Ippu Udon

March 26, 2012March 2, 2019 jjwalsh 7672 Views Naka-ku, Udon

Ippu [一風] is a family run business that has been serving handmade udon noodles since 1974. You can see it along the main street easily as there is a giant white lantern hanging in front when they are open. The front lit window has “homemade noodles” written on it in Japanese. There are shelves of plastic replicas of all of their dishes in the front entrance to the shop and they also have a full English menu.

The symbol of the wheel in the logo for Ippu represents the water wheel since the cleanest water source is vital for good quality Japanese noodles. The passion of this family is with their white flour udon noodle dishes, but they also have soba buckwheat noodles, nabe hot-pot and rice donburi dishes available as well. They offer hot and cold udon and soba dishes throughout the year.

This is a place that you will want to come back to again and again not only for the great food, but also because the staff are easy-going and friendly to visitors. The old-style Japanese atmosphere makes you feel right at home. Sitting at one of the tables on the raised tatami mats or at wooden tables with chairs, surrounded by interesting old paintings and a wall dedicated to how handmade udon noodles are made.

Ippu is a traditional shop of the kind that you see less and less in the rapidly modernizing city center. Compared to more modern chain of noodle shops you can appreciate its unique personality every time you visit. It’s a great place to go for a quick, healthy Japanese meal of noodles or rice to feel a sense of one of Hiroshima’s oldest noodle shops. You may notice signed placards from the many famous foreign and Japanese visitors they have served over their many years in operation.

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If you are interested, you can be entertained if you arrive before or after the lunch crowd and watch the chef rolling out and cutting the next batch of udon noodles. From the tables at the back of the restaurant, you can look through a window into the kitchen.

The menu offers a variety of udon, soba, nabe and donburi dishes which include combinations of tempura deep fried vegetables and shrimp, quail’s eggs, a variety of vegetables, tofu, seasoning, curry flavor as well as meat topping options. The prices are reasonable and you can pay slightly more to get a larger portion Oomori of certain noodle dishes.

All the food is served in beautiful pottery bowls on wooden trays. The bowls are uniquely made with a lip at the side of the bowl where you can drink the soup easier. Complementary tea is served when you sit down or a plastic cup of water and cutlery for the kids. Another branch of the same family that runs the noodle shop also runs a popular nighttime izakaya Japanese style pub in the same building at the top of the stairs.