Rousokuya is so famous that you probably already know about it.

The entrance

By the way, rousoku means candle.

The entrance

They also do a chilled tantanmen as a seasonal menu item, apparently.

An ad announcing that a Rousokuya branch is opening..

Inside

I got in right as they opened, so I could take photos of the interior. There are study-room-style partitions as a COVID measure.

The seats

The menu

I ordered the shop’s most famous shibire soba, the mapo noodles.

The description

Well.. if you have the time, give it a read..

Cilantro and rice

The rice is free at lunchtime.

Mapo noodles

I wondered whether mapo tofu and noodles would go well together, but since you can’t eat the tofu along with the noodles using chopsticks alone, the noodles vanish in no time. Well, the mapo tofu was tasty, so the noodles tasted great too. It was especially good for beating the summer heat with something hot.

Budo sansho oil

This sancho is really good.. these days it seems more and more places put it out as an oil rather than as sancho powder. Well, that’s easier to eat and the aroma is better too.

The noodles

They’re medium-thick noodles, and they go well with the sauce.

Topped with cilantro

It disappeared in an instant.

Rice

So much mapo tofu sauce was left over that I couldn’t not eat the rice.. it goes without saying, but mapo tofu goes so well with rice. They could just sell it as a mapo tofu rice bowl and it would sell well. Anyway, I ate the noodles and the rice and walked out completely stuffed. There’s no way a place like this wouldn’t be popular.

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