Thanks to food blogger Mark Wiens of migrationology.com, we decided to try this soba place for dinner.
For us, Tokyo was a bit difficult to navigate. Even with our portable wifi device and a live feed from google maps, we always needed to tack on an additional 15 minutes of travel time in order to confirm we arrived at the right place and this place was no exception. While the Hiragana was easier to identify, the Kanji and Katakana characters were much harder for us to match up. Perseverance paid off every time, but a good lesson for us to properly estimate our travel time.
Anyway, once we found Narutomi, we timidly entered the very small restaurant which consisted of 4 counter seats and two tables of six. We were warmly greeted and seated by our waitress. She brought us some warm hand towels and a menu. Unfortunately, the entire menu had roughly 10 pages of beautifully written Japanese script, none of which we could read. When we politely inquired about an English menu, she gestured with her arms that they did not have one.
We humbly apologized and began to gather our belongings to leave when she asked "Soba?"
We both nodded yes.
She asked me "Fish?"
I said "Okay."
She asked Kyung "Scallop?"
He said "Okay."
And that is how we ended up with handmade soba and fish tempura (for me) and scallop tempura (for Kyung).
The folks next to us ordered a bunch of other stuff, but I am guessing she didn't know those words in English and were there for the Soba anyway. Their soba is famous for being made of 100% buckwheat and handmade to perfect. This is frequently written about and this is another review we read prior to going.
Since we only exchanged a handful of words with the lovely waitress, we had no idea what the bill would be. We guessed it would be between 6,000 - 8,000 Yen and was pleasantly surprised to find out it was only 3,800 Yen. Win-Win!
By the way, the soba was delicious and if we return to Ginza, this will be on the list of must go places.
For us, Tokyo was a bit difficult to navigate. Even with our portable wifi device and a live feed from google maps, we always needed to tack on an additional 15 minutes of travel time in order to confirm we arrived at the right place and this place was no exception. While the Hiragana was easier to identify, the Kanji and Katakana characters were much harder for us to match up. Perseverance paid off every time, but a good lesson for us to properly estimate our travel time.
Anyway, once we found Narutomi, we timidly entered the very small restaurant which consisted of 4 counter seats and two tables of six. We were warmly greeted and seated by our waitress. She brought us some warm hand towels and a menu. Unfortunately, the entire menu had roughly 10 pages of beautifully written Japanese script, none of which we could read. When we politely inquired about an English menu, she gestured with her arms that they did not have one.
We humbly apologized and began to gather our belongings to leave when she asked "Soba?"
We both nodded yes.
She asked me "Fish?"
I said "Okay."
She asked Kyung "Scallop?"
He said "Okay."
And that is how we ended up with handmade soba and fish tempura (for me) and scallop tempura (for Kyung).
The folks next to us ordered a bunch of other stuff, but I am guessing she didn't know those words in English and were there for the Soba anyway. Their soba is famous for being made of 100% buckwheat and handmade to perfect. This is frequently written about and this is another review we read prior to going.
Since we only exchanged a handful of words with the lovely waitress, we had no idea what the bill would be. We guessed it would be between 6,000 - 8,000 Yen and was pleasantly surprised to find out it was only 3,800 Yen. Win-Win!
By the way, the soba was delicious and if we return to Ginza, this will be on the list of must go places.
 |
| Snuck a photo of the very small bar. |