(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
On a rainy weekend in Tokyo, my fiancée and I were enjoying an afternoon of binging on Japanese dramas on Netflix when we stumbled across “Somebody Feed Phil.” The travel documentary series follows Philip Rosenthal as he travels the world trying delicious dishes.
In the Kyoto episode, Rosenthal visits Juu-Go, a soba joint serving up mouth-watering bowls of noodles.
After a bit of online investigating, we secured a reservation and the spell of sitting on the couch was broken since we now had a vacation to plan.
My soba experience
This was my first visit to Kyoto, but none of the touristy stuff was on my mind— I could only think of the soba. Our Tablecheck reservation confirmation warned us not to be late, so we were both committed to not missing our soba adventure.
Juu-Go is about a 30-minute drive or train ride from Kyoto Station. The restaurant is in a residential area, still kind of touristy but not crowded. It’s very close to Gingakuji, the Silver Pavilion, a Zen temple in the mountains that border the city.
We drove there and found a paid parking lot nearby. The exterior of the restaurant looked like a home converted to a restaurant. The front had a wide window so you could see it only sits six diners at a time.
(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
As our confirmation email warned, the doors open on time and closed when we entered the soba joint. Keep that in mind if you’re traveling with a large group, as the restaurant might not accept your reservation, and you won’t be allowed in late.
Juu-Go’s menu is simple and features only two items, soba and sobagaki. Since you preorder the meals online with the reservation, we sat back and watched the masterful owner go to work on the masterpieces we were about to devour.
Saobagaki (Photo by Luis Samayoa)
(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
We couldn’t see much of his prep work, but we could see the dedication to his craft. In a way, it was a unique show-of-art. One by one, plates of sobagaki, which are like a giant ball of mochi but thicker and more tastier, was served.
He gave us a simple but heartfelt warning, “be careful, it’s super-hot” before we dug in. Each bite was simply spectacular. It had the taste of pure, fresh buckwheat: chewy and delightful. We both destroyed our sobagaki in minutes, an addiction of non-stop picking and eating. Soon after our stomachs were satisfied, our main course arrived. The atmosphere of the room grew quiet once the owner started to serve the soba noodles.
(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
The word “fresh” is not enough to describe the buckwheat soba noodles we were served.
According to the Micheline Guide, the owner, Akiya Ishibashi, grows and harvests the wheat and prepares it for the day. Much like a sushi chef would get the freshest catch, so does Juu-Go for the buckwheat used in the soba.
During this stage, he informed us all about how to eat the noodles. As dumbfounded as I was, distracted by the beautiful noodles that sat in front of me, I listened and waited for his instructions. It was simple, first try the noodles alone to taste the flavors, then eat the rest by dipping them into the broth bowl served on the side.
(Photo by Luis Samayoa)
Following his guidance, the first bite was pure buckwheat in noodle form. Next, with the help of my fiancée, I tried more noodles, but this time dipped in the broth. Each bite was simply amazing. Each bite on my plate gave me the sudden urge to come back more and more.
One by one the others sitting around us finished their soba and sat back to relax with their bellies satisfied.
If you want to try soba in Kyoto at this special place, reservations are required. Prepayment of 7,000 yen (about $46) per meal is also required. Alcohol is also available for purchase, but we stuck to our 14,000-yen bill and called it a day.
After we finished our meal, the owner chatted with the patrons and asked us how we heard about the restaurant. He laughed when we told him that we saw it on Netflix, but said he appreciated that we made the trip from Tokyo only to visit his shop.
The meal and the welcoming service was definitely worth the trip that I would gladly repeat again.
Tip of the Day: Restaurant reservations made easy with app
Making a reservation at a restaurant in Japan can be difficult and intimidating if you don’t speak the language. Fortunately, there are many options available for phone apps that can help ensure you have a table waiting for you.
Whether you’re planning a casual lunch at a local spot or want to make sure you have a nice dinner date at a high-end restaurant, you’ll want to try these apps.
Auto Reserve is in English, so it makes it a bit easy to score a reservation, although it can take some time to get a confirmation. iOS and Android
Tabelog is in Japanese, so I prefer the desktop version over the app to convert the language to English. Desktop version, iOS and Android
Tablecheck is in Japanese and does have bugs when translating but still works wonders. There is also a web version, and you’ll find that many hotel restaurants use this system. I found my reservation with Juu-Go on Tablecheck. Desktop version, iOS and Android
Things to know
Address: 71-6 Kamiminamida-cho, Jodoji, Sakuoku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 606-8405
URL: Juu-go - TableCheck
Payment: Done on the reservation website.
Parking: There are paid parking spots located around the neighborhood, I would recommend coming early to find parking.
