Title: Old-fashioned standing soba shop in the station As the title suggests, it is a typical standing soba shop in the station. There is almost no deliciousness to be found here. The tempura on top of the udon noodles should be kakiage, but it is limp and clearly pre-made. It feels like they don't even fry it in the shop, but just buy pre-fried tempura in bulk. It's not tasty, but when you're really hungry and pressed for time, you might end up using it out of necessity.

This time, I chose to visit the go-to shop of Shiori Sato, who is now known as the "Madonna of the standing-eating world" and even called the savior, transcending the category of a model! I had known about this place before and had occasionally used it, but Tachikawa Station is one of the stations with a great selection of station soba, which is very convenient. The north exit of the station has a vendor called "Nakamura-tei" that has been in the station bento business since the Meiji era. At one point, it became a subsidiary of the JR Group and changed its name to "NR-I Nakamura-tei." Later, it became a fully owned subsidiary. Another shop on a different platform, "Seiryu Soba," is also part of the same group. The sale of "tamago" is currently suspended due to recent circumstances, so I tried the "ganmo" this time. It was cooked separately in a pot before being served, perhaps to prevent it from becoming mushy. The taste was lighter and more refreshing than I remembered. This might actually be good.

Oden soba (ganmo) for 460 yen at Tachikawa Station on the Ome Line platform... I tried the specialty "oden soba" from Okutama Soba (^_^) I purchased the ticket for oden soba and when I presented it, I requested it with "ganmo"!! The oden ingredients include satsuma-age, ganmo, and egg, but due to recent circumstances, eggs are currently not being served. It was a relaxed atmosphere before noon. Before long, it arrived. Two quite large pieces of ganmo (^o^) piping hot and delicious (￣ー￣)ｂｸﾞｯ! Oh, but this piping hotness might not be suitable if you're in a hurry (laughs) There's 12 minutes until the next train!! Plenty of time (^^) Other than the ganmo, there was a little bit of chopped green onions for garnish. A simple dish. I asked for some hot mustard for the oden, and it paired perfectly with the broth (^^)v I heard that Tachikawa Station has a total of three soba shops on the platform. Despite being part of a large corporation, it's great to have a shop with a specialty dish!! I'd like to try the other two shops when I have the chance (^^ゞ

Tachikawa Station on the Ome Line has a standing soba shop. It had been closed for a while due to the pandemic, but recently reopened. The standing soba shop on the Ome Tama side of the Nanbu Line is still closed. I visited on a weekday morning. The ticket machine is a monitor type, indicating that it is a JR East affiliated shop. I purchased a ticket for morning soba. The morning soba comes with toppings like tempura and kitsune, as well as a soft-boiled egg. It's similar to the one at Ajisai, also a JR East affiliated shop. There was only one male staff member working. The shop only has standing counters. The noodles are not fresh, but boiled noodles. It seems to taste better than Ajisai, but maybe it's just my imagination. The menu also includes famous dishes like oden soba and ramen. I would like to try the ramen next time. Thank you for the meal.

■Visit Date: February 15, 2023■Items Received: Refer below■MEMO I had the Red Pickled Ginger Tempura Soba. It comes with red pickled ginger tempura and chopped green onions on top. It warms up the body. Standing soba allows you to quickly enjoy delicious soba. Red pickled ginger tempura is now commonly seen even in Kanto region. It's addictive.

The other day, I visited the famous standing soba restaurant, Okutama Soba at Ome Home on the Chuo Line, Ome Line, Tachikawa Station platform. Christopher Robert Kawamoto Boothe is a former baseball player and coach who hails from Okutama in Tokyo. He started playing baseball in college and even played in the minor leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After retiring from baseball, he became a coach at his alma mater, Hachioji Jissen High School. I had the opportunity to try their bamboo shoot and rapeseed tempura soba, which was delicious.

Thursday's dinner ended once again at a standing soba restaurant on the Ome Line platform at the station. This place also serves Chinese noodles. You order by using the ticket machine inside the restaurant, selecting "Chinese noodles" and adding "extra large." You then hand over your ticket at the counter and wait for about 2 minutes. The Chinese noodles here have a soy sauce-based soup with curly noodles, a slice of pork, green onions, bamboo shoots, and seaweed. It's a classic standing soba restaurant style Chinese noodles. The price for the Chinese noodles is 410 yen, and the extra large size is an additional 110 yen. Thank you for the meal. #TachikawaRamen #StandingEating #ChineseNoodles

