Have you heard the terms soba culture and udon culture?
They describe whether people in a region across Japan prefer eating soba or udon.
Generally, soba is popular in the east and udon in the west.
Okayama is an udon region, but there is a soba restaurant with the concept of spreading soba culture and contributing to the community in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
Takenoya Nakasho Branch uses soba flour carefully selected from soba-producing regions such as Shinshu and Hokkaido, as well as from Okayama Prefecture.
The proportion of soba flour is adjusted according to the season and weather, and the house-made noodles are made with a commitment to being freshly rolled, freshly cut, and freshly boiled.
At Takenoya Nakasho Branch, you can enjoy several kinds of hot soba, seiro soba, and creative soba dishes made with tomato sauce or Genovese sauce.
What led Takenoya, a dedicated soba restaurant, to create its original soba dishes?
Here is an introduction to Takenoya Nakasho Branch in Kurashiki.
The information provided was current when this article was published in July 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About Takenoya Nakasho Branch
Takenoya Nakasho Branch makes a striking impression with its exterior walls of charred cedar boards.
A dogwood, the restaurant’s symbolic tree, welcomes visitors.
The landscaping around the plantings features a distinctive touch of indigo, a color rarely seen elsewhere.
Indigo is Takenoya’s signature color.
At Takenoya Nakasho Branch, indigo Kurashiki denim is used.
- Tablecloths
- Menus
- Staff aprons
Takenoya Nakasho Branch opened in Shimosho, Kurashiki City, with the aim of contributing to the local community and spreading soba culture in Kurashiki.
Okayama is an udon region.
The restaurant hopes that creative soba dishes, including Italian-style ones, will spark interest in soba among younger generations.
Alongside the carefully prepared soba you can enjoy at Takenoya, what exactly are creative soba dishes?
The popular obanzai buffet and sweets made with soba are also intriguing.
Overview of Takenoya Nakasho Branch
Takenoya Nakasho Branch is a soba restaurant in Shimosho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
The spacious parking lot has more than 100 spaces, so parking is easy.
The restaurant has 150 seats, including private rooms of various sizes, and is spacious as well.
Just inside the entrance on the right are bright table seats, with more tables separated by partitions farther in. Families with children can enjoy a relaxed meal here.
The interior is thoughtfully designed, with a shelf displaying a nostalgic black telephone and a corner decorated in a Japanese-modern style.
The restaurant is spacious, but it gets busy on weekends, so reservations are recommended.
At Takenoya Nakasho Branch, you choose one soba dish, and it comes with an all-you-can-eat obanzai buffet and access to the drink bar.
The restaurant uses soba flour from Hiruzen in Okayama Prefecture, as well as flour from well-known soba-producing regions across Japan, including Hokkaido and Shinshu.
The blend of soba flour is adjusted according to the season and weather, with a focus on freshly rolled, freshly cut, and freshly boiled noodles.
The soba is slightly thicker for hot dishes and slightly thinner for cold dishes, while the Italian-style soba is made with flat noodles, with the thickness tailored to each dish.
The obanzai dishes, which bring out the deliciousness of the broth, are also popular.
Takenoya Nakasho Branch is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Near the Bikan Historical Area in Kurashiki are its sister restaurants, “Trattoria Homemade Soba Takenoya” and “Takenoya Bettei.”
I tried the Italian-style creative soba I had been curious about, as well as a hot soba dish.
Genovese Soba with Avocado and Smoked Salmon
Genovese sauce is a sauce made with basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil.
Finely grated cheese is sprinkled over flat soba noodles coated in green Genovese sauce.
Three pieces of smoked salmon, rolled into little spirals, are arranged neatly on top, with a slice of lemon alongside.
The green sauce, salmon pink, and yellow lemon make for a wonderfully fresh-looking dish.
The aroma of the cheese sprinkled lightly over the dish whets the appetite.
When lifted with chopsticks, the fettuccine-like flat noodles are unmistakably soba.
The avocado, cut into roughly 1-centimeter cubes and peeking out among the soba, is a welcome touch.
