Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda

Kadoya Shokudo, a famous Chinese noodle restaurant, currently operates a total of four branches in Osaka City, including the main branch. Among these, Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda branch, located in the Hanshin Umeda Main Store Snack Park, operates in a slightly different style. It seems that the owner of Kadoya Shokudo has a special attachment to the restaurant, as he was often brought to Snack Park when he was a child. However, according to what I hear, they had to work very hard to adapt the price range to the Snack Park concept…

What kind of restaurant is this, which overcame such difficulties and opened on 1 June 2018, all about? In some of these cases, the shop is completely different from the main shop… I was interested in such things, so the other day I went to the basement floor of the Hanshin Umeda main shop where the shop is located. The restaurant area of the department store is right in the middle of Umeda, and even though I visited at around 2:30pm in the afternoon, there was a huge crowd…

Cost-cutting measures in various places… Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda differs from the main branch in Nishinagahori in this way.

First of all, let me summarise in a few words. Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda Branch is a restaurant where you can sip delicious Chinese noodles as if you were eating standing up. As Snack Park claims to be a ‘station-side eating paradise’, this restaurant is different from ordinary ramen shops in that it specialises in ‘stand-up eating’.

As such, everything from ordering to serving and cleaning up is self-service. After ordering what you want to eat at the counter, you wait for your food to be served from the serving slot next to it. When the food you ordered is served, you move to the standing counter of your choice in the snack park to finish your meal, and finish by returning the dishes you have finished eating to the return slot next to the shop…

The small kitchen was staffed by three waiters who looked like young part-timers. When an order is received, a timer is set to boil the noodles, and the soup, which has already been mixed with the sauce and broth, is poured into a bowl. When the noodles are finished boiling, the water is drained off and the noodles are poured into the bowl, and finally the toppings, which have already been formed, are placed on top! That’s how it goes. This is why this restaurant does not have the mental (?) value-added feeling that the ramen craftsmen have been meticulous in their preparation. If the taste doesn’t deteriorate, I’m very thankful that the price is reasonable! If this is the case, then I am very grateful for the reasonable price.

Wontan-men: a shop-only menu only available at Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda branch, how was it when you tried it?

What I ordered at Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda this time was wonton noodle (priced at 830 yen including tax), which is a store-exclusive menu only available here. After placing my order at the counter and waiting for about 10 minutes, the wonton noodles were ready…

The colour of the soup as Chinese soba is comparable to that of Kadoya Shokudo Sohonten’s Chinese soba. Toppings include a piece of chashu pork, bamboo shoots and three main wontons… for 830 yen Chinese soba, this is quite luxurious.

The first mouthful is lightly oily, but when you break through the film of oil, the richness of the high-quality soy sauce and chicken stock spreads softly throughout your mouth. The way the soup stock spreads is similar to the Chinese noodles of Tora Shokudo, the headquarter of Shirakawa ramen. As you would expect from Kadoya Shokudo, there are no corners cut in the soup, even though the price range is kept low. Hopefully, you will be able to fully enjoy this soup, but the fact that the amount of soup is considerably smaller than that of ordinary ramen is probably unavoidable due to the cost.

In contrast, the noodles are ultra-thin flat noodles… to be boiled as quickly as possible. This is the same concept as Naniwa Menjiro in Namba Station. The noodles are hard boiled and you can enjoy the sensation of a crunch. The noodles do not have a wheat aroma due to their ultra-thinness, but they absorb the soup well and you can feel the full flavour, and their smoothness is excellent.

Now, the main topping, wontons, are comparable in size to other restaurants’ wontons, and the smooth, silky feeling of the skin is very pleasant. And the filling inside is probably prawn? When you bite into it, it has a plump texture and the aroma of liquor wafts softly into your nose. However, the amount of bean paste is quite small and it almost feels like you are eating the skin. This is probably unavoidable due to the cost, but I wish the filling had a stronger presence…

Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda’s wonton noodles are much more reasonably priced than the Chinese noodles at the main restaurant, but the quality is not inferior. However, the volume is about two-thirds that of the original, and my stomach felt that I wanted a little more…

Well, you can order more if you need more (even if you add a bowl of chashu pork to the default chuka soba, you’ll get your change back in a 1,000 yen note – overwhelmingly cosy!) ) Conversely, for people who eat small portions, it’s probably better to eat this amount of food at a reasonable price. As the name ‘Snack Park’ suggests, it is just right for adult men to use it as a light meal.

【Bonus】This time, the extra is the Chami Pork Cha-Mayo Donburi (priced at 290 yen (tax included)). Like this, chopped chashu pork on white rice is covered with a net of spicy mayonnaise. The spicy mayonnaise is quite pungent and tangy, but the overall taste is as you would expect. At best, it does not disappoint. The chashu pork is chopped, so it is not as meaty as it could be, but this probably makes it easier for women to eat. The volume of the ramen is originally small, so men with a big appetite may need to add a bowl of rice to their bowl.

Examples of other menu items at Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda (prices include tax)

• Chinese noodles 580 yen
• Chuka-soba with Ajitama (Chinese noodles with seasoned egg) 730 yen
• Kami-Chuka-soba (with more chashu pork and ajitama) 830 yen
• Chashu-men 880 yen
• Chashu-don (bowl of rice topped with pork) using Satsuma Chami-buta pork 290 yen

Free service of a large serving of Chinese noodles from 3pm on Fridays… Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda Branch is a one-minute walk from the nearest station, Higashi Umeda Station on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line.

Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda Branch offers a free large serving of various Chinese noodles from 3pm on Fridays…

See the pink information in the image above. I don’t think many people know about it because the sign is small, but it does say HAPPY FRIDAY and “Large serving service from 3pm”. I assume this is a Friday-only service since it’s ‘Happy Friday’, but if you can visit the restaurant at this time, you’ll certainly get a great deal on a bowl of Kadoya Shokudo’s chuka-soba. If you are in the mood for a delicious Chinese noodle on a Friday afternoon, why not remind yourself that Kadoya Shokudo Hanshin Umeda Branch offers this kind of service?

Now, here are the details of the restaurant. Shop data here…

From JR Osaka Station, it is a three-minute walk.

P.S. If you are looking for good ramen in Osaka, please stop by this article…