Saitama, Japan｜憩居酒場 えん

I visited Koi Izakaba En for lunch on Monday, December 12, 2022. Although it is an izakaya, it is a restaurant where you can enjoy authentic udon for lunch. I entered the store after disinfecting with alcohol and having my temperature taken at the entrance. The structure of the restaurant includes counter seats, table seats, and tatami rooms. Each counter seat was separated by an acrylic board. It was a cold day, but the heating was on and the store was warm. The customer base is wide-ranging, young and old. Popular J-POP music was being played inside the store. When I sat down at the table, I was given cold water and a towel. I also enjoyed the friendly and courteous customer service from the staff. I ate set A, Mori udon and Tendon. It's 1000 yen including tax. The udon is a beautiful white color and has a very chewy texture that bounces back when you put your teeth into it. The surface was very smooth and chewy, and the texture was pleasant. The dipping sauce is seasoned with salty plums, and the condiments include green onion, white sesame, and wasabi. Tendon ingredients include shrimp tempura, kakiage, eggplant tempura, sweet potato, and shishito. The sauce is sweet and the batter is crispy. The shrimp tempura is plump and chewy, and the kakiage has the sweetness of onions. The eggplant tempura absorbs oil and is fluffy, while the sweet potato is fluffy and sweet. The refreshing feeling of Shishitang is also good. The rice was cooked firm and well-cooked, and the meal went well. It was delicious.

I came here for lunch because I heard it was delicious, and I enjoyed the chewy udon noodles and the flavorful green onion toro bowl. Thank you for the meal.

It has a firmness that makes you think, “What the heck is this?” You can eat delicious udon at a cheaper price than at specialty stores. The portions are large, so if you are a woman ordering a set, I think it would be better to reduce the amount. It seems that only the udon noodles served at lunch are made by hand. We ran out of noodles in our group, so I don't think it would be possible to eat handmade udon in the evening. (Also in terms of boiling time) I had the tuna nakaochi bowl and udon set. Instead of the red sunfish, you'll get proper tuna. Unlike Negitoro, there was no added fat, so it had a refreshing taste. It was very fresh and didn't smell like blood at all. Udon is very chewy. I've never eaten anything like that. I understand what other reviews said about long wait times. I think it would take quite a while to boil that. The soup is a little thinner and sweeter than other restaurants. Since you have to chew the chewy udon noodles well, I thought that chewing them well would enhance the sweetness, which was a perfect match. I also had something called Inari-don, which I also recommend. It becomes addictive. But as others have written, just wait! We visited in a group, so we were able to kill time while talking, but I think it would be a little painful if you went alone without knowing anything. I wish the store had said something like, ``It takes time to boil the chewy udon noodles.'' There is no problem with the quality of the food, so I thought that if the quality of the overall service improved by providing food and drinks, the number of repeat customers would increase. I look forward to hearing from you again.