Tanbaya

Two Indian (maybe) ladies and one old guy serve soba, and udon. Their signature is tempura Shungiku(shungiku-ten) on it. So nice for cold morning

Note: this place does not have any English menus.

This place is also known as Tanbaya.

A small tiny stand-up shop that is the size of a newsstand right by the Shimbashi station. We dropped by here for a super-duper quick lunch of soba before heading off to our next adventure spot. This is one of those spots where you go in, eat, and leave. Everybody’s dropping in for quick bite so they can catch the train, a meeting to attend, or a place to be. The only sounds that fill the room in the slurping of the soba or udon noodles, the crunch of the tempura crusted items, and the constant rinsing and washing of the udon/soba that’s being made.

Although they spoke no English, me and my YEA had enough ingenuity to order off the menu using photos and some hand motions. We took pictures of the menu that were posted outside the store and then tried to use Google image translate to figure out roughly what the menu options were before going inside.

I ended ordering probably the most simplistic item on the menu that I had been craving which was some cold buckwheat soba with some soy dipping sauce. It was so so delicious for something that was minimalist and simple. The noodles were the right amount of chew and the slurp felt so good after dipping it in the soy sauce cup. My YEA ended up having a bowl of hot udon in a simple soy sauce with a deep-fried tempura patty.

Note: it’s proper etiquette to slurp a lot while eating soba with just a bit of wasabi either mixed in or on the slight edge of your cup. Also, you should only dip in half of your noodles so the concentrated soy sauce flavour doesn’t overpower the noodles.

I slurped down the first serving of my soba like nobody’s business. When I asked the owner for another serving, he seemed to be in disbelief and even confirmed that I wanted another. I nodded my head vigorously in agreement. Obviously, he obliged but I don’t think he’s see someone with my appetite before. I thought it was really amusing haha.

Very small traditional station side Soba stand. If you can find it, it is the time to try one! I love their Shun0giku Ten, thatbis a herbal leaf tempra topped soba. Once you like it, you'll never forget it.