Tachibana Udon

[Freshly boiled udon noodles to give you energy]

The restaurant was founded in 1977. The founder, a former long-distance truck driver, started the udon restaurant because he wanted to open a restaurant where busy working people could casually stop by and eat. “Freshly boiled udon is chewy and fluffy. We are passionate about serving it at the most delicious moment,” says the founder, and as such, the restaurant’s policy is to serve freshly boiled noodles without pre-boiling them. Because the noodles need to be boiled for 30 minutes, they have to predict how many customers will be coming.

The wheat is from Chikugo, and the dashi is made from Rishiri kelp harvested from a designated beach (specifying the coast where it was harvested), and is only used for the first and second grades. The soy sauce is also locally produced, and the recipe for the dashi is passed down through the family tradition of “one son to one son”. The recommended dish is the “meat and burdock tempura udon”, a popular menu item that many customers order. When I tried it, the combination of the tenderly stewed beef belly and the burdock tempura was delicious, and the udon dashi was also very tasty. Many customers also order “mazemeshi” (mixed rice) along with the udon. This has been on the menu since the restaurant first opened, and the rice cooked in the udon dashi had a gentle flavor.

The director, who is the granddaughter of the founder, is a lively woman. “When I was a student, I would only help out at the store during the New Year holidays, but I’ve been working there full time for the past six years,” she said. The store is staffed by many young women, and is lively and energetic. “Because of COVID-19, it’s difficult to shout out “Come in!” like before, but I want this store to be a place where customers can feel happy and energetic when they come,” she said.