九州村奥武藏酒店

Tucked away in a quiet residential neighbourhood, this soba shop welcomes guests only at lunchtime. The interior is done entirely in natural materials such as wood and stone, lending a homespun feel. Service is friendly and welcoming, placing the heart at ease. The menu consists solely of sobazen a set meal including fine soba noodles, appetisers, and soba-gaki. For those who prefer something sweet, the soba-gaki can be substituted with soba zenzai, a red bean soup made with the same buckwheat dough in dessert form. Quantities are limited so reservations are a must and can be made by phone fro

The chef ’s aim is to create a ramen shop beloved by locals. He sources ingredients from greengrocers and butchers in Nishiogi, treasuring his interactions with local people. The distance from the train station is also a blessing, as neighbourhood schoolchildren and their families can be seen sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, happily slurping noodles. As befits the ‘Seimenjo’, or ‘noodle-maker’, in the name, his use of Japanese wheat is a selling point. In addition to standard thin noodles, he also offers flat noodles. The miso flavour is a much-anticipated treat in autumn and winter.

The chef devotes himself to good health through a balanced diet, using Chinese medicines as seasoning to serve food that is salutary for both mind and body. Vegetables from his native Oita are grown by natural methods, making them gentle to the constitution. At dinner, there is a wide range of à la carte dishes, leaning toward Sichuan and Shanghai influences. The chef allows himself an individual take with the mapo tofu: drawing on a wealth of experience, he offers a choice of Sichuan, aged doubanjiang (Chinese broad bean chili paste) and salt. Lunchtime set menus are also popular.

The soup accentuates the umami of the meats with the flavour of dried sardines; if you’re looking for soup with a unique and beguiling taste, you’ve found it here. Chashumen, ramen topped with roasted pork, is so covered in pork slices that they hide the noodles. Rice is available as an extra with the ramen, so try placing some of the roasted pork on top of it to make chashudon, roast-pork rice. Impressive and satisfying indeed, as if to say there is ramen here.

The chef heard the call to the culinary life one day while riding his father’s motorcycle on a long tour around the Seto Inland Sea. When he happened upon a ramen shop along the way, the taste of the salty soba touched his soul. He combines a clear seafood broth with homemade noodles crafted with aroma in mind. The ceiling decoration recalls the roof of an old-time food stall, honouring how ramen culture spread in his native Hiroshima Prefecture.

With the temperament of an artist, the chef places everything in its proper proportion. Gathering unpolished buckwheat from Nagano and Niigata, he grinds the two together, checking moisture by hand to produce nihachi and juwari noodles. Soba and broth are served in harmony: as seiro, accompanied by soup redolent of katsuobushi, or as kake, steeped in hot katsuobushi broth. Side dishes are soba-shop favourites, such as Pacific herring simmered for days or seafood and buckwheat flour wrapped in nori and deep-fried.

The lines that form outside Tensuke at lunchtime are a part of the Koenji landscape. Inside, one voice after another calls for the ‘Egg Lunch’. Accompanying the speciality of deep-fried egg on rice, tempura items are fried in a set order. Another speciality is the performance of the chef, who tosses the eggshells in the air in poses worthy of a kabuki actor. The idea is to make the waiting time fun, too. Deep-fried eggs fill mouths with yolk and smiles.