How to Eat Soba Noodles, Enjoyed by Japanese for Over 9,000 Years!

So what is soba?

Soba, a simple noodle made from buckwheat flour, has long been a foodstuff of choice for Japanese.
Outside of Japan, ramen has become the more popular noodle following the assertive global expansion of ramen restaurants like Ippudo. However, for Japanese, soba noodles have been a staple soul food for millennia. Discoveries of buckwheat pollen at 9,000-year-old ruins indicate that the plant has been cultivated by many generations of Japanese.

The two varieties of soba noodle restaurants

Without further ado, on to a soba restaurant! First, let\'s look at the two varieties of soba noodle restaurants. The first is a fast food style where diners tend to eat and finish up quickly-sometimes called a “standing noodle bar,” though ones with seating are also increasingly common.

Fuji Soba is one popular chain. Of course, there is no rule saying you must hurry and finish within a specific time, so stay as long as you like!

Nadai Fuji Soba

■Location: Various locations in and around Tokyo
■Operating hours: depends on the shop
■Closed: depends on the shop

The other type of restaurant tends to serve alcohol and other snacks, allowing you to enjoy a more relaxed dining experience. Common side dishes include tamagoyaki (rolled omelet), yakinori (baked seaweed), or itawasa (fish paste served with soy sauce and wasabi, eaten like sashimi).


There are many long-established restaurants of this style, such as Sunaba and Srashina. Standing noodle bars are generally more affordable, but both types serve their purpose for different clientele who either prefer to eat quickly or more leisurely.

Osakaya Sunaba, Toranomon main restaurant

■Location: Tokyo, Minato Ward, Toranomon 1-10-16
■Operating hours: weekdays 11:00am-8:00pm; Saturday 11:00am-3:00pm
■Closed: Sundays, national holidays, substitute holidays

Sarashina-Horii, Azabu main restaurant

■Location: Tokyo, Minato Ward, Motoazabu 3-11-4
■Operating hours: weekdays 11:30am-8：30pm; weekends and national holidays 11:00am-8：30pm
■Closed: never

How to enjoy the best of soba flavor

There are both warm and cold varieties of soba.

(1) Cold soba

The basic types of cold soba are zaru and mori. Both are boiled noodles submerged in cold water and served on a zaru (bamboo strainer) for dipping into the accompanying broth. However, the first mouthful is often savored without the broth in order to appreciate the specific restaurant\'s unique flavor of soba. Give it a try! As an aside, the more costly zaru noodles can often just be the mori variety with a seaweed topping, so we recommend going with the latter.

(2) Warm soba

Warm soba is by itself a simple affair. The flavor is enhanced with varieties including tempura, sansai (wild vegetable), tsukimi (raw egg), and kamonanban (duck and green onion). There are many varieties to try depending on your preference and mood at the time!

Hot or cold, soba is best enjoyed by quickly slurping it up. Though such table manners are usually frowned upon abroad, in Japan this is considered the only way to eat noodles. Step into a soba restaurant to see diners young and old, male and female enjoying their noodles in this exact way. It\'s said by slurping, the aroma becomes much more powerful. In any case, when you visit Japan feel free to slurp away! In fact we insist on it.