Udon Shin

Great food, udon was springy and cooked to perfection, they even have their own special butter. However the main star of the show would be their tempura, the cheese and kakuni pork tempura were exceptional. And left me wanting for more. Having to queue for more than 3 hours in total left a bitter taste my mouth though. For the uninitiated, there are 2 ways to go about getting the food here. Firstly, you can skip most of the queue and get in immediately if you paid 2000 yen. Secondly, you can join the normal queue without paying and mind you there will be 2 legs to queue from. Firstly, you will have to get a virtual queue ticket that tells you how many groups of people are in front of you before it’s your turn, and during this period, you will be unable to queue at the storefront to avoid overcrowding. When the virtual ticket mentions it’s time for you to get into the restaurant, you start queuing again at the storefront. Mind you while queuing at the storefront it took about a good 40 mins as well. From my own personal experience, came here at 1030am, half an hour before opening time at 11 and was told to get the virtual queue ticket first. By the time I got in it was 1:45pm. This is where the bitter taste comes in, 2 points, first, when you’re told you’re able to come to the storefront via the virtual ticket one would assume you’ll be able to enter straight and not wait for another 40 mins. Upon arrival, you start to realize that it’s first come first serve to queue at the storefront, meaning that virtual queue lets people know that they can come to the storefront and whoever rushes over first gets to go first. Meaning there is no proper numbering of your so called “queue”. Secondly, having to watch people who paid to “reserve” and just cut in before you while queuing at the storefront for another long stretch of time is just tasteless. Basically it’s just people who paid 2000 yen per person to skip and cut your queue. Resulting in longer waiting times. Upon entering, while respectful, I could feel how cold this restaurant was. There was no smile and everyone was just sardined and shoehorned into this small place. It almost felt suffocating. The food while great, is not worth the experience one will feel at all. You’ll blow half a day just for lunch. Sure, everyone needs to make a living and it’s their choice on how they run their business, but it’s lost on me.

This review needs to be divided for better understanding. Regarding the udon noodles of course they are delicious. We saw the chefs cooking it and it’s amazing to see and delicious to taste. But the service… we’ve wait more than 4 hours to eat. Yeah! It’s too much time to wait for a meal without knowing exactly when it will be served. In summary the food it’s not worth the time that we need to wait. The guy that was managing the queue doesn’t know more than a few words in English and he was a bit rude with a few people in the line that don’t know how it works.

Social media brought us here. They open at noon, but we need to take queue number (by email) as early as possible. After that, we can leave the place and monitor the queue line thru our phone. Kalau nomor antri sudah dekat, kita datang lagi ke resto nya. Lokasi exact nya ada di jalan kecil gitu. Tried their famous udon with pork bacon, egg yolk and cream sauce. It tastes so good, creamy, umami, unique! We also ordered the cold udon with raw egg and mentaiko. Unique, not fishy. The key is their udon quality. Fresh, chewy, feels clear and clean in mouth. Definitely a must try near Shinjuku area. Place is so small.

Udon Shin – Come for the noodles, stay for the… 3-hour queue? If you’re planning to eat at Udon Shin, do yourself a favor—grab a virtual ticket in the morning unless you enjoy spending the better part of your day standing in line, questioning your life choices. I waited three hours just to devour my meal in 15 minutes. Honestly, it felt like I was training for a food-themed endurance sport. The restaurant only has 10 seats, which adds to its charm… and its chaos. There are technically two ways to get in: 1. Pay 2000 yen per person and skip the whole queue. VIP treatment. Walk in like a boss. 2. Or, if you like to suffer like I did, go the free route. First, you pick up a virtual queue ticket that tells you how many groups are ahead of you. Sounds efficient, right? Plot twist: it’s not. Once your ticket calls you back, you then join another queue at the storefront. That second line took me a solid 40 minutes—and that’s after already waiting 3 hours. I arrived at 10:30 AM (they open at 11), was told to get a virtual ticket, and didn’t actually eat until 1:45 PM. The kicker? The virtual queue isn’t actually a line—it’s a free-for-all. When your number gets called, you race back, and whoever shows up first gets in first. So yeah… not a real queue. To make things spicier, people who paid the 2000 yen just casually stroll in and get seated while you’re still outside, reevaluating your patience and life choices. Inside? It’s cramped. Cold. Not just temperature-wise but in vibes too. No smiles, no small talk, just a sardine can of hungry strangers silently shoveling noodles. But the food? Oh, it was good. The udon was springy, cooked to perfection, and they even have their own signature butter. But the real stars were the tempura, especially the cheese and kakuni pork—absolutely divine, and honestly made me consider queuing again (just for a second). Still, I can’t say it was worth the half-day investment. I get it, they’re popular, and people gotta make a living—but unless you’re paying to skip, prepare to lose several hours of your life for a brief but tasty moment. Pro tip: Snag that ticket early in the morning so you can enjoy a nice, early dinner without the emotional damage. You’ve been warned.

Amazing udon noodles. 2hour wait time, affordable and tasty. They do not Jam Pack the restaurant and allow a seat in between customers in different parties, which is great. We also tried to order the egg omelette; however, it was sold out so wasn’t able to try it. But overall the meal was great.

Really really good udon. The queue in the evening is much shorter than lunch queue. For lunch we waited for 2 hours. For dinner an hour is sufficient. If you manage to get a reservation, tell the store person and you'll get bumped to the top of the line and given priority. It's about a 10 seater restaurant so you would definitely want this advantage if available. If you don't, don't queue straight away, take a ticket number and then if the queue is too long go for a stroll then return, if not, just wait in line because even if you have a queue number, you will be bumped to wait behind others who just stand in line. We had the hot and cold version of the sirloin and a tempura one to share. Honestly, prefer the cold one because its chewier. So good we went back twice!

We waited 2 hours for this. Don’t be like us. While it’s popular and good, it’s not worth the wait. Also the queue estimates are not that accurate. It told us 45 mins but we waited 2 hours cos there is a queue to go to the queue. Haha. Udon wise, we ordered the signature carbonara udon which we felt was too overpowering maki by it really hard to finish. The tempura were also just pretty mid. Maybe it’s for people who love thick creamy carbonara. But again not worth a queue.

It was a worthy experience to come here. Make sure to come here around 8 am to get a queue ticket unless you are happy to add on some additional cost to make a reservation online. Once you have that come at the designated time and join the queue if there is any. Seating is as tight as most Japanese eateries, however, that cramped little space will bring your taste buds flying. Udon is freshly made and cooked to perfection, once orders are made, it takes less than 15 minutes for it to be served. Tempura batter is light and crispy as how tempura should be. Prawns are fresh, and chicken cutlets are soft and juicy. Pairing the fresh and soft udon with the light crispy tempura is like a match made in heaven. Once all orders have been served, pay attention to the total amount of the bill, as making an exact payment will be preferred, so that you are not blocking the other customers or staff that might go through that area. Payment is all self-serve, select the preferred language and follow the prompt, remember exact payment would be ideal. And exit the store with that creamy and umami taste lingering in your taste buds reminding you what an excellent meal you have just had.