Close to Heian Shrine there is a restaurant called Yamamoto Menzou with always a line in front of it, and there you can have a delicious bowl of udon that the chef poured his heart into
The area of Okazaki is famous for the popular sightseeing spot of Heian Jingu Shrine. Today’s restaurant, Yamamoto Menzou may be the most popular udon restaurant in that area, and indeed the most popular or second popular in the whole of Kyoto.
The restaurant was started by the owner-chef, who used to be an office worker, because he wanted to become an entrepreneur. Nowadays it’s so popular there are always people lining up in front of the restaurant.
Why is Yamamoto Menzou so popular? I think it’s because of the great service everyone at the restaurant provides. No matter how busy they are, they still find time to give lap blankets to the people lining up in the cold, they give you water right after you finish eating spicy udon, and of course the greatest one is that they use quality ingredients to make the dishes. Because of these things they do to make the customers happy, the udon of Yamamoto Menzou is really delicious and the customers keep coming back for more.
I think it would be a great idea to include one of Kyoto’s most famous udon restaurants, Yamamoto Menzou, into your sightseeing itinerary of the Okazaki area. This place will make all who visit leave satisfied, and the taste and hospitality of this restaurant are both without peer.
1Recommended
Red Menzou special with flavored oil
/ ￥1200
This dish is the most popular at Yamamoto Menzou and it’s topped with flavored oil made at the restaurant from white leek, garlic, and many types of oils. You get one of Yamamoto Menzou’s specialties, deep fried burdock with the udon.
The spicy hot and rich soup blended with the fragrant flavored oil creates a delicious taste that is hard to describe in words. Usually udon in Kyoto specializes in the simple and gentle taste of dashi, but this red Menzou special is a chance to experience a different taste.
2Recommended
Cold noodles with chicken tempura
/ ￥1050
Yamamoto Menzou’s great udon is not only about hot noodles. To those of our readers who wish to enjoy the taste of the noodles themselves and enjoy them a bit al dente I recommend the cold noodles.
The juicy looking lustrous noodles overflow with freshness. The feeling you get when you dip a lot of udon quickly in the soup and then slurp them up is great. The chicken tempura you get with the noodles are big and juicy. I recommend dipping the chicken tempura in the udon’s soup and eating them together with the udon noodles.
*Yamamoto Menzou’s udon noodles are really long so you get special clippers with the udon. Use this to cut the udon into easy-to-eat lengths.
