Marugame in the restaurant name is taken from Marugame, a city in Kagawa Prefecture. However, Marugame Seimen is not an udon restaurant that originated in Kagawa Prefecture.
Although often misunderstood, the first store was in Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, and the operator, Tridor, is a company based in Kobe City. Incidentally, there is no Marugame Seimen or any other type of Tridor restaurant in Marugame City.
However, the founder’s father’s family lives in Sakaide City, a neighbor of Marugame City, and he has had nothing to do with Sanuki Udon, but rather has had a strong attachment to the food since childhood.
He says that he chose the name Marugame Seimen because he felt that Marugame City was a sacred place for Sanuki udon (the udon culture of Marugame City was even featured in the Shin Nihon Fudoki).
The idea for the udon chain came to him when he saw an udon shop in Marugame with a long line of customers, and he thought, “I can do this! I was so impressed that I decided to start my own udon shop. Because of this background, he has never thought of expanding into his hometown of Kagawa, especially Sakaide City and Marugame City (because he felt that it was not his place to do so).
He also serves as a cultural ambassador for Marugame City to promote the Sanuki Udon brand, supporting the Sanuki Udon culture behind the scenes.
Contents
udon with minced meat
The udon noodles are still the classic thick, not-so-sticky type. However, they are a good match with the delicious broth.
Oyster taman-kake udon
Oyster taman-kake udon noodles filled with rich flavor.
The rich oyster flavor soaks into the gentle egg ankoan.
Udon noodles with spicy sauce
The powder looks like dried bonito flakes powder, but mixed with something spicy!
Not really that hot, but kind of spicy!
Beef tomato udon
The synergistic effect of tomatoes and beef enhances the flavor.
Mentaiko Kamatama Udon
Plenty of mentaiko (cod roe) and a raw egg intertwine nicely to create a marriage of flavor and richness.
The hot udon noodles are outstandingly delicious.
Marugame Udon, a popular self-serve udon noodle restaurant, is currently holding a “Kama-age Udon Day” campaign on the first day of every month, where kama-age udon noodles are sold at half price.
On Marugame Udon noodle’s Kama-age Udon Day, ordinary udon (usually 290 yen) is sold at half price (140 yen), large udon (usually 420 yen) is sold at half price (210 yen), and toke (usually 550 yen) is sold at half price (270 yen). (Fractional 5 yen will also be discounted.)
Kitsune Udon
The fried tofu was very large, sweet and delicious.
Marugame Official website
https://jp.marugame.com/en/index.html
