Located a 3-minute walk from Arai Yakushi-mae Station, along the Tezukadō Street, is a soba restaurant run by an elderly couple. It is a community-oriented establishment with a calming interior. They offer a variety of set menus with rice bowls and side dishes, and you can also enjoy drinking during lunchtime. As I walked past the Fureai Road and Ai Road near Nakano Station, I reached the shopping street near Arai Yakushi-mae Station on the Seibu Line. There were two soba restaurants with the same name on either side of the railway tracks. Since I hadn't had lunch yet, I decided to go in and try it out. The interior of the restaurant has more depth than it appears. There were a few other customers already seated. The elderly landlady guided me to my seat and I ordered a beer along with some edamame and pork cutlet simmered in egg and broth. The beer came with some persimmon seeds on the side. The edamame was freshly boiled and seasoned just right. The pork cutlet, simmered in egg and broth, had a slightly strong salty taste but was tender and went well with the beer. The zaru soba didn't have any distinctive characteristics in terms of appearance or flavor. It may have been made with fresh buckwheat, but the texture was a bit chewy. The rich bonito-flavored dipping sauce paired well with the soba. The restaurant seemed to have many regular elderly customers, giving it a neighborhood soba shop vibe.

I visited the restaurant for lunch at 11:30 on Saturday. The interior was surprisingly spacious and there was only one customer when I arrived, with no one else coming in later. However, the phone kept ringing with takeout orders, giving the place a local favorite soba shop vibe. I ordered the Katsu Don Set (950 yen), which had tender pork cutlet and well-cooked egg topped with a rich sauce and onions, giving it a classic Showa era katsu don flavor that I really enjoyed. The set came with miso soup. The small size soba in the set could be served either with broth or plain. This time, I chose the soba with broth and it was about the size of a regular portion. The soba had a perfect firmness and chewy texture, and I enjoyed it with the flavorful dipping sauce.

[Visit on November 30, 2018] The place is located about a 2-minute walk from Arai Yakushi-mae Station. I visited around 2 pm on a weekday. There was one group of customers before me and one group after me. The interior of the restaurant has only table seating, and a TV is playing. I looked at the menu and ordered the Tanuki Soba for 580 yen with a large serving for an additional 100 yen. The menu has a variety of options, including set meals. As the title suggests, they have a Thank You Day every Friday with a 50 yen discount. They also offer a decent selection of alcoholic beverages, creating a casual drinking atmosphere during the day. The food arrived in about 10 minutes. It felt like a bit of a wait for a soba restaurant. The noodles were cooked firm and had nori and tempura bits. The flavor of the tempura bits infused into the broth, making it even more delicious when eaten with the noodles. It's the perfect season for enjoying warm soba. Some reviews mentioned smoking, but there were no smokers at that time. The restaurant's convenient location near the station left a good impression. Thank you for the meal.

There are two soba restaurants called Tatsumian at Arai Yakushi-mae Station, one at the south exit and one at the north exit. While the south exit restaurant has average ratings on Tabelog, the north exit restaurant seems to be not so good. Curious to find out, I decided to visit the north exit restaurant. Instead of ordering beer and nikujaga, I opted for the katsu-don set (950 yen) as I still had alcohol from the previous night. When asked if I wanted the soba as kake-soba or mori-soba with the katsu-don set, I usually choose kake-soba, but this time I chose mori-soba because the set came with miso soup. The katsu-don arrived first, with a sauce that was sweet with a prominent soy sauce flavor, and the katsu was simmered to the point where the breading was falling off. The mori-soba arrived later, and it was a decent portion. The soba dipping sauce had a strong soy sauce flavor, and while the soba was slightly under-drained, it was understandable for the price. In my opinion, the katsu-don set I had was not particularly delicious, but it wasn't as bad as other reviewers made it out to be. Perhaps the reasons why other reviewers didn't like this restaurant were the fact that it allows smoking, the high rate of daytime drinking, and the TV placed at an awkward height making it impossible to see when seated in front of it. Those who left negative reviews may have wanted to watch TV while dining.

