Udon Miyatake

Ueno Miyatake

Just this past weekend while on our way to the zoo, my friends and I were trying to find some place to eat near Ueno station. Little did I realize that the park nearby had a huge hanami festival going on and the place was absolutely packed! There are many restaurants located outside of the station, however finding one without a wait line was impossible. We walked about two minutes from the station to Ueno's Mori Sakura Terrace - a building with many different restaurants on each floor and came across Ueno Miyatake. The main reason why this restaurant caught my attention over the rest in this building was the huge banner of their Mentaiko Cream Udon! I've never had it before, and always wanted to try so thought this was the perfect opportunity. They have a wide selection of hot and cold udon with little sets as well. With our party of 5, we didn't wait too long for a table. They basically sat us at two tables next to each other without putting the tables together - not a problem though. The restaurant was a little spacier than it looked from outside, which was good. During this busy time though, there seemed to be only two workers, so taking our order took some time as we had to call for their attention. With zero expectations, I enjoyed my mentaiko cream udon. I'm not sure if it was because I was starving, but the udon noodles were a good chewy texture as well as the cream having a nice lighter consistency. The mentaiko spice of course topped it off. Checking their website, I found out that this seemed like a pretty big chain, as they have restaurants all over Japan as well. I would definitely come back for their mentaiko cream udon, however the banner did say that it was only for a limited time. I hope they decide to add it to their full menu though!