Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch

When I went to Shinbashi before, I happened to find a huge line for a Sanuki udon specialty restaurant called Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Shimbashi Jinza. I heard that the specialty of this restaurant is meat udon noodles using Hayashi SPF, a brand of pork often used for tonkatsu. When I went to Shinbashi Jinza, I ordered cold chicken tempura bukkake and could not eat Hayashi SPF meat udon, so this time I ordered only this meat udon. Actually, I had just finished eating Tonkatsu Iwai‘s loin cutlet set meal at this time, but of course, if it’s good food, I have to eat something else…

After all, this is also a restaurant with a long line… At noon on a certain weekday, how long is the line and the waiting time at Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch?

On this day, I arrived at Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch at around 12:00 noon, but there was a long line in front of the restaurant as expected. There were about 20 people in the queue. The line was shorter than at Shinbashi Jinza, but I had the impression that it was a little difficult to get in line because of the many cars coming and going on the street in front of the restaurant. Perhaps because of this, more people took their takeout items and left immediately than at the Shimbashi Jinza. Considering this, the lunchtime crowd was probably about the same.

After purchasing a meal ticket from the ticket machine at the front of the restaurant, I got in line, and from there it took a little over 10 minutes to wait to enter the restaurant. There were 24 seats in the restaurant, only counter seats, by my rough count. However, the space inside the restaurant was quite small compared to the restaurant in Shinbashi, and it was difficult to find a place to put our luggage. If you are a businessman working in the area, it is easy to come to the restaurant empty-handed, but if you are a traveler like me, it may be a little difficult to use the restaurant while traveling with luggage.

Double the pork and 4 pieces of chicken tempura… How was the super special meat udon, the top menu item at the Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch?

Now, let me introduce the super special meat udon which I ordered at the Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch, the highest menu of the restaurant. The price is 980 yen including tax. You can choose between hot and cold udon, but this time I ordered hot udon…

After handing the ticket to the waiter, it took a couple of minutes for the super special meat udon to appear in front of me. The special meat udon has twice as much pork and four pieces of chicken tempura compared to the regular meat udon, but at a glance, the amount of pork is not so large. Instead, the four pieces of chicken tempura are quite a large portion…

The thickness of the noodles is a bit thinner than typical Sanuki udon, and the texture is glutinous, due in part to the warm udon. As Sanuki udon noodles go, they are very easy to eat. On the other hand, the broth is quite light and elegant to say the least, but I think it lacks impact as a broth for Sanuki udon. The chicken tempura bukkake at Shinbashi Jinzo also left me with the impression that the broth was not very strong, but that may be the restaurant’s flavor policy.

Now, this pork, the main target of the dish, is made from Hayashi SPF brand pork, and although I could taste the ginger flavor in the seasoning, there was still a slight smell peculiar to pork, which was a bit bothersome if I ate it as is…. So, I followed the instructions on how to eat it…

Here, a lot of black pepper was added! The udon, which I had felt was lacking until then, suddenly had a punch to it, and it was very nice. But to be honest, I was a little disappointed with the Hayashi SPF, which I was looking forward to. I thought regular pork would have been fine. However, the juicy chicken tempura redeemed itself.

I left the restaurant after eating the super special meat udon at Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch in a few minutes. I think the Sanuki udon that became junky with spices was more popular than the meat udon using brand pork… Conversely, you can have junky Sanuki udon without the overpriced meat udon, so that is a positive factor. I think it is worth a try as a new way of eating Sanuki udon.

Examples of other menu items at Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch (prices include tax)

• Special meat curry (hot) 880 yen
• Chicken tempura with tsukimi-tama soy sauce (hot or cold) 800 yen
• Chicken Tama Soy Sauce (hot or cold) 780 yen
• Bukkake RED (hot or cold) 780 yen
• Meat over hot or cold (hot or cold) 740 yen
• Curry Udon (hot) 680 yen
• Egg Butter Soy Sauce (hot) 640 yen

Note: Medium portion (1.5 balls of noodles) can be ordered for 50 yen extra, large portion (2 balls of noodles) for 100 yen extra, and extra large portion (3 balls of noodles) for 200 yen extra.

Operating a total of five branches in Tokyo, including Kanda and Takadanobaba… Access to the Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza Daimon Branch is a four-minute walk from the nearest station, Daimon Station on the Toei Subway Oedo Line.

Homemade Sanuki Udon and Meat Jinza operates a total of 5 branches, including the first one introduced here, the Daimon branch, 2 branches in Shimbashi, Kanda, and Takadanobaba. Perhaps more and more branches will be opened in the future, and it may grow into a chain like Onyanma. Although the price range is a bit higher, there are not so many restaurants where you can eat junky Sanuki udon at the moment, and the increase in the number of restaurants where we can eat delicious Sanuki udon is welcome for us udon lovers. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, please give the junky Sanuki udon a try.

Here are the details of the restaurant…

It is also a 4-minute walk from Hamamatsucho Station on the JR Yamanote Line.