Dish · 4 kitchens in 3 cities
Soba and udon
Japan's buckwheat (soba) and wheat (udon) noodles, cold with dipping sauce or hot in broth.
Nobody paid to be here. Each kitchen is described from its own menu where it publishes one, unranked, so each note says how that kitchen makes it.
In London
Kitsune
Koya Soho · Soho · ~£22 pp
Kitsune udon, with fried tofu braised in a sweetened sauce, served atsu-atsu, hot noodles in hot broth. One bowl each.
In Tokyo
Sarashina (さらしな)
Sarashina Horii · Azabu-Jūban · ~¥2,000 pp
Sarashina, white soba noodles made only from the core of the buckwheat kernel. The house speciality, with stone-milled seiro, cold noodles on a tray, beside it.
Seirō soba (せいろうそば)
Kanda Yabu Soba · Kanda · ~¥2,500 pp
Seirō soba, buckwheat noodles boiled, rinsed cold and served on a bamboo tray with dipping sauce. One tray each, and the noodles we came for.
In Paris
Kama Ebiten
Udon Bistro Kunitoraya · Palais-Royal · ~€28 pp
Hot udon straight from the pot, the dipping sauce apart, with two shrimp tempura. The noodle on its own, as a second bowl to share.