睦月 神楽
I'm sorry to call you by your first name, but for those who don't know, he is a local talent in Fukuoka who became known for his segment on a local TV information program where he visits udon restaurants in the prefecture. Fukuoka is famous for its tonkotsu ramen, but it is also considered the birthplace of udon (although there are various theories, the Fukuoka theory seems the most plausible) and has many udon restaurants. His tall, handsome, polite personality quickly made him popular, and he is now not only the main MC of the program but also appears in several commercials, making him the most popular local talent. The restaurants he introduces on his udon segment become extremely busy the day after being featured. By the way, this is mostly a side story.
On the day of my visit, I finished work early, so I went home, took a bath, and leisurely made my way to the restaurant. A few days before, the restaurant had been featured on a program where Akira had re-edited his segment, so I made sure to arrive after the lunch rush, around 2 pm. The restaurant was still about 50% full, and I ordered the Deluxe Bukkake Udon for 770 yen, which Akira had eaten on the show. The Gobo tempura topping takes some time to fry after ordering, so I had to wait a while due to the number of customers. It had been decades since I last visited this restaurant. One of the buildings of the hospital in the restaurant's name, known as "Nanashin," the 7th outpatient department of St. Maria Hospital, used to be the inpatient ward for respiratory and digestive diseases. I had been hospitalized there several times in the past when my chronic illness worsened. During my third hospitalization, I sneaked out in the middle of the night to eat at this restaurant, drawn by its light visible from my hospital room window. I had eaten a meat udon, returned to the ward in the cold wind, and ran into a nurse who had just arrived for the night shift. I expected to be scolded, but the nurse, who had taken care of me almost constantly from midnight to morning when I was suffering from a worsened chronic condition and pneumonia, had tears in her eyes and quietly said, "After finally starting to feel better from such severe pain, if it gets worse again, what will you do?" Her words, spoken with a choked voice, made me deeply reflect on my actions. I never ran away without permission during my numerous subsequent hospitalizations over the following years. Therefore, it was difficult for me to visit this restaurant again, until that winter night. Oh, I almost forgot about the udon. The noodles here are hand-stretched udon with a distinctive "node." The texture is different from the typical Hakata or Chikugo udon, as it is smooth without a sense of expansion. The bukkake udon is served cold, with a good throat sensation suitable for summer. I felt that the topping volume was a bit lacking compared to the menu, but I'll chalk it up to my imagination. It brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings. Thank you for the meal.