Aichi · Nagoya OsuNo.994★★★Open in map →
Miso Nikomi Udon
— Clay-pot noodles in Nagoya's Osu arcades
A Nagoya noodle simmered in bean-miso broth and served in its own clay pot. The udon is mixed with water alone, no salt, which leaves it firm enough to argue with. The roofed arcades of Osu are the easiest place to go looking for it.
- FromNagoya Station
- ~12 minSubway, one change
- Get off atKamimaezu Station (Meijo and Tsurumai Subway Lines)
- On foot
- Miso Nikomi Udon
Where it is
27 more notes in Aichi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Kamimaezuthe eastern entrance to the arcades, where two subway lines cross
- Shintenchi-dorithe roofed arcade running north and south past the temple forecourt
- Bansho-jithe Oda family temple that moved here with the castle town, now built into the shopping street
- Banshoji-dorithe arcade cutting east to west through the middle of the district, hung with lanterns and banners
- Osu Kannonthe temple at the western end that the district grew around, keeping some fifteen thousand old volumes
How to actually get there
- Nagoya Station → Fushimi (Higashiyama subway line, one stop).
- Fushimi → Kamimaezu (Tsurumai subway line, two stops); about twelve minutes in total with the change.
- Kamimaezu Station exit 8 → the eastern entrance to the arcades (a few minutes on foot).
- Walk west along Banshoji-dori, past Bansho-ji, as far as Osu Kannon, choosing a pot along the way.
- Subway from Nagoya Station
- Nagoya Station →(Higashiyama subway line, one stop)→ Fushimi, change to the Tsurumai line →(two stops)→ Kamimaezu. About twelve minutes including the change. Both lines run often enough that no timetable planning is needed.
- Return from Kamimaezu or Osu Kannon
- Kamimaezu is served by both the Tsurumai and Meijo lines, so you can go back the way you came. If you have walked the arcades all the way west, Osu Kannon on the Tsurumai line is the closer boarding point. Subway service thins late at night, so check the last departure if you have stayed for dinner.
About the place
The broth is bean miso — the dark, soybean-based miso of this region — and it is chosen for endurance. Bean miso holds its flavour through long simmering where lighter misos fade, so the pot can keep cooking on its way to the table. The noodle is built to match. Miso nikomi udon uses dough mixed with plain water and no salt, since the broth carries salt enough, and the result is firm to the point that first-time eaters have been known to send it back as undercooked. Chicken, fried tofu, fish cake, spring onion and an egg cracked in near the end are the usual company. The pot arrives lidded and still bubbling.
How to enjoy it
A clay pot belongs to a meal rather than a snack, so save it for lunch or dinner rather than the gap between them. Hours and rest days are set shop by shop, so read the door before you sit down. Finish by adding rice to what is left in the pot — the local way to close it out.
Background & history
The dish is usually traced not to Nagoya but to Ichinomiya, to the north, where restaurants are said to have served it in the Meiji era; one account credits workers in the town's textile trade adapting the miso stew hoto. From there it spread through Nagoya and became one of the two noodles the city is known for. The streets are older than the dish. Bansho-ji, standing midway along the arcades, was founded in 1540 by Oda Nobunaga's father and moved here in 1610 as the castle town was laid out. Osu Kannon, at the western end, was brought here in 1612 by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Before you go
- Cash
- The arcades are public streets and cost nothing to walk. Restaurants set their own prices and post them at the door, so you can compare a few pots before committing to one.
- Before you go
- The main arcades are fully roofed, so rain does not change the plan, though the stretches between them are open sky. Shops and restaurants keep their own hours and rest days. Three annual festivals — in February, August and October — fill the streets end to end.
- Another way
- From Sakae, the Meijo subway line runs south to Kamimaezu in a few stops. Coming from the west instead, Osu Kannon on the Tsurumai line puts you at the other end of the arcades.
- After you get off
- Leave Kamimaezu Station by exit 8; the eastern entrance to the arcades is a few minutes on foot. From there the roof carries you west, past the Bansho-ji forecourt and on toward Osu Kannon.