We had bookmarked Marushin Drive-in in Hitachiomiya a while ago and wanted to give it a try. It had pretty good reviews on Google and was located along the main road leading to Daigo and Fukuroda Falls. The small restaurant is only open from 10:00 – 15:00 which is a pretty short time. Every time we’ve been in the area, it was either too early or too late. Fortunately, we were in the area during lunch time, so we knew we had to give it a try.

The restaurant is located right off of National Route 118 and the south bank of the Kuji River. They have a large parking area with no defined spaces. Attached to the restaurant is a small shop selling local goods and produce.

The inside of the restaurant has a good number of tables and chairs. They can accommodate groups of varying sizes. There were also several tatami tables on raised wooden platforms. When we arrived, it wasn’t too busy. By the time we left, there was a short line outside.

Marushin Drive-in Menu

The restaurant is famous for their kenchan. Kenchan has a miso based broth, with chunks of carrot, konyaku, daikon, potato, and burdock inside. Each of the kenchan meals comes with your choice of soba or udon. They are also known for their motsukinomi which is a pork innards stew. We decided to try their kenchan, soba & tempura set, and a side of their motsukinomi.

Marushin Drive-in Food Review

Our food came out a little later. The kenchan was served in a large bowl with a side of pickled vegetables. The soup had a nice hearty miso flavor and the vegetables inside had absorbed the broth nicely. The noodles were thick and had a nice elastic texture. The tempura from the set was nice and crispy. The eggplant had been filleted and the shrimp was large and meaty. The zaru udon surprised us in the sense that it was quite stiff. The motsukinomi was tough for us. We had an idea of what it was, but the texture and the taste were too much for us. We’re not used to eating pork innards.

After we finished our meal, we were asked to take our trays to back up to the counter.

Final Thoughts

We really enjoyed the udon kenchan we had at Marushin Drive-in in Hitachiomiya. It was flavorful, hearty, and the perfect meal for a cold day. If your in the Hitachiomiya area during lunch, we recommend stopping by Marushin Drive-in in Hitachiomiya.

More to Come…

Here is a link to their website.