Menchirashi

I walked by this place randomly, and saw the longest line I’ve ever seen for an udon restaurant. My passionate curiosity got the best of me, and I came back the next day right when it opened to beat the rush. Much to my chagrin, I arrived 10 minutes before opening, and was still like 17th in line. Nasty work. They hand you a menu in line, so you can pick out what you want and order right away. They turning tables in here. Right when you walk in, you see one of the employees carefully placing the noodles into a bowl with a twirl like motion, which was one of the most aesthetically pleasing things I’ve ever seen. Bro was an artist. I got a seat at one of the barstools, and it felt like an American diner ambiance, idk. Kinda trippy. I ordered the shrimp tempura udon and a side of beef. While this was a quality meal, it was not worth the wait to me. I honestly don’t know why there is such a long line. It was one of the better Udon spots I hit on my trip, but not the best. I wouldn’t wait if I were you, but if you walk by and there is no line it’s definitely worth it. IG @jnov_ Tiktok @jnov__

Had some expectations as there are often long queues outside the restaurant and have seen quite decent reviews of the dishes. The service was decent as the waiters automatically refilled our glasses a couple times. We ordered a tori paitan (udon in chicken broth) and the iconic cabonara udon. The soup for the tori paitan was flavorful, and was served with marinated chicken mince. The udon was also very chewy, in a pleasant way, and cooked just right. Overall it was quite nice, but the portion was quite small. Since it's stated that extra noodles is free, we would have ordered that if we had known about the rather small portion. While the udon was also well prepared in the carbonara udon, the dish overall was very off-colour. Firstly there was single cream at the bottom of the udon, which made it slightly weird for a carbonara. Although the separately plated ingredients  made the dish visually appetising, it meant that there was no carbonara sauce. The issue was that while mixing the ingredients to "create" the sauce, the cheese clumps together, and the unbeaten egg meant it was quite difficult to blend with the other ingredient. The bacon was decent, crispy and juicy. But it seems like the fat was not rendered for the carbonara sauce as a slab of butter was also present. The portion was also quite small. Fortunately we did not have to queue as I do not think the quality of the food justifies queuing up for more than five minutes.

Arrived around 2PM to try and avoid the queues - it didn’t work. We waited for 40 minutes until we were seated, they take your order when you get closer to the entrance so we got our food right as we were seated. The carbonara was great and flavorful, we also had the shrimp tempura that was unbelievably light and hit the spot. We got out just after 3pm and the queue was very short then.

I was walking around the streets of Shibuya, desperately looking for food, and stumbled upon this small cozy shop in a back alley. It was already closing time, but luckily they were still operating, so I decided to give it a try. I hadn’t heard of this place before, but after searching on Instagram, I realized it’s quite popular! I ordered the udon carbonara, which was something I’d never tried before. I’ve only had soup udon, so this was a unique twist. It was amazing—the udon was super chewy, and the dish was both visually appetizing and incredibly delicious. Definitely something you’d want to share on Instagram! The food came quickly—around 10-15 minutes—and the open kitchen gave it a nice cozy, authentic vibe. I also got lucky by going late because I didn’t have to queue, but I’ve seen that the lines can be crazy long. If you’re looking to try something new, I highly recommend the udon carbonara here. Overall, excellent food and a great find in Shibuya!

be there at 11 am if u want to be the the first group of eaters: we had the kake udon both cold and in soup style; udon itself is really high quality, balancing with chewiness and texture. harmony with the soup; the cold one did not comes w the egg but still very good; the fish cake tempura and the shrimp tempura are excellent - thin batter and not oily ; we will try the carbonara next time seating just like regular local style; tight space and crowd. no service is required as everyone just concentrating on their food. must try if u r visiting tokyo

The wait was long, but it was worth it. As soon as we sat down, they immediately brought out our food, which was a pleasant surprise after waiting. The Kake Udon itself was flavorful, but the standout was the tempura—seriously, some of the best I’ve had. It was perfectly crispy and light, with a great balance of texture and flavor.

Had the famous Udon Carbonara and added the suggested roe. Also had some side tempura. The sweet potato tempura was OK but the shitake mushroom one was excellent. The shrimp tempura was very good as well. We had the plum wine with hot water which went down nicely with the excellent dinner. The queue was very long but moved very fast. We waited 40mins for a line that was x4 lines long (very fast).

Be prepared to wait for this small udon restaurant in Omotesando...but 1000% worth it. You have to get a number and return to the restaurant when your number is called to join the line and they take your order while in line. But let me tell you. The Udon Carbonara was absolutely incredible. Worth the wait