This time, I would like to introduce the specialty dish "Oden Soba" at Tachikawa Station. Tachikawa Station is a terminal station where the Chuo Line, Ome Line, and Nambu Line intersect. In the early Heisei period, the Tama Monorail also opened, and the north exit is home to department stores like Isetan, Takashimaya, Lumine, Bic Camera, as well as commercial facilities like IKEA and Lalaport within walking distance. The south exit features facilities such as the JRA Off-Track Betting Facility, making it a lively area. Tachikawa Station has an island platform structure with platforms numbered 1 to 8, and there are four standing soba shops. "Okutama Soba" has two shops (Ome Line platforms 1-2, Nambu Line platforms 7-8) and "Seiryu Soba" has two shops (Chuo Line platforms 3-4, Chuo Line platforms 5-6). Previously, all four shops were operated under the name "Okutama Soba" by Nakamuraya (a long-established shop founded in 1900), but in the late Heisei period, they were transferred to JR East Japan Cross Station (formerly NRE), a subsidiary of JR East Japan. The "Okutama Soba" I visited this time is located on the Tokyo side of Ome Line platforms 1-2. You order Oden Soba or Udon for 430 yen and tempura for 100 yen using the ticket machine inside the shop. You hand over the ticket at the counter and specify your preference for soba. Next, you choose from three types of Oden ingredients (satsuma-age, ganmodoki, egg). Satsuma-age comes as one piece, but ganmodoki and egg come in pairs, so you can also choose one ganmodoki and one egg. You can also pay an additional fee to complete all three types of Oden ingredients. Finally, you can request mustard, a must-have item for Oden, to be placed on the edge of the bowl. This time, I ordered two eggs and tempura separately. The splendid collaboration of Oden and tempura was delightful. The soba itself doesn't have much firmness, but the combination of Oden, tempura, and soba was delicious. Please note that "Oden Soba" can be enjoyed at all shops in Tachikawa Station (Okutama Soba & Seiryu Soba). Although I did not order it this time, the "satsuma-age" is a special product developed by Marubun Foods in Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture, for Oden Soba. Supply was disrupted after the Great East Japan Earthquake, but it has now been revived. This is also a recommended Oden ingredient. In conclusion, the total cost was 530 yen. Thank you for the meal.

I revisited the restaurant in November 2021 around 13:50 on the weekend. The place was about 90% full. This time, I bought a ticket for "kakiage soba" and handed it to the staff. It was ready in about 3 minutes. The kakiage soba had a generous portion of tempura on top of the noodles. I enjoyed both the soba and the tempura. Despite it being close to the end of lunchtime on the weekend, the restaurant was almost full. It seemed like there were many customers returning from the Ome area.

Tachikawa Station - Ome Line Platform Store offers Oden Soba, a specialty of Tachikawa Station, with the option to add Ganmo and boiled eggs as toppings. Normally, Satsuma-age is included as a topping, but you can add Ganmo and boiled eggs separately. The boiled eggs are soaked in the Oden broth, so the flavor seeps into the egg whites and tastes delicious.

I had mountain vegetable grated soba at a standing soba shop located on the Ome Line platform at Tachikawa Station. I'm not a fan of mountain vegetables, but I like the pickled flavor of pickled mushrooms. I wonder if they have started serving oden soba yet.

Visit date: August 20th (Friday) 12:50-13:05. I was impressed by the oden soba I had on the platform of the Nanbu Line the other day, but I could only eat one piece of ganmodoki. I wanted to have a rematch, so I went to "Okutama Soba" on the Ome Line. However, it was not a successful rematch, and I don't think I will visit again. The taste is basically the same, but the bonito flavor in the base was lacking, and I also received mediocre service. The soba and the Kanto-style base were not bad. However, the flavor was better at the Nanbu Line. Once again, there was only one piece of ganmodoki, and since I don't eat eggs, I compromised with satsuma-age. Even though I asked for no green onions, they served it with green onions, so I had to ask for a remake. I made a mistake... While looking at the platform of the Chuo Line, I found another standing soba shop. I would like to try that next time. Thank you for the meal! (Bill: 430 yen)

At Patisserie Ichirin, I had a unique city-style omurice, and at Chinatown Itou, I enjoyed a hearty meal. After finishing shopping in Tachikawa, on my way back, I felt like visiting a place I haven't been to in a while. I headed towards the popular yakisoba shop operated by Toridoll, taking a 90-degree turn and descending the stairs to platforms 1 and 2. In Tachikawa Station, there are TGS shops on each platform, and originally they had the same name, "Okutama Soba." Originally managed by a company called Nakamuraya, they have been operating in Tachikawa Station since the Meiji era, selling various boxed lunches like ayu sushi, trout sushi, and mountain vegetable chirashi sushi. In 2014, after merging with NRE, the shops on the Chuo Line platforms were renamed to Seiryu Soba. I visited the shop I like the most, even though it may not have a direct connection to Nakamuraya, I still have fond memories of this place. The shop feels spacious and has an old-fashioned charm, different from the standardized layout of other shops. I arrived at 3:20 PM and purchased a ticket for "Oden Soba" and ordered a "Satsuma Age." Oden Soba has been a specialty since the Nakamuraya era, inspired by customers eating soba with oden toppings. The broth is slightly sweeter than traditional soba broth. The noodles have improved in quality compared to the past, being less soggy. I quickly finished the meal, enjoying the nostalgic taste. TGS shops within JR East have become standardized, losing their individuality, but the Oden Soba at this shop still retains its unique style. If you have some time to spare, I recommend visiting the shop on the Ome Line platform, as it offers a more relaxed atmosphere compared to other TGS shops.

