Lookee, an old-fashioned review with no pictures! And not even a clever concept! Skip if you want, save us both some trouble.
This place is on the 5th floor of Shin Maru, which means I should have hit it years ago (well, year ago at least. It’s already 18 months of eating lunch around here.). But no. And why? Because soba is so purist, I can’t get that excited about it.
Well, the soba here are about as exciting as it’s gonna get. They display outside the specific type of buckwheat that they’re using to make the noodles on the day, and of course the noodle-rolling area is up at the front of the shop with a window to the ‘street’ (the 5th-floor loop hallway). In practice, they roll and cut the noodles very thin, but still use a slightly rustic flour (plenty of dark flecks left in the noodles). And they don’t overcook, so you get a very firm, very chewy noodle, and that’s very satisfying. As good as soba get, for me.
Tempura is also quite good; not quite at the level of a specialist tempura place (something about the batter…understanding tempura is a project I’m not going to get started on!), but better than practically every other soba place you could name. Tsuyu is average, and wasabi is premade horseradish-based product. Considering the prices (Y1800 for a ten-seiro), you’d think they could spring for some fresh roots. Atmosphere is spartan, and actually sorta noisy.
My recommendation remains – you want soba, you go to Sunaba. Maybe Yabu, but probably Sunaba.
If you’re determined to ignore me, here you go.
03-5879-4680