The flat soba noodles coated in Genovese sauce have a pleasant bite, and go very well with the rich sauce, creamy avocado, and the smoky aroma and saltiness of the smoked salmon.
Soba with Egg and Yellow Chives
A generous serving of egg and Okayama-grown yellow chives, cut into pieces about 5 centimeters long, tops the hot soba.
Yellow chives are said to have originated in Okayama and have been cultivated since the Meiji era.
They are grown by blocking light from ordinary chives, which suppresses chlorophyll production and turns them yellow.
After harvesting, exposure to sunlight gives them a vivid yellow color. They are not only beautiful to look at, but also tender and sweet enough to eat raw.
The broth is lightly sweetened, allowing the savory flavor of the dashi to come through.
The soba noodles are cut slightly thick, and the warm broth clings to them just right, letting the aroma of the soba spread through your mouth.
The smooth, slippery soba, fluffy egg, and crisp texture of the yellow chives make for a delightful combination.
The aroma of the soba, the savory dashi and egg, and the sweetness of the precious yellow chives come together in a luxurious yet gentle-tasting bowl.
Obanzai Buffet
In this buffet-style meal, you place small plates in a wooden box divided into six sections, then serve yourself your choice of obanzai.
The small plates and soba bowls are made of Hasami ware from Nagasaki (Hasami-yaki).
The tableware is the same as that used at Trattoria Jikasei Soba Takenoya.
The Hasami ware is also available in Takenoya’s signature indigo blue.
The plates and teacups are made of plump, hand-friendly pottery, with wonderfully charming patterns.
Choosing your tableware, decorated with plum blossoms, plovers, waves, and more, is a pleasure in itself.
Tongs are provided for each dish at the obanzai buffet, and personal serving tongs are also available.
The obanzai selection includes around 40 dishes made with seasonal ingredients.
I chose a few dishes that caught my eye.
The rolled omelet is a dish where you can really taste the umami of the dashi.
The daikon and wakame stem salad fills your mouth with a refreshing shiso aroma.
The marinated baby horse mackerel is made with small fish fried whole and served with aromatic vegetables such as onion.
Each dish is carefully prepared and a feast for the eyes as well.
It’s easy to end up eating too much.
The restaurant’s most popular dish, daigaku-imo, called “Comforting Daigaku-imo with Kibizato Sugar,” is so delicious that it’s easy to see why it’s a favorite.
The sweetness is just right, the sweet potato has a rich flavor, and the coating is delicious too.
You shouldn’t miss the sweets made with soba, either.
I tried bite-sized soba flour doughnuts, soba flour karinto, and soba tea pudding.
The bite-sized soba flour doughnuts are full of soba’s fragrant aroma.
The soba flour karinto are crunchy and fun to eat—you can’t stop.
The soba tea pudding is pure white and wobbly-soft; its tenderness is delightful as soon as you take a bite.
Each sweet has a distinct, satisfying soba flavor.
The soba sweets menu changes slightly from day to day.
They’re not always available, but apparently soba flour cream puffs sometimes make an appearance, too.
We interviewed floor leader Tamura Naoko about the ideas behind Takenoya Nakasho Branch and its recommended Italian-inspired creative soba dishes and obanzai.
Takenoya Nakasho Branch Information
| Name | Takenoya Nakasho Branch |
|---|---|
| Address | 473-3 Shimojo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-464-0101 |
| Parking | Available Space for more than 100 cars |
| Hours | Lunch: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Dinner: 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. |
| Closed | Wednesday |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Accepted Reservations are recommended, as it gets busy on Saturdays and Sundays |
| Seating | 150 seats; table seating |
| Smoking | Entirely non-smoking (outdoor smoking area available) |
| Restrooms | Western-style toilets |
| Children | Diaper-changing table Children’s obanzai Ages 3–6: ¥550 (tax included) Elementary school students: ¥880 (tax included) (Soba is not included) Children’s chairs available |
| Website | Takenoya Nakasho Branch Official Website |
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