Tamaruya

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Recherche et rédaction Hinato

Mizusawa udonShibukawaIkaholocal foodsince 1582

Photo: yt_siden / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · original

Mizusawa udon is counted among Japan's three great udon alongside Sanuki and Inaniwa, and it developed to feed pilgrims arriving at Mizusawa Kannon, the temple on the hill above. The noodles are made with local water, rested and hand-worked, and served cold on a tray so that the translucency and the firm, slippery texture are the whole presentation — there is no broth to hide behind.

Its signature order is a tray with two dipping sauces, sesame and soy, which is a genuinely useful format because the same noodle tastes like a different dish in each. The shop also makes kirimugi, a wide flat noodle based on an older recipe. It opens at nine in the morning, closes at three, and stops when the day's noodles are gone.

Informations essentielles

Horaires d'ouverture

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (closes earlier if sold out)

Fermé: Closed Wednesdays

Tarif d'entrée

Mori udon with two dipping sauces ¥1,210 | Kirimugi ¥1,100–1,320 | Maitake tempura ¥500

Meilleure saison

Year-round | Cold udon is at its best in summer

Durée de visite

45–60 minutes

Comment s'y rendre

Informations d'accès

Closed Wednesdays. Mori udon with two dipping sauces ¥1,210; kirimugi ¥1,100–1,320; maitake tempura ¥500. Phone.

Guide d'initié

**Order the two-sauce tray.** Sesame and soy on the same tray (¥1,210) is the shop's signature and the most informative thing on the menu — the sesame sauce is rich and coats the noodle, the soy is clean and lets the wheat through. Ordering one sauce only halves what you learn. **Add the maitake tempura.** At ¥500 it is the standard local addition and the mushroom is grown in the region. It is the one side dish worth the space. **Nine in the morning is not a mistake.** Turning up at 2:30 PM on a weekend risks finding the day's noodles gone — the earlier half of the window is safer. **Do the temple first.** Mizusawa Kannon is directly above the shop, free, and takes about twenty minutes. Temple then noodles is the order the whole street was built around, and it means you arrive at the shop before the lunch peak. **Several udon houses share the approach.** This is an udon street, not a single restaurant, and the neighbouring shops are also long-established. If Tamaruya has a queue, the alternatives beside it are not a compromise.

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