Sanuki Udon in Kagawa

Kagawa is the smallest prefecture in Japan and eats more udon than anywhere else, a habit built on wheat, low rainfall and dried sardines from the Inland Sea for stock. The noodles are thick, square-edged and firm enough to need chewing, and the ordering is a local ritual rather than a menu. In a self-service shop you take a tray, say how many portions you want, dip the noodles yourself in a vat of hot water to warm them, ladle broth or pour cold soy over the top, add tempura or a raw egg from the counter, and pay at the end by what is on your tray. The whole transaction takes four minutes and costs very little.

What you actually see

• The self-service counter - dipping your own noodles and building the bowl before anyone takes your money.
• The four styles - kake in hot broth, bukkake with concentrated sauce, kamaage straight from the pot, shoyu with soy alone.
• Iriko dashi - stock from dried sardines of the Inland Sea, sharper and fishier than mainland broths.
• The shop crawl - locals eat small portions at two or three shops in a morning rather than one large bowl.

When to go

Many shops open at breakfast time and close by early afternoon, and the best of them shut as soon as the day's dough runs out, sometimes before noon. Come hungry and early. Weekends bring queues at the well-known places. The rural shops keep the shortest and least predictable hours, so check the day before rather than driving out on faith.

Honest expectations

The best shops are scattered through the countryside and effectively need a car, and several are barely signposted sheds behind farmhouses. Cash only is the rule. Ordering happens fast in Japanese with no menu to point at, which rattles first-timers. Portions are small by design, so one bowl is not lunch, and by two in the afternoon most of the good options have closed.

Nearby

Ritsurin garden sits in Takamatsu, and the island ferries to Naoshima leave from the port.