Omen Shijo Pontocho

Great location for this restaurant. We were upstairs where it was peaceful enough. Loved the Kyoto set with small plates to go with, had a little food envy from my dining mate who went for beef with ride. Recommended

Quiet restaurant located right next to the bridge. We headed upstairs and was greeted with a warm cup of tea and menus. After flipping through the menu, I decided on the udon set with tempura, cold noodles to match the weather outside.
Their speciality is their Omen Udon (my guess is the way it’s made). They’re served in a wooden bowl after being strained and you enjoy them by pairing them with a dipping sauce — delicious. There are plenty of other toppings and additions that I especially enjoyed like the vegetables, roots, and tempura. We also had a blast experimenting with the spices on the side of the table. And of course, like most restaurants in Japan, the presentation is incredibly intricate and everything has its own place.
The pricing is relatively cheap in Kyoto and we all had a satisfying meal. Afterwards, we headed to Tsujiri Honten, right across the bridge for the perfect dessert to end the night.

Me and the bf were on a day trip in Kyoto and we were pretty exhausted, ready to settle down somewhere and eat a delicious dinner. I wanted udon and realized this was pretty close to where we were. Nice and elegant décor, really small but totally cozy and charming. We were seated soon enough!
So their specialty here is their omen udon. So we both ordered it with a set of tempura for each of us as well, and the bf also added a beef bowl to his order. It’s quite a bit of food, but actually we managed to finish everything.
So the omen udon is basically perfectly cooked udon, served dry with a side of refreshing broth (to dip your noodles in), as well as toppings and sesame seeds to add for flavor. The tempura consists of shrimp, veggies, the usje. I tried some of the bf’s beef bowl and daaaamn, it was different from your usual gyuudon from Matsuya or Yoshinoya, like similar but elevated. You can tell they use higher quality meats and the flavor was on point. Delicious.
The udon itself I thought was great! They provide you a row of spices to season your broth with, and you can put in as much of the topping (things like green onions, ginger, etc.) into your broth as you want, but I was like fuck it! and dumped it all in. WELL I was stupid cos I don’t even like ginger so ooooops. But it’s all good, I just avoided that shit like you would your ex, and the udon was delicious. Added a lot of the spices too of course. Tempura was fried well and was very light.
The overall meal was filling for sure, but the meal doesn’t usually give you that dreadful food coma after. The light broth probably helps with that. It’s quite refreshing.

I really enjoyed my meal here! I got the udon combo with saba sushi. When offered the choice between hot and cold noodles, I went with hot.
There is such attention to detail especially when piecing the vegetable side plate together. It looked like a piece of art when they were done! The noodles had the right bite to it and the broth flavourful. The two pieces of saba sushi were amazing. I’m a huge mackerel lover and these pieces were probably the best I’ve ever had in my life. Super fresh with a great balance of salty to fish flavour. It was firm, but also melty in the mouth if that’s even possible.
If looking for the restaurant, it’s actually on the main road, not in the alley as Google likes to show. Go check it out if you’re after a bowl of udon in the city!

Elegant, refined, and artistic. Meidai Omen Shijo Tomachi is truly a wonderful way to explore the culinary feats of Japanese culture. From the food to the service, truly an unforgettable experience.

I really enjoyed this place! Don’t let the map in Unilocal trick you, took me a while to find the place but it actually faces the main street, it’s not in an alley.
I ordered the hot omen noodle, Tuna and avocado salad, Japanese pepper chicken and tempura. All really enjoyable! My first omen experience and I did not regret it!
The food was a little expensive for portions as I was still hungry after but would definitely recommend! The staff are helpful and can speak English as well.

Hands down BEST udon omen noodles! Along with all the condiments they give, its just out of the world. Tried the grilled chicken with japanese peppers and that was delicious too, dropped in the noodles. Definitely recommend if you are loitering in the Pontocho market and much affordable and decently priced than the ones on the lane.

Unbelievably good noodles. I recommend udon with tempura shrimp or beef on the side. Some of the best food we had in Japan.

The beef egg with rice simmered in sauce was really tasty. Only 600yen. Not bad! The udon was pretty basic, served with veggies, onions, ginger, and sliced picked radish.

Excellent restaurant avec un menu traduit en anglais. Nous avons pris un Ramen excellent. Comme toujours le service était très rapide et efficace. N’oubliez de prendre un peu de sake avec votre repase.

This is THE place to go for udon in Kyoto. I came here for lunch and to load up before a full day of sightseering. The udon here are so frsh and like nothing else. They tatse like there is a Japanese Obachan in the back making them they are that good. I had the duck set for lunch and it was delicious as duck is a local specialty in Kyoto. The service was really top notch as well and our server helped us find the bestr way to get to Nijojo.

After being rudely told to leave the restaurant in Gion we originally had a reservation at, my wife and I wandered west on Shijo-​dori until we came upon Omen, which focused on noodles (a plus) and had a menu in English (which suggested we wouldn’t be totally lost trying to figure out what to order). It was close to 8:30 PM on a weekday, but all the seats were filled except for our counter spot when we arrived (although it was virtually empty when we had finished eating). That said, we felt good about our prospects for the food given everyone else in the shop was Japanese, and it did not disappoint. We went with the standard chilled udon noodles, and my wife got the extra tempura on the side. The broth is very refreshing on its own, and you can add in a number of additional items (such as ginger, scallions, crushed sesame seeds, Japanese spice powders, and so forth) to shape the broth to however you see fit. The udon was excellent as well — thick enough to absorb the broth but not overly thick. While it was a side, the tempura was phenomenal; in the U.S., it’s often overly friend, but the light skin on the seasonal veggies was perfect. I also appreciated the Japanese-​based craft beer (from Baird Beer) on the menu; although I do appreciate the bigger-​label beers in Japan more than the similar names in the U.S., it was nice to have something other than a lager to sip on during dinner.
Although I was in a relatively sour mood coming in, I was very pleased and happy coming out with a full belly of noodles. With a small space and a cozy feeling, it’s a great place to come with a couple folks to grab a bite. Free Wi-​Fi also is nice, particularly when you don’t have regular access because you’re a foreigner!