Tachibana Udon Kurume

Hakata’s udon is famous throughout Japan, but in fact, Kurume is also said to have good udon… I heard such a rumor and decided to visit Tachibana Udon, the restaurant I will introduce here. It is a long-established udon shop with a long history, having been in business since 1981, but when I looked it up on the Internet, I found that they sell frozen curry bread, tiramisu, pudding, and other items that do not resemble an udon shop, and that they have a kitchen car at events in various regions. The restaurant seemed to be engaged in quite interesting activities, and I liked that about it.

But that doesn’t mean it is an unusual store. After all, Tachibana Udon has won the “100 Best Udon Restaurants” award of Tabelog three times. So the taste is already guaranteed, but what is the difference between Hakata udon and Kurume udon? I headed for the restaurant with this in mind, but in fact, I was a little mistaken at this point…

A large, drive-in-like restaurant with a total of 136 seats…Tachibana Udon Kurume is such a restaurant.

What is this misconception? The home of Tachibana Udon is actually in Yanagawa City, further south from Kurume. The Tachibana Udon in Kurume introduced here is a branch of the main store in Yanagawa City. So, strictly speaking, the udon here is not from Kurume, but from Yanagawa. Well, the two restaurants are completely independent, and their menus seem to be slightly different.

Aside from that, I arrived at Tachibana Udon Kurume around 9:00 a.m., 30 minutes earlier than the store’s opening time. The restaurant was located near the Kurume Interchange on the Kyushu Expressway, and contrary to my expectations, it was quite large. According to the restaurant’s Tabelog, there are a total of 136 seats in the restaurant, including counter seats, table seats, and tatami room seats. The parking space is spacious enough for 30 cars, and it could be said that this restaurant is like a drive-in restaurant despite being an udon shop.

Since it is such a large scale udon shop, there was not a long line outside even after opening. However, even though the store opened at 9:30 in the morning, customers kept coming in and out. The walls of the restaurant are lined with autographs and commemorative photos of celebrities. It must be a very popular restaurant. The wait time for udon noodles to be served was a little long, but…

Tachibana Udon Kurume also has a free side dish corner similar to the one at the Maruhoshi Chinese Noodle Center Head Shop, so we could drown our hunger with these while waiting for our udon order to be served.

Meat and Burdock tempura Udon: The most popular menu item at Tachibana Udon Kurume, testing the difference from Hakata Udon.

This time I ordered the most popular menu item at Tachibana Udon Kurume, the Meat and Burdock tempura Udon (priced at 780 yen + tax). After about 15 minutes of waiting after ordering, the Meat and Burdock tempura Udon was brought in front of me…

The surface of the bowl is almost completely covered with beef, burdock tempura, and chopped green onions. It looks quite filling, and I think one bowl of this will fill me up.

Let’s start with the broth… Using a bamboo whisk to take a sip, the overall flavor is light, but the saltiness of the soy sauce is a little strong. On the other hand, the soup stock from the kelp and dried bonito flakes is a bit milder, and while the broth goes smoothly into the body, the saltiness that remains at the end stimulates the desire to take another sip. The soup stock looks and tastes very clear, but in the latter half of the meal, the broth soaked into the beef gradually dissolves into the soup and naturally turns into a sweet broth. The sweet broth is not at all cloying, so we can enjoy the change in flavor over time and drink every last drop of the broth.

The noodles are as thick as Sanuki udon noodles, and are soft and fluffy on the outside, with a slight core in the center. They were not completely soft noodles like those at the popular Hakata restaurant Hagakure Udon. Another characteristic was that the surface of the noodles was quite coarse. But this is not because the noodles are made in a rough way, but because the surface is made to be rough so that the soup stock can be easily entangled with the noodles. I see…

Now, moving on to the toppings, the beef tenderloin was stewed until it was so tender that it melted naturally in my mouth without any exaggeration. Along with the flavor of the meat, the sweet braising liquid also spreads in the mouth, and my body also feels like it is melting away together with the meat.

The other main topping, burdock tempura, is different from Maki no Udon‘s burdock tempura in that you can feel the thickness of the burdock itself. This allows the taste of burdock root to be fully appreciated, and it has an indisputable effect of resetting the tongue once it has become accustomed to the taste of dashi broth. The batter is also thick, so if simply left in the broth, the batter will melt and become like tanuki udon tenkasu. The initial crunchy texture of the burdock tempura is delicious, but it would be a shame not to enjoy the change in texture of the burdock tempura as well, wouldn’t it?

After enjoying Tachibana Udon Kurume‘s most popular menu item, the Meat and Burdock tempura Udon, to the fullest, it was time to pay for the bill. I was glad I woke up early in the morning and came all the way to Kurume…. If I had the chance to repeat my visit, I would definitely go back to Kurume, but in reality, I like udon from Hakata so much that it would be hard to say the difference between the two. So, I would be very happy if they open a branch of Tachibana Udon around Tenjin in the future!

Examples of other menu items at Tachibana Udon Kurume (prices do not include tax)

• Kake udon: 390 yen
• Tsukimi Udon: 440 yen
• Maruten Udon: 500 yen
• Kama-age udon 570 yen
• Curry udon 710 yen
• Udon with good luck 790 yen
• Special shrimp tempura udon 820 yen

Note: Each menu item is available for take-out, or can be switched to soba noodles for the price of udon plus 30 yen (tax not included).

通販やふるさと納税でうどんのお取り寄せが可能です…立花うどん 久留米へのアクセスは、最寄り駅のJR久大本線・久留米大学前駅から徒歩20分

Udon can be ordered through mail order or Furusato tax payment… Access to Tachibana Udon Kurume is a 20-minute walk from the nearest station, Kurume Daigaku-mae Station on the JR Kyudaihon Line.

Tachibana Udon Kurume also operates an online store where we can order udon noodles from anywhere in Japan. There are two types of noodles to choose from: fresh noodles that taste just like the udon at the restaurant, and frozen noodles that can be stored for a longer period of time, depending on the purpose of use. The most popular menu item I tried this time, the Meat and Burdock tempura Udon, is also available as a Furusato tax-deductible item. If the conditions are met, it is practically free if paying Furusato tax, so why don’t you try ordering it at home using the link below?

【ふるさと納税】肉 ごぼ天 うどん 立花うどん 3食セット 中太 九州うどん 行列のできる人気店 スープ付き 麺 麺類 うどん麺 セット 食品 お取り寄せ グルメ お取り寄せグルメ 冷凍 福岡県 久留米市 送料無料 価格：12,000円（税込、送料無料) (2024/10/13時点) 楽天で購入

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…