Isu Station udon lunch with inari sushi included: Kosi Isu Branch

Today's post is about a visit to Kosi Isu Branch, an udon restaurant near Isu Station~! I was looking for somewhere to grab simple Japanese food near Isu Station and ended up having udon and tonkatsu with my husband >_< I've always loved udon and go hunting for good udon places, so I went in with high expectations when I heard Kosi Isu Branch makes its own noodles fresh every day from dough aged for 48 hours.

Where is Kosi Isu Branch, and what are its hours and parking?

Kosi Isu Branch is connected to Isu Station Exit 9, so it's easy to get to, and you can find it easily by parking on B2 or B3 of the Isu Xi complex mall and coming up to the 1st floor. Plus, you get 1 hour of free parking! Apparently it was featured on SBS's Master in the House and actor Kim Seung-soo praised it as a great restaurant.

Walking in, the place was bigger than I expected. There's plenty of hall seating, so it's good for solo dining or a casual lunch for two, but it also looked comfortable for family meals. Hours are 11:20–21:00 with a break time of 15:20–17:00. Lunch last order is 14:50 and dinner last order is 20:30, so keep that in mind if you visit!

Kosi Isu Branch menu and 48-hour aged house-made noodles

The part Kosi emphasizes most compared to other udon restaurants is the noodles. They knead the dough with just three ingredients—salt, water, and flour—then let it go through a first and second fermentation over 48 hours before making noodles fresh each day, following traditional Japanese Sanuki methods.

My husband ordered the mixed katsu + kake udon set, and I went with house-made bukkake udon + added tonkatsu.

Mixed katsu kake udon set: sirloin tonkatsu and king shrimp katsu

My husband ordered the mixed katsu for 14,500 won and added 3,500 won to make it a kake udon set. Kosi Isu Branch's mixed katsu comes with one fresh sirloin tonkatsu and one king shrimp katsu.

You can see how thick the tonkatsu is, right..? We tried the fresh sirloin tonkatsu first, and the batter was crispy while the meat inside was juicy—really good condition. You could tell it was freshly fried and served hot.

The king shrimp katsu was also seriously delicious… the shrimp itself had a plump, bouncy texture, a totally different flavor from the tonkatsu, so I highly recommend it if you like shrimp.

Dipping the tonkatsu in the shrimp sauce was also amazing haha

The kake udon we ordered alongside is basic udon with hot broth and udon noodles—the broth was clean and warm, pairing well with the tonkatsu. Fried food can get a bit greasy after a while, but sipping the hot udon broth in between made for a great combo.

House-made bukkake udon at 9,000 won with a 5,000-won tonkatsu

And the dish I ordered was the house-made bukkake udon for 9,000 won. I added tonkatsu on top for 5,000 won. Bukkake udon is a cold udon dish where you mix chilled noodles with cool tsuyu sauce. I usually love cold udon, and I wanted to really taste Kosi's house-made noodles, so I picked this menu!

I was surprised that inari sushi (seasoned fried tofu pockets with rice) comes included by default ㄷㄷ With udon, tonkatsu, and inari sushi on the table, the meal turned out more substantial than I expected.

The first thing I noticed with the very first bite was, of course, the chewiness of the noodles!!! The udon noodles weren't the kind that just slide down smoothly—they had a springy texture that got more noticeable the more you chewed, so the texture really stuck with me. Apparently the name 'Kosi' means 'chewy bite' in Japanese, and after eating it myself, I get why they named it that. Personally, of everything I ate that day, the bukkake udon was my favorite.

And the tonkatsu I added to my udon for 5,000 won—honestly I thought it would just be a few small pieces to go with the udon, but the portion was bigger than expected. Udon alone might leave you a little unsatisfied, but adding the tonkatsu made it a much heartier meal. Compared to the tonkatsu in my husband's dish, the meat quality was just as good and fried nice and crispy, pairing well with the udon.

Is Kosi Isu Branch worth it for a tonkatsu-and-udon lunch?

I especially loved the chewy noodles, so next time I want to try other udon menus at Kosi Isu Branch. Personally, I enjoyed this as much as the udon at Chef Jung Ho-young's Udon Kaden, which I visited and paid for myself last time. If you're looking for a solo dining spot near Isu Station, or a good tonkatsu and udon restaurant, I highly recommend Kosi Isu Branch :)