Super soba super soba mania @ Kurotaki

When I first saw pictures of their soba noodles I added it to my to eat list imediately.

Kurotaki specialises in Soba noodles and they serve four different types.

On the menu they have an introductory for each type of noodle which is quite informative for those who do not know.
Just to cut it short the four types of noodles are:
Inaka soba noodle – countryside soba that is springy with soft tender texture
Etanbetsu soba - thin and sticky, made from centermost part fo buckwheat.
Sarashina sesame soba - made with premium buckwheat flour.
Shiretoko Zarusoba thin soba noodle served cold on bamboo basket made with centermost of part of buckwheat seeds together with kelps and seaweed.

 

 

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Ordered Chilled Shiretoko Zarusoba with sesame and black garlic oil sauce, Chilled sarashina sesame soba with natto and Assorted skewers.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Chilled Shiretoko Zarusoba with sesame and black garlic oil sauce
I had to try this because I wanted to try the soba made with seaweed and kelp.
The sauce was interesting and tasted of sesame and black pepper. The menu does not say it has pepper on the English but the Chinese has.
The combination of sesame and ground black pepper was quite good because the spicyness of the pepper balances out the creaminess of the sesame sauce.

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Chilled sarashina sesame soba with natto
I just had to get these noodles as well because all my favourite elements were there: natto beans, egg, okra, kelp, mountain yam and grated white radish.
These noodles came with a separate vinaigrette sauce and it tasted really refreshing that I poured all of it.
The noodles also had these delicious tiny crisp seeds that looked like ultra tiny dried chick peas which I did not know what is was but everything matched so well together.

 

 

 

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Assorted skewers: chicken pork, beef and ox tongue with green pepper turnip sauce, turnip, plum and spices.
I ordered this because the green puree looked interesting, the green puree was basically green peppers and white radish pureed together.
On the menu it saids turnip but I think they mean white radish.
Overall the skewers were nice because of the white radish puree.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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To try on my next visit:
Fresh tomato, sea urchin and salmon roe chilled etanbetsu soba and DIY Japanese tofu curd.

 

 

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Ootoya bomb box

Ootoya bomb box: Japanese pearl rice topped with chopped okra, beans, tuna sashimi, grated Japanese nagaimo (mountain yam), raw egg and Natto (Fermented soy beans). All the ingredients have one thing in common, being slimey. The fermented soybeans, were sticky too, and stuck together with spiderweb like strings. But the whole thing tasted really good, the rice was nice and soft, and could be slurped with all the slimey ingredients.

Fried chicken in black vinegar sauce: Rice with fried chicken pieces in light coating, the sauce was tangy, and refreshing, and the vegetables accompanying the dish matched well, such as the lotus roots with a crisp taste.

Fried chicken with African sauce:
I wasn’t sure what to expect of this one, because its name isn’t very Japanese, but it tasted similar to the black vinegar sauce one, not as sour, and not spicy as stated.

Anyway everything tasted good, the only thing that could be improved would be supplying spoons, as this is a popular question arising from customers. Also those irritating flies could perhaps be exterminated!!

Mountain yam with noodles @ 京笹居酒屋 Kyozasa Restaurant

Went here for Japanese because of the photos added by other OR reviewers looked good.

Although there has only been 4-5 reviews so far, the photos made it look good enough to try.

The only thing I didn’t like about this place, was the stench of cigarette smell when I walked in, and remained that way when we sat down.
Also there were plenty of tables, I couldn’t understand why we were placed in very closed proximity to the next table when the rest of the restaurant was empty.
I would have also preferred a bigger table, since the table we had was not that sufficient to place all of our food. I had to put the condiment tray on the table next to us to get more space.

I wasn’t impressed with the menu, there were no pictures at all, and the range was incomplete, I couldn’t find the food mentioned on the reviews, so I had to ask for it.
The menu was like an effortless printed list with Chinese and English from a word document and placed in those A4 plastic folders. I asked for pictures and was given a photo album, which was only for the highlighted or popular items.

Moving on to the food, ordered Bonito Tofu, clams in Sake, Rolled Beef with spring onions and garlic, Squid and fermented beans rice, and soba noodles with mountain yam.
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Bonito Tofu:Tasted better than imagined, the outside was crunchy, and the inside was soft and smooth.

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Clams in Sake:Tasted really good, when the bowl arrived, you could smell the sake.

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Rolled Beef:I have had better ones before, so this one was terrible, very fatty and the inner of the roll was not that well cooked.
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Squid and fermented beans with rice:
Tasted a bit bland, but overall it all tasted good.

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Soba noodles with Mountain Yam:
I asked for the cold one, but they suggested the soup one. I wish I had stayed with my choice, as the soup made the noodles too soft, and waters out the flavour. The mountain yam gets diffused in the soup.

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