Japanese Soba"Hou Zan" 芳汕

Although Kyoto is well known as a city of udon, there are also some great soba spots.

Today, let me introduce you to Hou Zan, a fantastic soba restaurant located very close to our hotel. Just 4-minutes walk!

Soba noodle

Most Japanese soba restaurants serve both hot and cold noodles. I went with the cold one — it's already so hot, even though it's only June!

Ten Seiro 1,680 JPY

Ten Seiro is my favorite. It’s a set of cold soba noodles served with tempura — a perfect match.

If I could drink...

This restaurant is open only for lunch. Soba goes perfectly with a cold beer or some Japanese sake — but sadly, I can’t drink during the day...

I found a Japanese sake called Shichiken (七賢). It’s smooth and delicious — and it’s made in the same region where the soba flour used in this restaurant comes from. I definitely recommend trying it at least once!

Soba Yu (Soba soup)

At the end of your meal, the staff will bring you soba-yu — the hot water used to boil the soba noodles. Just pour it into your dipping sauce (tsuyu), and enjoy it as a warm, savory soup!

Soba-yu is more commonly found in eastern Japan, but some traditional soba shops in Kyoto also serve it at the end of the meal.

They have an English menu with pictures, so it’s easy to order even if you don’t speak Japanese.

Nishin soba is a Kyoto specialty.