Big bowl of Udon

There is this udon place I walk past almost every week. It is in Daimaru in Osaka and probably plenty of other places and it is one of the best udon places I have ever had the pleasure of eating.

If you find yourself in Osaka station and not knowing what to eat, I highly recommend this place, if you can stand waiting in line a little bit. It is located in an extremely crowded place and you will have to wait patiently outside, all the while looking at people enjoying their enormous bowls of all kinds of udon. I say udon, but the consistency is much more like ramen. I don`t know enough about noodles to distinguish between ramen and udon except for its thickness, so I keep making the mistake of calling it ramen.

It is a little bit expensive, as udon goes, each bowl is around 1000 yen, but what you get is more than enough to satisfy your stomach. I was full all the way until dinnertime, and one has to be pretty active to survive the hustle and bustle of Osaka station for an entire day.

I got the hot chicken udon in white sauce, while my partner got some fried chicken (karaage) with some more Japanese style soup. I of course liked mine best, being that I care more about thickness of the soup, but the other one was also delicious. Many of the dishes are served chilled rather than hot (because of the weather today), so it can cool you down as well as fill you up.

I on the other hand am having none of this chilled nonsense. I want my noodles hot as the day is long. And you know what? Since most places in Osaka are airconditioned anyway, it doesn`t bother me at all.

If you want to go shopping in Osaka, make sure you can get plenty of cool air around you. I recommend Osaka station for all its underground passages and accessibility. Do that and you won`t have to change your diet from hot to cool. Be like me. Resist the change!