Is Marugame Seimen Worth It? "Udon and a Bit of Tempura Went Over 1,000 Yen": What Japanese Diners Say Now

What Japanese people said — picked from the top 200 of 1,056 comments

• Udon and a bit of tempura went over 1,000 yen. It's got expensive.

  うどんと天ぷらちょっとで1000円超えた、高くなったな〜

  — @まーくんまーくまーくんまーく75 likes

• Marugame is good, but it has got expensive. Early on the image was cheap and tasty and I went all the time.

  丸亀は美味しいけど高くなったよね。最初の頃は安くて美味しいイメージでしょっちゅう行ってた。

  — @shimur30627 likes

• I miss when a small kake was 100 yen...

  かけ小が100円だったのが懐かしい…

  — @hoeizayoi819718 likes

• On top of the price rises, the cooking and the waiting take time. The more customers there are the longer it takes, 15 to 20 minutes, and on top of that! Just adding tempura or an inari sushi clears 1,000 yen easily, so I've stopped going except as a winter treat 😅

  値上げからの調理時間や出来上がる時間が掛かるし。お客さんの人数が多ければ多いほど15分から20分掛かるしおまけに！追加で天ぷらやお稲荷取るだけで軽々1000円は超えるから冬場のご褒美程度しか行かなくなりましたな😅

  — @イレイナ-dm2zy8dg321 likes

• The title and the content don't match, what are you trying to say?? Supermarket and konbini udon aren't bad, but Marugame, where you can eat freshly cut udon cheaply, is perfectly fine, isn't it. That's why customer numbers are flat even though it got more expensive. Why is there no dislike button.

  タイトルと内容が合ってなくて何が言いたいの？？ スーパーやコンビニも不味くはないけど、打ち立てのうどんを安価で食べれる丸亀は普通にアリでしょ。 だから高くなっても客数横ばいなんでしょ。 なんでバッドボタン無いんだよ。

  — @もちもち-j9w21 likes

• In Kagawa, Marugame Seimen used to have several branches and now there's only one. It calls itself Sanuki udon, but Kagawa people don't accept Marugame Seimen as Sanuki udon. Even so, it can't take the Sanuki udon sign down, so it won't close that last branch even at a loss. On top of that, to protect the Sanuki udon image, it rents land in Kagawa and grows wheat in a field. The harvested wheat is used for new-staff training at a training branch built next to the wheat field, but I suppose it just can't let go of the Sanuki udon image. Looking at Marugame Seimen's recent menu, there's a lot on there you wouldn't think belongs in a Sanuki udon shop 😂🤣😭

  香川県では、丸亀製麺は数店舗有ったが今や１店舗だけ。 讃岐うどんと名乗っているけど、香川県民は丸亀製麺を讃岐うどんとして認めていない。 それでも、讃岐うどんの看板を外せないので最後の１店舗が赤字でも閉店しない。 更に、讃岐うどんのイメージを守る為に香川県に土地を借りて畑で小麦を育てている。 収穫した小麦は、小麦畑の隣に研修用の店舗を建てて新人研修に使用しているけど、どうしても讃岐うどんのイメージを捨てられないのだろう。 最近の丸亀製麺のメニューを見ると此処は讃岐うどん店とは思えないメニューが多いよねぇ😂🤣😭

  — @セイちゃん-y8f17 likes

• As someone from Kagawa, it isn't only Marugame Seimen. Lately the udon that calls itself "Sanuki" pushes chewiness far harder than real Sanuki udon does.

  香川出身者からすると、丸亀製麺だけでなく、最近「さぬきうどん」を称するうどんは本来の讃岐うどんより異常にこしの強さをアピールし過ぎ。

  — @拝一刀-l1y15 likes

• It's Kobe udon, isn't it. Why use the Marugame name. It's like starting an Osaka Okonomiyaki Co. in Tokyo.

  神戸うどんでしょ。なんで丸亀の名称を使うんだよ。 東京で（株）大阪おこのみやきを企業するようなもんだ。

  — @abhknst4 likes

• The customer turnover that comes with the self-serve style backfires, and there are times when the tables and the counter don't feel clean 😢😢😢

  セルフスタイルによる客の回転率が裏目に出てテーブルやカウンターが清潔感に欠けるときがあるんだよな😢😢😢

  — @しゅのぼんぬ54 likes

• The number of branches shot up all at once, and my impression is that the taste is hit and miss from branch to branch, maybe because the training hasn't kept up.

  なんか一気に店舗が増えたけど、教育が行き届いてないのか店舗によって味の当たり外れがある印象。

  — @近藤勇-w5u47 likes

• The biggest problem here is how hard it is to order. You give your udon order first, then move sideways picking up tempura and whatever else, then pay, and first-timers end up going, how am I supposed to order this? I keep thinking, would a ticket machine or a tablet really have been so bad?

