All things buckwheat – and especially soba noodles: Restaurant Sobanomi Yoshimura (16. March 2020)
There is a downside of not booking restaurants in advance as you will not really have a chance to dine at a Michelin starred restaurant without proper reservation ahead of time. However, it has the beauty that you’re not bound to a certain time to eat and can have late lunch at 3:30pm. That was exactly the case when I stumbled over “Sobanomi Yoshimura” which is basically a place which specializes in soba noodles.
I went for one of their set lunch menus, the “Otsukuri-Zen (a set meal featuring soba noodles and sashimi: hot soba, sashimi, shrimp tempura on rice, Kyoto pickles)” (2’000 Yen) which had tasty sashimi, good tempura and ultimately an interesting soba noodle soup. I really liked the soba noodles which were made with buckwheat (see below for how they are prepared) as they had a special taste and quite an enjoyable one. The broth in which they were served though needed some prepping with spices to become enjoyable.
Given everything in this place was soba, I went for their “Soba-cha icecream (buckwheat powder mixed in Vanilla icecream)” (528 Yen) and I must say, I liked it too. I always liked buckwheat but wasn’t aware so far that it is such a versatile ingredient which you can use for so many things. And I’m glad I tried it.
As mentioned, they prepare the soba noodles by hand and you can watch them do so when you enter …
… as well as the guys in the kitchen which is – like the restaurant – on the first floor! Definitely an interesting sight!
While it does not look like there is anything like being able to speak English according to the outside, they actually have English menus and our waitresses were also able to converse in English with us making it a pleasant experience.
When you’re in Japan, you should definitely try one of these soba noodle houses – if you’re in Kyoto, the Sobanomi Yoshimura is definitely a good choice to try everything buckwheat and especially buckwheat soba noodles!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Sobanomi Yoshimura
420 Matsuyacho
Shimogyo Ward
600-8105 Kyoto (JP)
Tel.: +81 75 353 01 14
Fax: +81 75 353 01 12
Homepage: http://www.yoshimura-gr.com/sobanomi/
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
