Eat sanmāmen, the noodle dish that never left Kanagawa
Nothing to do with saury
Sanmāmen is thin straight noodles under stir-fried bean sprouts, cabbage, wood-ear, carrot and pork, bound in a starch-thickened gravy. It was invented in Yokohama and is still a standard menu item across Kanagawa while barely existing elsewhere in the country.
Why it's unique
Most regional Japanese noodle dishes have travelled. This one has not. It is ordinary across the prefecture and effectively absent from the rest of the country, so the place to eat it is here.
The name has nothing to do with sanma, Pacific saury. It is Cantonese: san for fresh or crisp, ma for topping. It began as a staff meal for Chinese restaurant cooks and later fed Yokohama dock workers in the late 1940s. Gyokusentei in Isezakichō is one of the two shops credited with the dish, and the one still trading.
Before you go
Order it shōyu, not shio, for the classic version.
The thickened gravy is the whole point. It seals in the heat, so the bowl is still scalding at the last mouthful, which is why residents treat it as winter food. Take your time with it.