threw natto at a wall it would stick there for eternity. However, according to Japanese people it is good for your gut, even if it does smell like old unwashed socks.
Today is a special day. Yoshi is going out to lunch with Youko, Mami and me and is leaving work at 11.30am … aaannnnd HE’S NOT GOING BACK TO WORK FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!!!! We are off to my newly discovered favourite Udon Restaurant, Sukesan. I came back raving about the Kakiage and Yoshi said he wanted to go there and see what it was like. So that is exactly what we all did.
Sukesan Udon Restaurant is open from 9.00am until 1.00am, so it caters for a lot of people and seems to always be full, or close to it. We had to wait again today when we got there, but only for about 10 minutes. Yoshi ordered a kakiage with just a normal udon which is noodles in a clear soup. I had kakiage as I usually do, in curried udon. Both Yoshi and I were very pleased with our choices.
Mami and Youko had regular udon. If you go to an Udon restaurant and order udon, you will get plain udon in a clear soup. If you get what I had, you have to let the waiter know you want curry udon. What the rest of the family had is the most popular order in Japan so you just say udon when you order, but you can add tempura prawns, burdock sticks or kakiage to have with you udon.
Here is another popular Udon restaurant’s Menu.
https://jp.marugame.com/en/menu/udon/?filter=shop Maybe worth studying before you come to Japan to find your favourite? You can also add Tempura or Kakiage to your Udon. https://jp.marugame.com/en/menu/tempura/?filter=shop
By the way, the cost of this meal today for four people was 2430Y!! That’s about $25 in Australian money. You’d be lucky to get one meal for that in any restaurant or pub in Melbourne. Food here is not only delicious but also incredibly well priced.
We drove home all feeling good about the wonderful meal we had just had. When Mami told Yoshi about the restaurant, he said he wanted to go there too. So Mami told him to come out for lunch and then take the rest of the day off. He surprised everyone when he said okay. So when we got home from the restaurant, he packed his small bag and took off to his favourite onsen. He will stay there for the rest of the afternoon. He will be totally blissed out when he gets home and will probably not need a massage. Or maybe not???
I am writing today’s blog at Hamamoto, while Mami is at the supermarket getting Sashimi for tonight’s dinner. Hamamoto is still up there with the best coffee cafes in Japan and I love writing the blog here. It is almost therapeutic. Love the soft sound of jazz in the background. Bliss.
