Tabelog ratingOshima Udon (大島うどん) is a self-service udon shop run by a noodle-maker with more than 70 years in the trade. It opens at 6am, which makes it a natural breakfast stop on a Sanuki udon crawl. The dish to order is yaki-age bukkake: noodles under a sweet, concentrated poured broth, topped with chopped fried tofu toasted fresh. Reviewers repeatedly call the tofu fragrant and say they have found it nowhere else. You warm your own noodles in a hot-water basket and ladle iriko (dried-sardine) broth from a communal pot. A free iriko oil on the counter has its own following and is sold to take home. The shop was selected for Tabelog's Udon KAGAWA "Tabelog 100" in 2024.
Most reviews praise the firm, smooth hand-made noodles and the clear iriko broth. Yaki-age bukkake and niku bukkake, with sweet simmered beef, are the most-ordered bowls. Diners also like the large aubergine and crab-stick tempura and the oden: beef tendon, tofu and egg, eaten with miso. Several reviewers mention the warm older staff, and a Korean visitor ranked it the best udon of their trip.
Most complaints concern the ordering system. Several first-timers, Japanese among them, say no one explained the steps and they ended up holding up the line. The bukkake broth is distinctly sweet, which divides opinion. Pre-fried tempura can be soggy, and the room gets very hot in summer.
Reviewers in 2025–2026 paid around ¥330 for a small kake udon, ¥410 for a small yaki-age bukkake (¥510 large), ¥540 for a small niku bukkake, ¥160 for a prawn tempura and ¥150 for oden tofu. Breakfast or lunch typically stays under ¥1,000. There is no dinner service, as the shop closes at 3pm.
Value is excellent. Reviewers describe two bowls plus sides for under ¥1,000, at a level one compared favourably with the Marugame chain. One reviewer felt the tempura was not especially cheap.
- Getting there: 8 minutes' walk (about 510 m) from Ota Station on the Kotoden Kotohira Line. By car from Takamatsu, follow Shionoe Kaido past Ota Pond to the traffic light with Miyawaki Bookstore on the corner.
- Booking: reservations are not accepted, so just walk in. It is quieter after the breakfast rush.
- Payment: credit cards are not accepted. Electronic money and QR payments (PayPay) are accepted, and reviewers also mention Merpay.
- How to order: order udon at the entrance, pick tempura and oden, pay, then add the broth yourself. Watch a regular first. Reviews mention no English menu.
- Seats: 29 (four six-person tables and five counter seats). There are no private rooms and no private hire.
- Children: welcome. The shop is family friendly.
- Smoking: non-smoking.
- Parking: space for about three cars next to the shop.
- Take-out: available.
- Closed: January 1–4. Hours may change.
