I ordered the Katsudon and Soba Set - Cold Soba (1,050 yen). When ordering rice or a bowl dish, you can add soba for an additional 200 yen. I chose the Cold Soba, thinking it would come as a side dish. However, it was a bowl of soba with lots of toppings, not the typical plain soba. The noodles were not soaked in the sauce but meant to be dipped in the dipping sauce provided. The katsudon was delicious, with a rich and flavorful sauce. It had plenty of onions which added a sweet flavor and made it very satisfying. Next time, I want to try the popular menu item, Toriten-don. Thank you for the meal.

On a certain weekday, I visited a soba restaurant in Shiroji 2-jo, Kita-ku, which I had a good impression of last time. It was not crowded as I arrived right when they opened, which was convenient. This time, I decided to try the "Chicken Tempura Rice Bowl Set (900 yen)" as it was recommended along with a different option than last time. The tempura chicken was tender and delicious, served with green peppers and eggplant. The tempura vegetables on a small plate, including onions, carrots, and bamboo shoots, were also placed on top of the rice bowl, so I mixed them together. Next, the cold soba noodles were sesame-flavored and had a chewy texture, topped with luxurious toppings like seaweed, tempura crumbs, fish cake, and spinach. The dipping sauce seemed to have a mix of soy sauce, mirin, and possibly sake. A macaroni salad was also included, with the dressing served separately, and the pickled cabbage served as a side for the rice. Lastly, I enjoyed a clear soba broth to finish the meal. Overall, it was a popular soba restaurant where the service spirit of the staff was evident. Thank you for the meal.

Zarusoba for 600 yen. The broth is light and has a homey taste. The noodles tend to stick together, making it a bit difficult to slurp them up (lol). Considering the price, it's not bad. The set meal might be a better option than just ordering soba noodles.

Nihonbashi Recommended Set Menu for 900 yen is an absolute must-try and great deal! The chicken tempura is delicious with a rich broth and generous portion. The restaurant is conveniently located near JR Shinro Station, with a spacious parking lot in front. I tried to visit during lunchtime before but they had already closed. I was a bit worried when I arrived at 6:50 pm, but the bright neon sign reassured me and I entered. The staff greeted me coolly and took my order promptly. The interior with a TV playing in the background gives off a nostalgic Showa era vibe, like a local diner. The sight of manga books lined up on the wall adds to the charm. The soba noodles I ordered arrived quickly and were well-prepared, with a firm texture and a hint of sesame flavor. The broth was subtly sweet with a hint of bonito, perfect for dipping the noodles. As I looked at the menu again, I couldn't help but want to try the chicken tempura... I regret not ordering it. I paid my bill with satisfaction. You must try the tempura here. It was delicious. Thank you for the meal.

Sapporo City's popular casual sesame soba restaurant in Kita-ku, Shinoro. Is it just my imagination that there are many restaurants in Kita-ku that offer sesame soba? The atmosphere inside the restaurant is homely, and the friendly Hanaban-san was bustling around. It seems that the order of set menus with rice bowls is popular here. The "Mori Soba" is priced at 500 yen (including tax). The long sesame soba noodles have a smooth texture, and seem to be about 50cm long. The noodles are chewy and slightly soft, with a hint of sweetness compared to popular sesame soba chains. The broth is made with thick bonito stock, with a hint of sweetness. It's just right to dip the soba noodles in the broth. When you pour hot water into the transparent kettle, the broth opens up and tastes delicious. This is THE local soba restaurant. This presence must be appreciated by the local residents. I also share soba information on Instagram/Facebook, and recently I have been receiving many grateful messages through SNS. It seems that more and more people are following my reviews and even meeting other dedicated soba lovers. I have also communicated with several respected soba artisans. And this time, although not a reviewer, I received a very grateful comment from someone who has been referring to my soba reviews for over 10 years since their student days and claims to be the world's biggest soba lover. I was surprised that they have been reading my reviews since I started on Tabelog, and it made me realize that many people read reviews, not just me. It was a bit overwhelming but also very encouraging and heartwarming. I write reviews with the premise of wanting to share delicious restaurants, and the powerful information dissemination of Tabelog is amazing. I believe that an increase in honest and straightforward "soba reviews", albeit mixed with both good and bad ones, will have a positive impact on the soba scene. I want to continue to have a sense of responsibility and enjoy writing my own reviews, and become a presence that helps to liven up the world of soba in my own small way. I believe that the thoughts of both the providers and the soba lovers will synchronize in a positive way, creating even more excitement... The keyword is "Soba has various ways to enjoy it, it's a simple yet profound thing." I may just like it a little, but I am a soba lover.