  ここの1番の問題点は注文のし難さやろうなぁ 最初にうどんの注文伝えて横に移動しながら天ぷらやらなんやら取って会計とか初めて行く人らコレどうやって注文するんだ？ってなる 普通に食券とかタブレットとかじゃあかんかったのか？と思ってる

  — @チコ-m4m5 likes

• At every branch the flow is get your noodles, choose your tempura, then pay, but at peak times the register is backed up and the noodles go soft, and if you order them drained they go dry. They should just swap the order of the tempura and the noodles.

  どの店舗も、麺をもらって天ぷら選んでお会計の流れだと思うんだけど、 ピーク時は会計混んでて麺が伸びる、湯抜きだと麺がカピカピになる。 天ぷらと麺の順番を逆にしたらいいのに。

  — @いなり-s9e4 likes

• It's true it got expensive so I go less often, but the taste doesn't let you down.

  確かに高くなったので行く回数は減ったけど味は裏切らない

  — @ハイト-haito1 likes

• Nationally there's Hanamaru Udon, and in the Kansai region there's Kanokawa Seimen, so there is something in the idea that Marugame Seimen, which has put its prices up too far, is a harder pick.

  全国的にははなまるうどんや関西圏では、香の川製麺があるからな、 値上げしすぎの丸亀製麺は選ばれにくいというのはある。

  — @アントニー-b4z23 likes

• Hanamaru was there, so of course I go to that one. And Marugame gives you less noodle.

  はなまるがあったからそっち行くわな。 丸亀は麺量が少ないし

  — @kt410819 likes

• Frozen udon these days is amazing. There's frozen udon at a level that even people from the udon prefecture have no complaints about.

  今の冷凍うどんは凄いよね、うどん県民でも全く文句が無いレベルの冷凍うどんが有るわ。

  — @たぬきちFlash30 likes

• Just go on the 1st of the month and order three large kamaage, that'll do.

  毎月1日だけ行って釜揚げ得盛3杯頼めばええやろ

  — @しょうご-w9s19 likes

• SaveMarugame Seimen↗丸亀製麺

  The chain itself. Noodles are cut and boiled on site, you carry your own tray past the tempura, and you pay at the end. Several commenters say that flow is the hardest part for a first-timer.

• SaveHanamaru Udon↗はなまるうどん

  The rival named most often in the comments, on price and on portion size. Its operator is based in Takamatsu, Kagawa.

  Sources: hanamaruudon.com — checked 2026-09-04

• SaveKanokawa Seimen↗香の川製麺Kansai

  Named as the Kansai alternative, with one commenter going there when they want volume for the money (as of the comments in 2026).

• SaveSukesan Udon↗資さんうどん

  The Kitakyushu chain that keeps coming up as the reason people stopped going, from a commenter in Kanagawa and one who finds Marugame's noodles too firm (as of the comments in 2026).

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is Marugame Seimen worth it?

Japanese diners split on the bill rather than the bowl. Udon plus a couple of pieces of tempura now clears 1,000 yen (75 likes), and one regular says tempura and an inari sushi push any order past that, so it has become a winter treat and little more (21 likes). The other side, at 21 likes, is that freshly cut udon at that price is still perfectly fine, which is why the queues have not thinned. Two people report their local branch busy at peak on weekdays and weekends alike.

How much does Marugame Seimen cost now?

Kake udon (regular) is 440 yen and kamaage udon (regular) is 390 yen after the price revision that took effect on 14 January 2026, with ebi tempura and vegetable kakiage at 200 yen each and the freshly grilled beef udon at 890 yen. That is the arithmetic the comments keep landing on: a beef udon and one prawn tempura is already 1,090 yen before rice.

Sources: jp.marugame.com — checked 2026-09-04

Is Marugame Seimen real Sanuki udon?

Not to the Kagawa commenters. One writes that the chain used to have several branches in Kagawa and is now down to one, and that Kagawa people do not accept it as Sanuki udon (17 likes). A Kagawa native adds that chains calling themselves Sanuki now push chewiness far harder than the real thing does (15 likes). The chain is not from Kagawa either: its first store opened in Kakogawa, Hyogo, which Kakogawa City calls its founding place, and the official store finder lists one branch for the whole prefecture of Kagawa.

Sources: prtimes.jp · stores.marugame.com — checked 2026-09-04

What do Japanese eat instead of Marugame Seimen?

Hanamaru Udon nationwide and Kanokawa Seimen in the Kansai region (23 likes), plus supermarket frozen udon, which one commenter says is now good enough that even people from the udon prefecture have no complaints (30 likes). Hanamaru held its small kake at 360 yen in its February 2026 revision, and Hanamaru itself is run from Takamatsu in Kagawa. The other answer is timing: some go only on the 1st of the month, when Marugame halves kamaage udon for eat-in.

Sources: hanamaruudon.com · jp.marugame.com — checked 2026-09-04