There was a time when I loved Ochanomizu and went there constantly. Back then I mostly ate Western-style food like curry. I only found out fairly recently that there’s a famous udon shop there. It’s always near the top of Tokyo udon rankings, and Zagat praises it as the best value for money around.
Kake udon
Since it’s summer, I ordered the cold hiyakake. The noodles had less bounce than proper Sanuki udon; I wondered if they’d been tuned to Tokyo tastes. But the cold broth chased away the summer heat. If it’s this good, I don’t think I’d even miss naengmyeon. Naengmyeon eaten in summer is the worst anyway, right? ^_^ You can add sudachi for an even more refreshing kick, but I’d already had French food today, so I didn’t go that far. I also had dinner coming up in about three hours..
Kashiwa-ten (chicken tempura)
I originally wanted a different tempura, but they said it was sold out, so I switched to this. The udon was tasty, but since it’s really a place for a meal, it’s a bit of a shame there are no light snacks to go with a drink. You could do that at Sumita, the udon shop in Jujo. Then again, the line at Sumita is always so long that it’s a real hassle to go, so it’s not a fair comparison.
You can add tenkasu (tempura crumbs) and such to taste.
The pleasure of cold udon on a summer day is much the same as the pleasure of cold naengmyeon. I had a big lunch so I left some of the noodles, which is a pity, but there’ll be another summer next year, so I’ll save that pleasure for then.