Soba!!!
I’m glad it’s Friday so I can stop doing this excited one-word introduction gimmick. I’ve just been trying to something that would grab your attention. Actually this reminds me of a really funny comedy routine that my friend Fred did one time. As part of a larger show, he came out between various song-and-dance numbers wearing a fly costume and making corny jokes as “The Y2K Bug”. On the 3rd or 4th such segment, he broke down in the middle of the routine, took off the bug mask, and said “My name’s Fred, and this is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done” and shuffled off stage to huge applause. He’s a funny guy, our Fred (but he doesn’t get on that well with still-twitching seafood!).
Yeah, soba. Yoshida inexplicably had no line outside, which was a rarity in the basement of the Otemachi Building today when The Preacher and I ventured down there (of course, he should more properly be called The Management Reporting Specialist now, but let’s leave that). I initially attributed the lack of line to the dingy and unwelcoming atmosphere, but a line formed after we sat down (oh please, my modesty, I’m SURE it wasn’t just because I was eating there).
The speciality is fresh soba, which you can get in lots of different configurations and sets. We both had katsudon and cold soba (I’d like to say that that’s how God intended those two items to be eaten, but I can’t – soba should indeed be cold, but katsu should be eaten as it is and topped with sauce, or else with curry. Egg ‘n’ onion doesn’t do much for me.). The soba was initially surprising because it was so light in color – no grayness at all, which made me want to ask if there was any soba in it. But it was firm and chewy, if a little lacking in flavor. Many people say soba is all about the texture, so these could have been perfect. The katsu was tender and juicy, the eggs and onions were half-cooked and saucy and sweet…it was an average level katsu.
I think the Oazo soba place beats this place with eyes closed, but it’s about 50% more expensive. You can be the judge.