The soba shop on the train station platform has unknowingly disappeared, leaving a sense of loneliness. To visit these disappearing soba shops on train station platforms, we are starting the 11th installment of our series. This time, we will explore the soba shops along the Ome Line. The Ome Line is a JR railway line that connects Tachikawa Station to Okutama Station, spanning 37.2 km. The line is also known as the "Tokyo Adventure Line." Starting from Tachikawa Station (JC19), we discovered a soba shop called "Ome Soba Okutama Soba Ome Home Store." The menu included various soba and udon dishes, as well as mini sets and seasonal specials. We ordered the "Mountain Vegetable Grated Daikon Soba (cold)" and enjoyed the unique combination of flavors and textures. The broth was light yet flavorful, with a hint of sweetness. After finishing our meal, we continued our journey to the next station, Nishi-Tachikawa Station (JC51), in search of more soba shops on the station platforms.

Today, I took a train from Tachikawa and stopped by the nostalgic Okutama soba shop! It brought back memories of my student days when I used to visit this shop on my way back. Even though I didn't need to stop at Ome Line, I couldn't resist going down the stairs to the platform, and there it was (laughs). The location may have changed from the past, but it's still a station soba shop. I couldn't help but order the croquette soba, which brought back nostalgic feelings. In the past, I used to prefer udon with about 80% soba, but as I've gotten older, I have become more of a soba person. It was a bowl of nostalgic taste. Thank you for the meal.

I had been curious about oden soba for a while. It's just soba with satsuma-age on top, but I wanted to try the original version. As far as I remember... Originally, oden (satsuma-age) was sold separately. However, when customers who wanted to eat them together asked to put them on top, it became popular and eventually became a menu item. Now, they also offer ganmodoki and simmered eggs. Two types of ganmodoki and simmered eggs! It's a dream for oden lovers (laughs). One thing to be careful of is the Okutama soba, as there is a story about being careful with it. It seems that a witch is making it. If you have bad manners, you might be cursed with bad magic. The staff were indeed women. The reason is... You know, Okutama is said to have witches, right? Okutama has witches... Okusama wa Majo... Bewitched. Sorry, it's all a lie. Now, onto the actual food! They also offer mustard if you want. Satsuma-age and mustard! The best. The appearance is simple. It's a delight for those who like processed foods. You can eat it cleanly without making a mess of the broth, which is nice. It was delicious. Thank you for the meal!

I revisited the restaurant in April 2021 around 12:10 on the weekend. I went there to have a light meal. There were two groups of customers already there. This time, I bought a ticket for "tempura soba/udon" and handed it to the staff. I ordered soba. It was ready in about 2 minutes. The tempura soba had tempura that seemed slightly darker in color, but it was still acceptable. I enjoyed it while dipping it in the broth. I might visit again in the future.

Tachikawa Station's specialty! However, satsuma-age and soba seem like common items at standing eateries, but you don't see them anywhere else here. Is there a reason for that? In addition to satsuma-age, you can also choose from two pieces of ganmodoki, two eggs, or one ganmodoki + one egg.

I visited the restaurant on a weekend in October 2020 around 10:20 am. There were two groups of customers already there. I ordered the "kitsune soba" this time. It was brought to me in about 3 minutes. The soba noodles were thick and satisfying to eat. On top, there was a sweet piece of fried tofu. It was quite sweet with the two pieces. Even during times when there were few trains, it seemed like customers were coming specifically to eat soba.

The journey to Aome was surprisingly far! It took about 30 minutes from the nearest station to Tachikawa, and then the route to Aome was even further because I don't usually take that line. With transfers and all, it took about 2 hours from leaving home to arriving in Aome! I went to see the Aome Railway Park and the retro Showa-era streets of Aome. I leisurely admired the 1/1 scale model of the SL and the 0 series Shinkansen, and for lunch, I planned to eat at a restaurant around Aome Station. However, the restaurants recommended by Tabelog were all closed for some reason. Maybe it was due to the pandemic, but they were not open for business. So, I had to settle for fast food or bento for lunch and decided to have lunch in Tachikawa instead. I decided to have the famous "Oden Soba (Udon)" at Tachikawa Station, specifically at Okutama Soba on the Chuo Line platform. I chose the Oden Soba (Udon) with toppings like Satsuma-age, fish cakes, and eggs. The broth was the usual type, but I requested mustard on the side for a more Oden-like flavor. The bowl arrived in just over a minute, with fish cakes, eggs, and mustard on the side. I dipped the fish cakes in the mustard and enjoyed the hot broth bursting with flavor. The Oden and the broth seemed to be seasoned with the same broth, but the combination with the soba was quite good. The eggs also absorbed the flavors well, and the yolk melted into the broth, adding a mild taste. The Oden Soba turned out to be a well-rounded bowl of noodles. If I had to say, I would have liked to taste the Satsuma-age as well. Even if it was a smaller size, having Satsuma-age, fish cakes, and eggs would have made the Oden Soba even more enjoyable. Perhaps I could have added extra toppings?