I went to visit my wife's family, so I dropped off our cats at a cat hotel in Arai Yakushi. We parked near the pet hotel and then headed towards a casual Western-style restaurant located across the railway tracks. When we arrived, both my wife and I spontaneously said, "Should we skip this place for now?" The signal to pass was clear. So, we decided to head back towards the station. It was a hot day, as usual for this month. The heat made us crave for something cold. We ended up returning to the parking area and noticed a restaurant called "Tou-ten." The deciding factor for me was that they had cold Chinese noodles even though it was a soba restaurant. My wife, on the other hand, seemed to prefer cold udon. So, neither of us had any intention of eating soba at a soba restaurant. The exterior of the restaurant was very clean and stylish, which caught our attention. It was almost opening time when we entered, and there was only one other customer inside. We sat at a table and I ordered a beer. The price difference between a small bottle and a large bottle was only 80 yen, so I opted for the large one. It came with a generous serving of dried persimmons. While contemplating what to eat, I decided on cold Chinese noodles. My wife chose cold kitsune udon, if I remember correctly. As we waited for our food, more customers started coming in, mostly tough-looking men. I couldn't help but notice the high smoking rate in the restaurant. It seemed like a place where smokers gathered. One older man was smoking an Echo cigarette, which was quite surprising. Eventually, our cold Chinese noodles arrived, and it was indeed cold Chinese noodles. The presentation was spot on, using Chinese noodles and expertly cooked soba-style noodles. However, the broth and seasoning were a bit confusing and lacked a distinct flavor profile. The large amount of naruto fish cake was tasty, but the overall dish fell short of satisfying our expectations. The restaurant has room for improvement, especially in terms of service and the lack of energy from the female staff. Despite the shortcomings, it is the most visually appealing restaurant in the area, and I hope they strive to do better. I've been to Arai Yakushi several times, but so far, I haven't had many good experiences other than with ramen.

I thought I had finished the August reviews, but I forgot about this one (^^;) The day before returning to Izumo for a visit, I stopped by a nearby pet hotel to leave my cat and on the way back, I visited this restaurant. There aren't many food options around Arai Yakushi-mae Station, so it was a bit challenging. I actually was heading to a different restaurant across the tracks, but it didn't seem like what I expected, so I went back to the north exit and decided to check out this place that I had looked up beforehand. The exterior looked new and clean, and I confirmed they had udon in addition to soba, so I went in. The inside wasn't very spacious and almost full of customers. The only downside was the high smoking rate. It wasn't unbearable, but if my daughter was with me, I wouldn't have been able to stay. Since there were no other options nearby, I decided to have a meal here. It was hot, so I was drawn to the cold menu items. I ordered the "cold kitsune udon" for 700 yen. I can't remember what my husband ordered, maybe it was tantanmen? The cold kitsune udon was full of toppings and worth the 700 yen price. However, the aburaage (fried tofu) was a bit salty, which was disappointing. The udon itself was smooth and easy to eat, just the way I like it. The topping of green peas and boiled onions was unique and interesting. Due to various circumstances, I decided not to use the pet hotel nearby again, so I probably won't be coming back to this restaurant.

I finally visited a place I had been curious about for a while. I decided to go for something light, so I chose soba noodles. It seems like they renovated or rebuilt the place, as it was very clean. There were only three groups of customers. My friend had the plain soba, while I had the tempura soba. The soba noodles were not very tasty, and the dipping sauce was too sweet for my liking. As for the tempura, the batter was crispy but the shrimp inside was too chewy and lacked flavor. My friend joked, "Isn't it rare for soba noodles to not be delicious?" We should have just gone to Matsuo instead.

"Normal" is difficult, isn't it? I like soba restaurants, but actually, the old-fashioned ones are not that delicious. I'm not sure how Tatsumi-an works, but I remember going to the one in Toshimaen and Nogata (which is now closed). There are two branches in Arai Yakushi, but I wonder if they are separate businesses. I had the parent and child bowl and mini soba for 950 yen. It was made quite carefully, leaving a good impression. The taste is not incredibly delicious, but it's comforting and you can eat it with peace of mind. The parent and child bowl was a bit lacking in sweetness and had too much broth. The soba didn't have any particular standout features. There was a group of old men drinking loudly during the day, but it created a nice holiday atmosphere. The cigarette smoke was a bit unpleasant, but that's not the fault of the restaurant.

The location is about a 2-minute walk from Arai Yakushi-mae North Exit, so it's easy to find. I went when it was newly renovated, so this information is quite old. As someone who loves "soba" and "tsukemen," I had high expectations! However, I was quite disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high. The restaurant is clean and has a nice atmosphere, but the service from the waiter who brought our food was... not great, and most importantly, the taste was very disappointing. It's a shame. I wish they would at least be more friendly.

The store has been around for a long time, but it was renovated and reopened last month. They mainly offer delivery, but the store has become clean and my family now often uses it. The individual dishes are similar to other soba restaurants in terms of content. The taste is neither good nor bad, but it is delicious. They offer a variety of set meals, which is nice. For example, "mini zaru soba and tempura" or "curry rice and soba"... However, I have one request. As someone who enjoys a single cup at a soba restaurant, I feel that the selection of appetizers is lacking. I wish they would at least offer some pickled vegetables - come on, even edamame and pickled radish! I want to enjoy Japanese sake more, and I wish they had tempura available as a single item. I also wish they had items like tsukune, miso oden, and simmered dishes as simple appetizers. I earnestly hope that they will have more appetizers in the future if they are still in the preparation stage!