Time For Sanuki Udon

Need something filling, served quickly and somewhat cheap? Why look for burgers and the like when one vacations in Japan. Eat udon instead!

Well, if you are in Takamatsu and you are hungry, what would you look for? Something yummy, chewy and absolutely delicious. You must absolutely not miss trying Sanuki udon.

Legend has it that a monk named Kukai learned the art of making udon at the temple in China where he studied and brought back the knowledge to his home in Sanuki way back in the ninth century.

Three centuries later, another monk named Enni returned from China with drawings of a hydraulic flour mill and with that knowledge, made by kneading flour (noodles, dumplings, etc) flourished.

Sanuki udon, the pride of Kagawa prefecture (which was called Sanuki in ancient times) has a soft and silky texture with an al-dente firmness.The texture of the udon can't be matched elsewhere. Really.

When we got to Takamatsu, we were pretty stoked at the chance to be able to enjoy sanuki udon. More than once, hopefully. Anyways after passing through a few udon shops in Takamatsu, we decided to try a chain outlet first and if time permits, be more adventurous and head to a more traditional, mom&pop style sanuki udon shop later.

So, off we went to Hanamaru for our first sanuki udon experience. Remember, this was our first experience at eating sanuki udon though we have been advised by bloggers, Su and Lrong on how to order them.

Shop's entrance. Not as intimidating as the other shops along the shopping area for clueless foreigners like us to enter. The cook showed us a picture menu, to choose from. So it was, take a tray, pick a glass of water, order your choice of udon (type and size), proceed to pick anything else you want to add to the meal and pay at the cashier.

All three of us had the same. Raimie had the single portion and both Zaini and I had double portion (or was it S size and L size). Can't remember.

I should say we did justice to the food! Not a single drop left!

A few other udon shops just a few metres from Hanamaru. I had hoped we can try them out, but as it turned out we cut short our Shikoku trip in favour of making our way to Hakodate. You aren't seeing the last of me yet, Shikoku! I'll come back!

This place looks pretty interesting to me.Wanted to eat here, but chicken out at the last minute and decided to go to Hanamaru instead. The reason was, the place was busy with people. We were looking for a quiet, non-crowded place as we probably would make a nuisance of ourselves with our cluelessness at busy shops. He~

Mind you, we had our lunch at 4pm!