All For 900 Yen!

Let me get this out of the way: I will miss the cheap food in Japan.

Don’t get me wrong. I can cook. I like to cook. However, I gave up on cooking in my apartment here in Japan about a year into the pandemic due to a lack in mental energy. Thankfully, there are plenty of good places around in Nagasaki to drop by for a cheap eat, whether they are chain places or local eateries.

A tray of Japanese food. On the top left, we have a small salad, and on the right there is a dish with fried chicken and Japanese tartar sauce. At the bottom of the tray, there is a bowl of rice, a small dish with tofu, and a large bowl of soba noodles.

Hamaichi Udon, located in a small alleyway near Mr Donut at the Hamanomachi Arcade, is a good example of a cheap local eatery. While they do specialise in udon noodles, you’ll get the most value from ordering one of their set meals. What you see above is their chicken namban set meal, which was recently added to their menu. For less than a thousand yen (around AU$12), you’ll get rice, a salad, the main dish, a side dish, and a bowl of either udon or soba.

As an Aussie, I’m not complaining about that.

There are trade-offs, though. Hamaichi Udon is pretty much a one-man operation, although there may be servers depending on what time of the day you visit the place. Hamaichi Udon is also smoker-friendly, which is a risk that non-smokers like myself will have to take.

It’s completely worth going, though. The food is just that good.

Notes:

  • Hamaichi Udon is not vegetarian friendly. The soup base for the soba and udon use fish-based dashi.

  • Hamaichi Udon is also not suitable if you are strict about following religious dietary restrictions. That said, there are non-pork dishes you can eat if you are comfortable with eating meat slaughtered in a secular manner.

  • Their address is: 4-22 Hamacho, Nagasaki 850-0853.