Today, I visited a restaurant in Shinoro with my partner KT, which is 500m away from the construction site. It was crowded with many customers, both before and after us. They also received a lot of takeout orders over the phone. We were feeling cold from working outside, so I ordered parent and child soba, while KT ordered hot udon noodles with shrimp tempura. And guess what? They gave us complimentary tempura (pumpkin and burdock) on the side! How nice! The parent and child soba had plenty of chopped chicken and seaweed, which was delicious. However, the tap water served (or was it tap water?) was not tasty and I couldn't drink it. The parent and child soba cost 700 yen, and the hot udon noodles with shrimp tempura cost 850 yen. Thank you for the meal! (^^)v

Located a little south off the Yoko-Shindo in Shiro, 2-7-cho, Kita-ku, Sapporo. Probably a home and shop combination, with a relatively large parking lot in front. Arrived around 2:00 PM, during lunchtime, and the place was almost full, so had to share a table. In addition to soba dishes, they also offer a variety of set meals, rice bowls, and set menus. The special "Doyaku no Uchiben" lunch box sounded intriguing, but since it was my first time here, I opted for the Morisoba. The soba noodles were medium thickness with some black specks visible. The dipping sauce was served in a wide-mouthed dish, with plenty of chopped green onions as a condiment. The soba didn't have a strong aroma and had a slightly chewy texture. The flavor of the dipping sauce was good, but overall it felt a bit diluted. Perhaps a sweeter and richer flavor would have been better with this soba. Looking around, most customers were enjoying rice bowls or set meals. The elderly man I shared the table with was savoring a hearty Katsukare. It looked delicious. This place seems to excel in warm dishes and generous rice bowls. I also spotted what seemed like a "Makunouchi" lunch box, which looked quite appetizing. Next time, I'll try that. Thank you for the meal.

I had the Duck Nanban Soba and it was delicious! It only cost 750 yen, which is quite cheap. The taste was homely and for this price, being able to eat duck is a steal. Definitely going to come back for more. Thank you for the meal!

The other day, I visited this shop that I found in this neighborhood. The window next to the entrance says "Handmade Sesame Soba". I sat at the counter on the left side after entering the shop and looked at the menu. The regular and large portions of soba are priced at 500 yen, which is quite reasonable. I checked that the curry soba uses chicken meat. It's not easy to find curry soba with pork meat. I was thinking of getting the meat soba, but when I confirmed that they could make yakisoba, I decided to go for it. The yakisoba (regular) costs 750 yen. The version with shrimp tempura is priced at 850 yen, which is quite affordable. The yakisoba was served promptly with a complimentary pumpkin tempura. The ingredients include chicken, egg, shiitake mushrooms, green onions, wheat gluten, rice cakes, fish cakes, tempura crumbs, and Japanese parsley. The shiitake mushrooms are well-flavored and delicious. The small pieces of chicken are also plentiful. The broth is flavorful with a good balance of umami and richness. I dipped the pumpkin tempura in the broth before eating it, and it was delicious. The soba is handmade sesame soba, which has a good chewiness even in warm broth. Its length is also satisfying. It has a firmness similar to dried noodles, which goes well with yakisoba. They have a variety of set menus, making it a good deal. I just wish they had mini curry rice as an option.

I had the limited chicken tempura rice bowl set for lunch! The chicken tempura rice bowl had a good amount of chicken tempura, 4 pieces, along with eggplant tempura and green pepper tempura, so it was quite filling and satisfying!! The soba noodles had fish cake, fried tempura bits, and spinach, giving it a simple yet delicious flavor :)

I had the duck soba and salmon onigiri for lunch. The soba was delicious, and the onigiri was tasty too. I was satisfied with just the soba and onigiri in terms of portion size.

