[2025 Nara Restaurant] Travel Guide for Mentouan (Updated Jul)

#Overseas travel 🍜 A delicious fried tofu udon restaurant discovered while traveling in Nara, Japan – Mentoan (麺闘庵) When traveling in Nara, the quiet atmosphere and traditional architecture naturally calms your mind. Among them, there was a bowl of udon that gave me an unexpected impression. It was a fried tofu udon specialty restaurant called **‘Mentoan (麺闘庵)’**. 🥢 A special bowl – Kinchaku Kitsune Udon Mentoan’s signature menu is **‘Kinchaku Kitsune Udon’**. At first glance, it looks like braised fried tofu, but when you open it, you’ll find warm udon inside. It’s like putting udon in a fried tofu pocket. The fried tofu is well-cooked with a sweet and salty flavor, and the soup is clean but has a deep, savory flavor. I thought that ordinary udon could be this special. Cash only 💰

🥢Mentoan 📍Nara, Nara City (6 minutes walk from Kintetsu Nara Station) This time I ordered 🥢Kinchaku Kitsune (1100 yen) 🍤Tenju (1100 yen) ️📝 I wanted to try the reverse kitsune udon🦊 It was served pretty quickly after I ordered it. It was bigger than I expected, I was surprised! The udon was packed tightly inside the pouch. The fried tofu was also cooked in dashi, so it was well flavored and delicious💕 It was quite filling! The dashi was also delicious and warming😋 I want to eat it on a cold day! We shared the Tenju, but it was also voluminous with 3 large shrimps. The soup was delicious and I finished it in no time☺️ There was also a curry pouch, so I'd like to try that next time! ✍️Arrived around 2pm on a holiday and there were about 20 people waiting. The restaurant isn't that big so the turnover is slow so I waited about 40 minutes! There seem to be a lot of foreign tourists. . . . . 📌30-1 Hashimotocho, Nara City ⏱11:00-15:00 Weekends and holidays 11:00-17:00 🗓Closed on Tuesdays . . . . #Mentoan#Nara gourmet#Nara lunch#Nara udon#Kinchaku fox#Reverse fox udon#Fox udon#Udon#Udon tour#Nara outing#Nara sightseeing#Nara trip#nara#narajapan#naratrip#0 yen trip autumn

Mentouan is a famous udon restaurant in Nara Prefecture. It is located on Higashimuki Shopping Street, next to the famous mochi shop Nakatanidou, which is said to be the fastest mochi shop in Japan. There will be a long line of customers waiting at this udon restaurant to try the special menu items that can only be found at this restaurant, which are “Buddha statue udon” and “Kinsaku udon.” Buddha statue udon is udon with fried tofu sheets with Buddha and deer designs, which are symbols of Nara Prefecture. Kinsaku udon is udon noodles wrapped in fried tofu sheets and tied like a gift bag. When you eat it, you have to use chopsticks to pierce the bag to pick up the noodles, which is quite exciting for customers. In addition, this restaurant also has other menu items such as shrimp tempura rice, egg rice, curry, and a dessert that is worth trying, which is cold udon noodles topped with crushed soybeans and sweet sauce. It's a dessert to end the meal. 📍Mentouan location: Located on Higashimuki Shopping Street, next to the Nakatanidou Mochi shop in Nara Prefecture #Travelwithtrip2024 #Mentouan #麺闘庵 #Buddha Udon #Kinsaku Udon #巾着うどん #Udon in a bag #Nara Udon shop #Nara famous shop #Nara must-see shop #Visit Nara #Visit Kansai area #Visit Japan