Tsuru TonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie – Ginza – luxurious Michelin restaurant with huge udon bowls at affordable prices

Ginza is an expensive neighbourhood. It is surrounded by so many luxury stores, restaurants, homes and cars. Visiting Tsuru TonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie is an absolute must-try, because the udon is delicious, the restaurant’s décor and setup is luxurious, and best of all – it is affordable.

The restaurant is located on floor 10 of the Tokyu Ginza Plaza near Yurakucho Station. The elevator for the building can get busy, so I’d recommend using the elevator in the actual store than the ones you see on arrival.

On arrival at the entrance, you will have to make a reservation. There are a few options to choose from, including the number of people in your entourage, whether you want to sit on the counter or table or either, and whether there are special needs, e.g. high chairs or people with disabilities. Make sure you don’t lose your paper ticket.

The wait to get into the restaurant took over an hour for us around dinner time. We noticed that those waiting who were either in pairs or preferred either counter or table were generally given tables sooner. Although it was a painful wait, when we heard our number spoken in Japanese, we were excited with anticipation.

The restaurant décor is incredible, particularly at night time. It looks and feels like a luxury restaurant, one more accustomed to fine dining. The dimmed lights, the elegant wooden tables, the fine ornaments, and the top to bottom windows facing the glitzy-lit city streets was phenomenal.

We ordered using the tablet on the table. The menu is quite large consisting of udons of various kinds with seasonal specials as well. There were sushi, hot pot and various appetizers like tempura for 1880 yen or stewed beef tendon for 780 yen. When ordering the udon, you can choose to have anywhere from 1 serving of udon to 3 servings of udon without additional fees.

Experience huge udon bowls at affordable prices

We ordered the tempura set which was one of their specialties for 1880 yen. The tempura was cooked so well and was one of the best tempura I’ve had.

We also ordered their Cream Prawn Udon Soup for 1480 yen and one of their specials, Beef Offal, Spicy Pollock Roe and Spring Cabbage Udon in Flying Fish Broth for 1780 yen. The Cream Prawn Soup was like eating a pasta soup, but so tasty and delicious. While the special udon we ordered came with an assortment of goodies in the bowl.

The udon bowls themselves are huge!

At the front counter, the restaurant also sells take home versions of their udon with their soup packets. (Not sure I’d trust myself to recreate their masterpieces, but it’s a cool option.)

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