Kagawa Udon Diaries #2: Menkui — The Broth Starts Sweet and Ends Salty

A thinner noodle than most Kagawa shops — but the broth has a sweetness up front and a salt finish that makes it one of the more interesting bowls I’ve had.

I order kake udon at every Kagawa udon shop I visit. Same dish, different shop — it’s the most reliable way to compare. Menkui is a self-service shop inside the Bellcity shopping centre in Miki Town, about a two-minute walk from Gakuen-dori Station on the Kotoden line. Large car park, easy access, and open until 17:30 — late for a Kagawa udon shop, which typically closes around lunchtime.

Two portions of kake udon came to ¥350, with the ebi ten adding another ¥150 — ¥500 before tax, ¥550 including tax (about $3.46 at April 2026 rates).

The broth

Sweet first, then salt — in that order

The dashi here is made with iriko and kombu. What’s noticeable is the sequence: the first impression on the palate is sweet — gently, not cloying — and then the saltiness comes in as an aftertaste. It’s an unusual order compared to most Kagawa broths, which tend to lead with the savoury note. Here the sweetness arrives first and the salt follows behind it.

“The broth tastes different depending on when you drink it. First sip is sweet. Last sip is salty. The bowl changes as you eat through it.”

The tenkasu — free fried batter pieces available at the counter — works particularly well with this broth. The tenkasu soaks up the dashi quickly and takes on the flavour of the stock, which makes the last few bites of noodles noticeably richer than the first. It was a cold, cloudy day in early May and the temperature of the broth was exactly right.

The noodles

Thinner than most — but with proper koshi

The noodles at Menkui are on the thinner side for Sanuki udon. Most Kagawa shops serve a thicker, more substantial noodle — the kind that announces itself with every bite. Menkui’s noodles are different: thinner, with a smooth surface and a slippery texture that lets them move easily through the broth. The koshi — that firm, springy resistance — is still present, but it’s a softer expression of it. More mochi-mochi than firm. Two portions turned out to be more food than expected. Filling without being heavy.

The ebi ten

Not what you might expect from “shrimp tempura”

The ebi ten at Menkui is not a whole prawn in batter. It’s a Seto Inland Sea product: small jaco shrimp (tiny local prawns), ground whole — shells included — and mixed with tofu and white fish paste, then fried into a flat rectangular cake. It’s closer to a fish cake than a tempura in the Western sense.

The shrimp flavour comes through clearly. The texture is firm enough to bite through with some resistance, but it yields cleanly — and the ground shells add a faint textural roughness that you notice without it being unpleasant. It’s a distinctly regional product, the kind of thing that’s completely ordinary in Kagawa and almost impossible to find outside of it.

Timing note

Go at lunch — the sasami katsu sells out

Arriving at 14:00 meant the tempura and oden selection was already running low. The sasami katsu — chicken breast cutlet, reportedly one of the better items here — was gone by the time I got there. Menkui is worth visiting at lunch if you want the full side menu. The 17:30 closing time is generous by Kagawa standards, but the popular items go early.

The restaurant

Menkui — Bellcity, Miki Town, Kagawa

Address 310 Kafuse, Miki-cho, Kida-gun, Kagawa (inside Bellcity)

Nearest station Gakuen-dori (Kotoden) — 2 min walk

Hours 11:00–17:30 / Closed Wednesdays

Payment Cash only

Style Self-service (セルフ式)

Visited 14:00 — past the lunch rush