Fujishin — Restaurant in Kurashiki

What a hidden gem! The udon served here is by far the best I have had in this 8-yr life in Japan. Very smooth as you slurp, it goes down your throat so easily. The texture is soft on the outer layer while being quite firm, not hard, at core. I always eat udon cold to enjoy the texture. It is harder to get spoiled by becoming soggy. The owner always check the texture himself before serving so you can rest assure on the quality department. Udon here strikes a perfect balance between softness and firmness. You will be blown away. The owner also spends a tremendous amount of time in preparing the “dashi” (simply put, the soup stock). You’ll be in the umami paradise after the first sip! It is extremely pleasant, and complements the udon well. Umami here creates this sweetness taste (not sugar sweet) that you will never be tired from. You can find a few delicacies in the side menu. Japanese egg roll with unagi (eel) inside, fried sweet potatoes with cheese are definitely must try. However, a few side dishes were simply overshadowed by other dishes. Hence, the 4-star. To all of those who love Japanese wine (sake, seishu), you are definitely in for a treat. The owner here has a very excellent collection of them. He even offered me a tasting session. And my god, they all put the famous DASSAI to shame. He also had a few local (Okayama) wine. All were extraordinary smooth, clean, and very neat. My personal favourite is くどき上手 (kudoki jozu). Goes down very easily, has a good surprise to the tip of your tongue, clear taste to the side, fruity but not that kind of sweet. And this place serves Brooklyn lager if you want beer! To tell the truth, I went down to the joint by myself later at night again after the meal with my family (had to put the little one to sleep first) Staff was extremely friendly and was very knowledgeable with Japanese wine. All other customers in the restaurant were all big fans of the place and they all seem to work in the same industry. But they all tell me that this is the place to finish their day after a hard day work.

P.S. I was at a very famous udon place (がもううどん) at Kagawa for udon earlier that day but this place topped it. Very close though. Fuji-shin has better texture and...

The location is down an alley and the interior is quite spartan which suggests "local"! The staff will greet you cheerfully and you will be welcomed into the society of fans of the restaurant. The various dishes I have enjoyed here have been very good. This visit I had the potato salad, the katsuo takaki, and the yaki udon with green onions. The yaki udon took some time because it is cut, boiled, and fried upon the order. It was well worth the wait. I couldn't drink any alcohol which was too bad because there's a large selection of very high quality sake. The price...

Friendly, bright atmosphere with attentive staff. They have an english menu with food photos.

All my friends ordered different items and we all thought it was the most delicious udon of our lives/in Japan. I ordered the niku oroshi udon (warm) and there was so many flavour combinations i could do with the crunchy fragrant tenkasu (little chipped pieces from frying tenpura), burning wasabi, and freshly squeezed lime juice on my sweet, flavourful udon soup and little chunks of daikon radish. The udon noodle texture was also...