Iori

For a meal centred on soba, start with zaru: cold noodles served with dipping sauce. Diners have praised the noodles’ firm texture, and some say they prefer the zaru soba. The lunch soba set pairs zaru soba or hot kake soba with either chirimen rice or shirasu rice. You can choose between cold noodles and a warming bowl, then pick the rice to suit your appetite. For soba alongside tempura and rice, there are also tendon and ten-toji-don sets. The ten-toji-don set comes in a standard version or a deluxe option with chicken and vegetable tempura. Ten-zaru, served with a large prawn tempura, is another choice. Lunch can take different shapes, whether you want the soba to lead or prefer a rice bowl as the main event.

One diner who ordered a set of tendon and cold soba remembered the crisp tempura and the firm, all-buckwheat noodles. Another enjoyed the large prawn tempura in the ten-toji-don. Choose a set that lets you taste the soba and tempura separately, or have them brought together in a rice bowl bound with egg. There are set meals beyond soba, too: the chicken nanban set comes with plenty of house-made tartar sauce and sweet vinegar. One diner said they enjoyed both the soba broth and the chicken nanban. With soba and heartier main dishes on the menu, lunch companions can each find something to suit their appetite.

In the evening, the menu extends beyond soba and rice bowls to small plates and drinks. There is plenty to choose from, whether you want soba as the centre of a daytime meal or a more leisurely dinner with dishes to share.