Because the weather was warm during our visit, we ate our noodles served cold on a zaru or shallow bamboo basket, and then dipped them in a cold soy sauce based soup, which is more dilute in west Japan, than in east Japan, including Tokyo. Common toppings include tempura, or sliced negi – a leek like onion. Sweetened, fried tofu skins (abarage) are served on kitsune (fox) udon, which is so named because abarage is supposedly a favorite of the Shinto fox deity. After eating cheap, pre-cooked, mushy supermarket udon, trying real Sanuki udon, made on the premises is a revelation. They were ridiculously long, thick, springy and delectably chewy.