Tsurutontan is an Osaka-based Japanese udon chain. Here’s what the original location of the chain “Tsurutontan Soemoncho (つるとんたん 宗右衛門町店)” looks like.
The storefront of Tsurutontan Soemoncho.
Displays of “food models (食品サンプル)” by the entrance.
Inside Tsurutontan Soemoncho.
Tsurutontan Soemoncho looks so perfectly Japanese that it looks like a film set. Kimono-clad Japanese waiters welcomed me as soon as I walked in. I thought I checked in a Japanese ryokan (旅館).
Tsurutontan Soemoncho’s menu was very tourist-friendly. Photos of the items with quadrilingual captions (Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese) provided me with better-than-ever ideas of what I can expect. So I skipped their American sushi rolls.
Tsurutontan Soemoncho’s signature “kitsune udon (大判きつねのおうどん / Obankitsune no Oudon).” 780 yen ($6).
Perfect udon here.
Tsurutontan Soemoncho’s signature “kitsune udon (大判きつねのおうどん / Obankitsune no Oudon)” came in a giant bowl with a shamoji-sized, giant spoon. (A shamoji / しゃもじ, a rice scoop, is what Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a sign of the hope of victory. Volodymyr Zelenskyy expected weapons.)
A fried tofu “aburaage (油揚げ)”.
The real weapon was a sheet of fried tofu “aburaage / 油揚げ.” It was very sweet which turned this whole dish into a sweet pool of soy sauce-based dashi broth. It was not bad. Next time I’ll try their “tomato cream” and “bacon carbonara” too.
Tomato cream, left, bacon carbonara, right. Both are broth for udon.
Tsurutontan Soemoncho (つるとんたん 宗右衛門町店) | 3-17 Souemoncho, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 〒542-0084, Japan
