O-men

Personal experience

One weekday in July, at around 1pm, we went to lunch at the Omen Shijo Ponto-cho restaurant. The Ponto-cho restaurant is located a few minutes’ walk from the Shijo-Kawaramachi crossroads, along Shijo Street, right next to the entrance to the Ponto-cho district. As we arrived a little after the usual lunchtime, we were ushered to our table within minutes of our arrival. The restaurant isn’t particularly large, but it has a first floor and an upper floor. We were seated at a table upstairs, and almost every seat was already taken. Note that the first floor also has a counter with seating. Once seated, staff quickly bring you water, a damp towel and the menu. The menu is illustrated with photos and also includes an English version, making it easy to understand. Once you’ve made your choice, you place your order directly with the waiter. The atmosphere in the restaurant is calm and peaceful.

This restaurant specializes in typical Kyoto udon. Its main location is near the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji). Apart from this headquarters, there are only two other branches: one in the Ponto-cho district, near Shijo-Kawaramachi, and the other in New York. Prices are relatively high, so this is not a cheap chain restaurant. The menu offers a limited choice of dishes, and the house specialty is a dish called “Omen”. These are udon noodles served with eight different kinds of accompaniments: kinpira gobo (simmered sweet and sour burdock), sesame seeds, green onions, ginger and various seasonal vegetables. The udon noodles are soaked with each bite in a rich, flavorful broth made from Hokkaidō kombu and dried bonito. This broth is both intense and free of bitterness or superfluous taste. Seasoning vegetables and sesame seeds are generously added before serving. You can choose between hot or cold udon noodles, and for an extra charge, you can also opt for a larger portion right from the start. As an example, our daughter, a schoolgirl who loves udon, had ordered a standard adult portion, but in the end it wasn’t enough for her. We thought it would have been better to opt for the larger portion from the outset.

Our daughter was still hungry, so we ordered extra lotus root chips (renkon). She loved these lotus chips. She’s not a big fan of lotus in general, but she loved these chips. If you want to discover Japanese noodles, why not give them a try?