Honmura An – Best Soba in Tokyo

Honmura An has long been one of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo.  It’s one of the many Michelin-starred restaurants here and specializes in handmade soba.  The soba here is sublime.  It’s the perfect smooth and chewy texture, and you can really taste a deep buckwheat flavor.  The dipping sauce is even more elegant here.  They serve a wide variety of soba on their menu – from plain soba served in a bamboo box or soba topped with uni.

Marbled Pork at Tonkatsu Butagumi

I can honestly say that I have never had good pork until I came to Japan.  Although Japan is famous for its beef, the pork is also high quality, marbled, juicy, full of flavor, and oh so tender.  There are many ways to eat pork in Japan, but one of the popular dishes is tonkatsu – a lightly breaded, fried pork cutlet.  I’ve been wanting to try Butagumi in Nishi Azabu for a long time.  It’s rated as one of the best places in Tokyo for tonkatsu, and I have to agree that it’s my favorite so far!

What is Tsukemen?

There’s something innately fun about dipping your food.  Whether it’s chips, veggie sticks, toast, or fries, food is just more fun when you can drench it in your favorite sauce, isn’t it?  So why not dip noodles too? That’s what Tsukemen is all about!

Warayakiya: Bonito & Chicken

Always busy and inviting with its outdoor patio, Warayakiya features food from Kouchi Prefecture – specifically charcoal-grilled bonito and chicken hot pot.  It’s always full of people who appreciate the quality of the food and the great atmosphere!  There are many locations all around Tokyo.

Kohmen Ramen Shop

I’m so lucky to live in a place where I can step out of my house and have a new, tasty ramen every day!  Sorry.  Am I rubbing it in?  If I did do that, I would get incredibly fat. Does that make you feel better? :)

In my ‘hood, my favorite ramen shops are the popular ippudo and ichiran, but sometimes for a change, we go to Kohmen.  The Roppongi location especially caters towards foreign customers with an English menu and pictures galore.  My favorite is the plain jane tonkatsu ramen (pictured above).  Last time, my husband tried the tonkatsu ramen topped with bean sprouts and pork.