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An Halal udon restaurant and an Halal tempura restaurant opened this June at Narita Airport in terminal 1 and terminal 2 respectively. I now report from the Halal udon restaurant in response to the many requests to “introduce the Halal udon” I received after I introduced Halal tempura in my previous field report.
The restaurant serving the Halal udon, KINEYAMUGIMARU, is located in the food court in VIEW SQUARE on the 5th floor of the international terminal 2 main building. Take the escalator from the departure lounge to the 5th floor and head towards the Observation Deck; you will end up at the Sky Food Court.
You will know you’re on the right track when you see the Prayer Room located on the same floor.
In the food court you will see a lot of half-open type restaurants.
You can see the menu and a “Certified by Malaysia Halal Consultancy & Training Agency” sign displayed near the entrance.
They are kind enough to provide a display in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean.
It’s not difficult to order at all; first order your udon either hot or cold. If you tell them the menu number, hot or cold, and big or regular, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Next, fill your plate with some onigiri (a rice ball), tempura, and a side dish and head to the cash register. It’s up to you whether to take these items. You will then receive the udon you ordered earlier before you get to the cash register, please pay then.
Basically, you should enter the restaurant and proceed from left to right.
I ordered the Kama-tama udon – warm noodles with no soup mixed with egg. This, along with my tempura chikuwa (fish sausage) and salmon onigiri, came to 720 yen. The time of manufacture was displayed on the onigiri, it was indeed made in Japan.
You can add dashi-shoyu (soy sauce broth) to udon without soup such as Kama-tama udon to give it some extra flavor. The dashi-shoyu here is unique to this restaurant. The trick is not to use too much; just add it little-by-little while gauging the flavor.
The sticky texture is something that can only be found in specialty homemade udon restaurants. It was delicious!
There is a deck right in front of you, so you can sit at the counter and enjoy Halal udon while watching the airplanes take off and land.
After you’ve finished eating, place your dishes on the tray and return it to the corner where you see “返却口” (return trays here). In Japanese food courts, its good manners to return your own tray when you have finished eating. If you say “gochisosama” (meaning, “thanks for the meal”) in Japanese when returning your tray, you are sure receive a smiling “thank you!” in return. This may be the final episode of your trip to Japan.
Links
Homemade Udon Noodles KINEYAMUGIMARU, Narita International Airport
Homemade Udon Noodles KINEYAMUGIMARU, Narita International Airport @JAPAL TRIP