Ezawa Katsuura Tantanmen Noodle

Ezawa is the original restaurant that began serving Katsuura Tantanmen®, a local dish at one time, but now a well-known nationwide delight. Founded in 1954, the first owner of the restaurant came up with the idea of tantanmen noodle, inspired by Szechuan noodles. The soup has a soy sauce base and is cooked with homemade Chinese red chili oil. The dish comes with toppings of minced meat, onions, and scallions. The rich spicy flavor can make you sweat with just one bite. At first, this noodle dish was just a perfect way for local fishermen and shell catching divers to warm up after a hard day's work, but the dish became well-known to others over time.

The dish is not simply spicy. Sweetness from onions and richly flavored minced meat creates a fine harmony in taste and texture. Their menu lists the original tantanmen noodle (880yen), the cold tantanmen with a dip soup on the side (880 yen), and a winter-only giblet dish called "Motsu tantan” (1,210 yen). You can request a level of spiciness that suits you, from normal to extremely spicy.

There are many restaurants in Katsuura that serve Katsuura Tantanmen®. But the overwhelming popularity of this particular restaurant makes people wait in line for a long time, even on weekdays. So, be prepared.