Best Udon in Kyoto: 4 Shops Worth Trying

Udon are thick wheat-flour noodles served in hot broth or with a cold dipping sauce. They are milder than ramen and inexpensive, so they are easy to fit into a travel day. What makes udon in Kyoto interesting is that each shop serves it in a completely different way. This guide covers four shops with four different styles: Yamamoto Menzo, known for curry udon made with hand-cut noodles; Omen, where you add seasonal vegetables to a dipping broth yourself; Fumiya, which has traded in Nishiki Market for more than 80 years; and Gontaro Honten, just south of Nishikikoji, known for its Kyoto-style udon-suki hot pot, Gontaro Nabe.

Four shops, four kinds of udon

Easy to combine with sightseeing

All four are near major Kyoto sights. Okazaki, home to Yamamoto Menzo, is the area around Heian Shrine and the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art. Omen Ginkakuji Honten sits right next to the municipal Ginkakuji parking lot, beside the bus stop for Ginkakuji Temple, so it is easy to visit before or after a walk along the Philosopher’s Path. Ginkakuji has no railway station, so most people go by city bus. Fumiya’s Nishiki shop is on the market street (Nishikikoji-dori, west of Sakaimachi), perfect when you want to sit down for something hot while snacking your way through the market. Fumiya’s main shop is just to the north. Gontaro Honten is also just south of Nishikikoji.

Okazaki and Ginkakuji on the eastern side are some distance from Nishiki Market in the center, so choose by the sights you are visiting that day. On a day when you walk south from Ginkakuji along the Philosopher’s Path to Heian Shrine in Okazaki, have lunch at Omen or Yamamoto Menzo; on a day of shopping around Nishiki Market and Kawaramachi, choose Fumiya or Gontaro Honten.

Menus you will often see at Kyoto udon shops

At Kyoto udon shops you will meet dishes you rarely see elsewhere. “Ankake” is udon in broth thickened with kuzu starch or similar, which stays hot for a long time and is popular in the cold months. “Keiran” adds beaten egg swirled into that thickened broth and is often introduced as a very Kyoto bowl. As a topping, Kyoto’s Kujo green onions piled high are also popular. Broths tend to be kelp-based, light in color, and refined in flavor. The four shops in this guide each have a clear specialty, curry, dipping, nabeyaki udon, or udon-suki, but when you walk into another shop, try these Kyoto-style dishes too.

About Omen

Omen is said to have been founded near Ginkakuji in 1967, and the shop in this guide is its main branch. It is also reported to have a shop in Pontocho near Gion-Shijo Station, so even on a day you do not go out to Ginkakuji, you may be able to try the same dish in central Kyoto. Check each shop’s opening days before you go.

Watch the opening hours

The shops in this guide mostly open around lunchtime and close in the late afternoon or early evening. Yamamoto Menzo is roughly 10:00 AM to a 4:00 PM last order on weekdays, until 3:30 PM on Wednesdays, and until 5:00 PM on weekends and holidays, closing on Thursdays and some irregular days. Fumiya’s Nishiki shop is open 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM according to its official site. If you want udon in the evening in Kyoto, Gontaro Honten is open until 9:30 PM (last order 9:00 PM, closed Wednesdays). On the other hand, these shops are ideal for lunch between sights.

Which one to choose

If you are going for one special bowl worth booking ahead, choose Yamamoto Menzo; to share a very Kyoto meal with family or friends, choose Omen; for a casual, warming nabeyaki udon in the atmosphere of the market, choose Fumiya; and for a Kyoto-style udon-suki hot pot in the evening, choose Gontaro Honten. With a single bowl of udon, enjoying a very Kyoto meal at a modest price is what makes udon so useful. Yamamoto Menzo operates mainly in Japanese and English support was not confirmed, so be ready to point at menu photos.

Budget and crowds

Yamamoto Menzo, Omen and Gontaro Honten are in this site’s budget range of about 1,000 to 3,000 yen per person, though Gontaro’s signature Gontaro Nabe hot pot is 5,000 yen (tax included) according to the official site, more than a single bowl of udon or soba. Fumiya’s price band has not been confirmed by this site, so check the menu at the shop. Yamamoto Menzo is a small, popular restaurant that can have a wait without a booking, so reserve if your day is fixed. Omen Ginkakuji Honten sits right next to the municipal Ginkakuji parking lot, convenient if you are touring by rental car. Nishiki Market, home to Fumiya, is busy with visitors and its street can get crowded at times; it is especially lively around midday when the market shops are open, so if you want to sit and eat in peace, go a little outside the lunch rush. Since all but Gontaro Honten tend to close in the late afternoon, building udon into lunch is the easiest way to fit it into a Kyoto day.

Fumiya also has a main shop besides the Nishiki one. It is on Sakaimachi-dori south of Takoyakushi, about a 1-minute walk north of the Nishiki shop, and according to the official site it keeps the same hours, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If the Nishiki shop is crowded, the main shop is worth trying.

How to order and eat

At Yamamoto Menzo, Omen and Fumiya, you sit down and order from a menu. At Omen, add the vegetables to the dipping broth a little at a time and dip the udon as you go. Curry udon splashes easily, and many shops provide paper bibs. Slurping udon is not rude, and it is fine to lift the bowl and drink the broth directly. To compare with other cities, see our guides to the best udon in Osaka and the best udon in Tokyo, and our udon guide for udon itself.

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