| Sanuki udon restaurants are largely divided into
three categories: "the general noodle restaurant,"
"the self-service noodle restaurant" and
"the noodle factory restaurant" (located
inside a noodle factory). Sometimes, one may come
across udon restaurants serving haute cuisine in
addition to udon dishes. Some are located in historical
buildings 100 to 200 years old. In addition to being
tasty, udon is inexpensive or moderately priced.
In fact, udon attracts numerous "udon connoisseurs"
who drive from one udon restaurant to another, or
who are continually on the lookout for a new udon
restaurant to discover. Besides offering enjoyable
udon dishes, these Sanuki udon restaurants offer
a nutritionally balanced menu that includes sushi,
rice balls, oden stew, tempura, and other dishes. |
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General noodle restaurants |
| In this conventional type of restaurant,
the staff take the customer's order as soon as she
or he enters. Many such restaurants serve homemade
udon noodles, and one can often watch the udon being
made on the premises or near the entrance to the
restaurant. General noodle restaurants account for
more than 60 percent of all udon restaurants. They
offer a varied menu. |
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Self-service noodle restaurants |
| While the procedure may vary somewhat
from one self-service noodle restaurant to another,
generally the customer requests a certain number
of ball-shaped udon portions, receives a bowl containing
the udon, warms up the udon in hot water, adds the
broth and, if desired, selects tempura, oden or
sushi, and pays for their order. The customer returns
the empty dishes to the designated area when they
are finished. |
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Noodle factory restaurants |
| At the request of customers, noodle
factories specializing in ball-shaped noodle portions
began serving meals. Often, one cannot tell just
from the outside appearance that a particular factory
contains a noodle restaurant. Many are open early
in the morning, but they also close early in the
day. Many such restaurants have only one, two or
three items on their menus. |
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