Tourist visiting or ex-pat living here in Tokyo and sick of guides like Zagat on where to eat? If so, this blog is for you. Check where locals go to eat.
When you discuss about Soba restaurants in Tokyo, the first thing you need to talk about is Big 3 Names or Families of soba restaurants (in Japanese, Edo Soba Gosanke). The big 3 are SARASHINA, SUNABA, and YABU. KANDA YABUSOBA is the first soba restaurant with the name Yabu and opened in 1880. The founder of Kanda Yabusoba's 3rd son opened NAMIKI YABUSOBA in 1913 at Asakusa and Namiki Yabusoba's 2nd son opened IKENOHATA YABUSOBA in 1954 at Ueno. These 3 Yabusoba's are now known to many as BIG 3 YABUSOBA (in Japanese, Yabusoba Gosanke).
Whats Yabusoba different from the other big 3's? The main difference is the SOBA TSUYU (cold soba sauce) which is saltier than others. Kanda Yabusoba is the saltiest even among all Yasusoba's.
Even if you don't enjoy eating soba, Kanda Yabusoba's building itself is a flashback of old Tokyo. It was built in 1924 and it is now an official historic landmark. Therefore, when you do go to Kanda Yabusoba, you should order various appetizers before having soba so you can enjoy the atmosphere of this rare soba restaurant.
Soba lovers will start out ordering a bottle of sake and maybe KAMABOKO or ITAWASA (Minced Fish Sausage).
Also, you may want to try one of Kanda Yabusoba's signiture appetizer KAMO ROHSU (Grilled Duck Breast)
or SOBA SUSHI
or even TENTANE (Round Large Tempura).
Then move on to SEIRO SOBA (Cold Soba)
or if you prefer hot soba with soup, you might want to order their famous KAMONAN SOBA (Grilled Duck Soba)
or TAMOGOTOJI SOBA (Scrambled Egg Soba). Many people usually have both cold & hot soba so they can enjoy Kanda Yabusoba's salty soba sauce and soup.
There are many other soba restaurants with the word Yabu included in their name and if you see one it means that owner/chef has worked at one of the big 3 Yabusoba's and was given permission to use it. All of these Yabu's are good soba restaurants, but Kanda Yabusoba still is on top of all of them. Just dine here once and you will probably agree like many soba freaks do.
KANDA YABUSOBA （in Japanese, かんだやぶそば） Address: 2-10 Kanda Awaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (in Japanese, 東京都千代田区神田淡路町2-10) Nearest train station: JR Kanda & Akihabara (5 min walk) Tokyo Metro Kanda & Awaji-cho (3 min walk) Tel: 03-3251-0287 Reservations: Yes Website: hhttp://www.norenkai.net/english/shop/yabusoba/index.html English menu: No Credit Card: No Open: 11:30am-7:30pm Closed: None
Prices: Seiro Soba (Cold Soba) 700 yen Tamago Toji Soba (Scramble Egg Soba) 1,100 yen Kamo Nanban Soba (Roast Duck & Scallion Soba) 1,800 yen Tempura Soba 1,800 yen Kamaboko (Minced Fish Sausage) 700 yen Kamo Roast (Roast Duck Breast) 700 yen Soba Sushi 800 yen Tentane (Round Thick Tempura) 1,400 yen
Author:Tokyo Joe
Food, music, and sports is my princess.
Favorite food: Almost anything in Tokyo, Beef in Kobe, Kaiseki/Kappo in Kyoto, Seafood in Hokkaido & Northern Japan, Aranabe in Fukuoka, Udon in Kagawa, Korean in Korea, Thai in Bangkok, Cantonese in Hong Kong, Fishhead Curry & Chicken Rice in Singapore, French in Paris & Lyon, Italian in Napoli & Toscana, Spanish in Madrid & Basque, Brazilian in Sao Paolo, Cuban in Havana, Indian in Dehli, Mexican in Mexico City, and Junk food in States
Dislike: most of the food/restos in the UK, glass of milk, cooked chunks of liver, hoya, Korean dog stew, balut, cow & pork blood, bugs and funky Chinese dishes.
