Jiro-Style Udon in Nagoya Marunouchi: Trying Sansuke’s Famous Meat Udon

26/05/2026

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Trying Jiro-Style Udon at Sansuke in Marunouchi, Nagoya

While walking from Hisaya Odori Park toward Nagoya Station around lunchtime, I started looking for somewhere to eat near Marunouchi. After checking Google Maps, one restaurant immediately caught my attention — a place called “Sansuke” that serves Jiro-style udon.

Jiro-style dishes are usually associated with huge bowls of ramen loaded with thick noodles, rich broth, meat, garlic, and vegetables. But udon? That sounded unusual, so I decided to give it a try.

The restaurant itself is fairly spacious, and like many casual restaurants in Japan, you first buy a meal ticket from a vending machine near the entrance. Their signature dish seemed to be the meat udon, so I ordered the standard version.

One thing I noticed was that the restaurant felt much more approachable than a typical Jiro-style ramen shop. In many Jiro ramen restaurants, customers are expected to respond to special topping “calls” asking how much garlic, vegetables, or extra fat they want. But here, I never heard those calls at all while I was eating. None of the other customers were doing it either.

So if you’ve always been curious about Jiro-style food but felt intimidated by the complicated ordering culture, this place is probably a very beginner-friendly option.

When the bowl arrived, it honestly looked more like ramen than udon at first glance.

But the noodles were definitely udon — thick, flat, and chewy, almost similar to kishimen, Nagoya’s famous flat noodle dish. The texture had a strong bite to it, while the seasoning and overall flavor felt much closer to ramen than traditional udon.

It’s a strange combination in the best possible way.

The broth also had a noticeable ginger flavor, even more than garlic, which made the dish feel surprisingly fresh despite its heavy appearance.

Jiro-style udon is something you probably won’t find outside Nagoya very often. Sansuke is a bit of a walk from the Sakae area, but if you want to try a unique local food experience, I think it’s definitely worth visiting.

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