I had a delicious katsu curry with a generous portion. As a bonus, they also served kakiage tempura.

Chicken Nanban Set 800 ===========

I thought there would be a set menu, so I ordered a single portion of hirekatsu donburi, but it came in a large bowl with a side of tempura and a small portion of soba noodles as a service.

Fried oyster and soba set meal.

Pork cutlet curry

On a certain weekday, I visited a soba restaurant bookmarked in Shinoro, Kita-ku for lunch. The parking lot had a sufficient number of spaces and even during the latter half of lunchtime, the restaurant was bustling. The interior wasn't very spacious but efficiently designed with a counter, tables, and a raised tatami area, with manga books available to pass the time. The background music was the midday TV show playing on the television. I decided to try the set menu on this day, and the limited-time special "Soft Pork Loin with Sweet Vinegar Sauce (850 yen)" caught my eye. It arrived, and the cold soba turned out to be served in a tanuki soba style! Taking a bite, the noodles were a relatively soft grey color with a slightly chewy texture. The dipping sauce was on the sweeter side and I ended up pouring it over the noodles. The toppings included cucumber, fish cake, seaweed, and tempura bits, which added a nice touch. Next, the pork loin had a taste reminiscent of shrimp chili, with a honey-infused sweet and sour sauce coating the meat, making it a delightful combination with rice. The side salad with Caesar dressing, macaroni salad, pickles, rice, and soba broth completed the meal. Although the potential of the soba and the fact that smoking was allowed may seem a bit rough around the edges, the variety of rice bowls and set meals, including the unseen but popular "unadon," and the overall reasonable pricing, show the effort of the restaurant to satisfy customers' needs and is undoubtedly the reason for its popularity. It was refreshing to think of it as a dining place mainly focused on soba. Looking forward to my next visit. Thank you for the meal!

Today, I went skiing at Ishikari Heigen Ski Resort. My husband stayed in the car as usual. Just so you know, they will close on March 12th. The snow that fell last night was great for skiing. It's a shame that they are closing soon. It's always hard to find a place to eat in Ishikari Tobetsu, so on the way back, despite my husband saying he wanted to eat at McDonald's, I searched for a restaurant we've never been to before. We ended up deciding on this place for some reason. We sat at the counter seats by the window facing the parking lot. My husband had pork cutlet curry for 800 yen (even though he had tonkatsu for dinner and breakfast). I had chilled soba with assorted toppings for 800 yen. The restroom was Japanese-style and there were ashtrays, so smoking was allowed. The chilled soba had mountain vegetables, sweet rolled omelette, seaweed, spinach, fish cake, tempura shrimp, and grated radish. The tempura shrimp was a bit thickly battered, but it was a nice addition. The soba was served in a plastic bowl, but it was drained properly. The dipping sauce was not too sweet, which I liked. Soba water was also provided together. My husband's pork cutlet curry was very filling. He commented, "There's a lot of rice." He seemed to enjoy the curry, which was not too spicy. I'm curious about their Makunouchi bento. Thank you for the meal.

I entered the restaurant after 1 p.m. on a regular day. Since it was past the usual lunch break time, I thought it might be empty, but there were 6 cars in the parking lot in front of the store. I was happy to see that it was busy. The interior of the restaurant is not very spacious and quite dark. I'm not too picky about appearances, so I looked at the menu. The recommended set menu was a fried dish set with soba. The previous customer also ordered the set. I like chicken, so I ordered the chicken nanban set with warm soba. The menu indicated that it was a local dish from Miyazaki prefecture, which I didn't know. The food was served relatively quickly and looked delicious. The chicken nanban had a sweet and spicy sauce on top. The salad had no dressing, but there was tartar sauce in a small cup on the side. A bottle of sesame dressing was also placed on the tray. The chicken nanban was large but thin and not very tasty. (To be honest) The small portion of rice, pickled vegetables, and half a mandarin orange were enough for me, but there was some soba left. I finally ate the warm soba, which was average. The strong dashi flavor was to my liking. Considering the portion size, the meal was only 800 yen, which is a good deal. This is probably why it's popular. However, the restroom was traditional Japanese style. It would have been better if it was a Western-style toilet.