A scruffy two-storey corner shop in the Uomachi arcade that claims to have invented yakiudon in 1945 when fresh soba was unobtainable in the bombed-out city. The recipe has barely changed: thick udon fried hard on a flat top with pork belly, cabbage, dried fish flakes, and a soy-based sauce, topped with shredded nori and a generous pile of pickled ginger.
Darumado is small, smoky, and busy at lunch. Queues move quickly; cash only; menus in Japanese but the staff are used to pointing. A plate of yakiudon plus a glass of beer is the local lunchtime ritual.