Reviews List
English Reviews (Reviews Total Language : 77 reviews)
“Cozy Noodles. ”
Udon and soba Nirvana. The restaurant is charming and very peaceful. My vegetarian opinion wasn’t really vegetarian, but neither am I so the fish cake and bonito soup base was a big hit!
Visited October 2023
Value
Service
Atmosphere
Food
“While the shop decor was beautifully traditional, the food was disappointing”
Located not far from Nishiki Market, we thought a visit to Gontaro Head Shop would be a good way to end our morning of food sampling after hearing good recommendations about their noodles. However, while the shop decor was beautifully traditional, the food was rather disappointing. We ordered a nab...eyaki udon and the seasonal special, kamo nanban soba. While the udon had a little bit of "al-dente" chew to it, the soba was overcooked and mushy. Both soups were bland but the the soup that came with the soba tasted a bit metallic-y as well. The accoutrements that came with the udon were typical and weren't anything to write home about; however, the duck in the soba (the supposed star of the dish) was chewy and flavorless. To add insult to injury, the portion was small for the cost we were paying. All this to say, the value and our experience there was subar and underwhelming. If you want to try udon or soba in the city, I would recommend trying somewhere else.
Visited February 2020
“Great udon!”
Not much to say except the locals love it and so did we. There was even a queue when we had finished which was a great sign. Couldn’t go past the Tempura Shrimp udon....it was delicious. Tip: get there early as queues do form for this place.
Visited January 2020
“Traditional style, near the Westin ”
Not a far walk from the Westin, just past the zoo, is a delightful restaurant, with good food served in the traditional style. If you can sit on the floor with crossed legs then do. Our waitress spoke wonderful English and brought us English menus. Hot tea was served while we made our selecti...on of lunch. Very quickly our soup choices arrived . I had Udon noodles in a chicken broth with a slight smokiness. Just enough for lunch. Credit cards are accepted here, the first we have seen so far.
Visited October 2018
“Good udon but not that impressive”
We came here after visiting Nishiki market. I thought if you want to have udon checked off your must eat list in Japan this would be it. The udon and soba were all very delicious. But I must say we were not wow’ed. Maybe we didn’t go with proper expectation cuz after all it was just noodles.
Visited March 2018
