After getting my car's oil and tires changed, it was time for dinner. I decided to stop by Ion for dinner at the Ion Iwamizawa store. The atmosphere inside the restaurant was calm, although a bit dark. There were two staff members working. I sat at the counter and placed my order. I ordered the Tempura Soba for 1,550 yen with an extra large portion for 130 yen, and a Mini Yakitori Bowl for 430 yen. The Mini Yakitori Bowl was served in about 5 minutes. It was made with pork belly and had a sweet and savory sauce, similar to the style of Muroran Yakitori. I enjoyed it with some mustard. It was okay, but the meat was a bit tough. Next, the Tempura Soba was served. The tempura included 2 shrimp, seaweed, shiso leaf, imitation crab sticks, bell pepper, and shiitake mushrooms. The tempura was quite substantial. It was not bad, but I would have preferred squid tempura instead of the extra shrimp. The soba noodles were made with Hokkaido soba flour, as the restaurant's name suggests. They were thin and smooth, but tended to clump together after some time. The dipping sauce had a hint of bonito flavor but was a bit light. The soba water served at the end was strong and enjoyable. Thank you for the meal. If I visit again, I might try the Vegetable Tempura Assortment and Topping Tempura Soba instead of the Tempura Soba.

The Christmas decorations are festive. The counter, tables, and raised seating areas cater to various scenes despite the narrow space. The cold mushroom and grated radish soba for 770 yen had plenty of toppings. I ate it normally without much thought. It felt like a good deal in the 700 yen range! They also had menu items like butter soy sauce fried potatoes, and takeaway bento boxes ranging from 500 yen to 300 yen, including mini soba. They even had an ice-colored sour drink with wasabi flavor, which caught my interest. I've never seen or tried it before. I'm curious to try it. Thank you for the meal~♬

My daughter and I forgot to take a picture of the food we ate, but we enjoyed the pork soba with plenty of pepper, which was spicy and delicious! My son had the fried chicken set meal, which came with about 7 pieces of fried chicken on top of half soba noodles, making it a very filling dish. The fried chicken was also tasty, I even stole one (laughs). My husband had the pork cutlet set meal, which was also very generous in portion size. Thank you for the meal! (๑´ڡ`๑)

Do you know Candle Boy? It's a sausage wrapped in mochi and deep-fried. There's always a long line at the festival. I've tried it once but I can't remember the taste. I heard they have it at Aeon. I bought a gift and while waiting, I decided to eat it (*´艸`*) It's not enough (lol) I'll go again. Thank you for the meal.

I stopped by while shopping at Ion and had the large portion of tenzaru. The soba had a nice texture and the tempura was crispy and delicious.

At Ion Iwamizawa, you can enjoy a meal while shopping. The staff are friendly and welcoming. I have been using the HAMIKOPI service more often lately when I want to experience light flavors. The menu is well-rounded and the ability to use WAON is a great perk as it helps accumulate WAON points. There are monthly special menus with some discounts which are helpful for those on a tight budget. The soba noodles are thin and light, while the tempura is average in size and quantity. Give it a try!

The first time I went was when Aeon (Post Mall) first opened. I went with my father and we tried the duck curry Nanban seiro curry, which was unexpectedly spicy and left a strong impression on me. I used to go quite frequently after that, but at some point, I stopped going. This time, after probably about a year, I had the duck curry Nanban seiro again. I noticed that now they have a (spicy) option on the menu. The soba noodles were thin and made from high-quality morekoshi flour with added sweet potato and buckwheat leaf, giving them a pale color with patterns. The texture was smooth without any roughness. Sometimes in the past, when I asked for them to be cooked "firm," they would come out too hard, but this time they were just right in terms of firmness and moisture content, with a perfect mouthfeel. The curry was spicy and salty, so dipping the soba noodles in it made them salty. They also provided a separate dipping broth for those who find it too salty. The duck meat came in 4 slices, with more fat than meat. It was still spicy and brought back nostalgic memories. I think this soba is best enjoyed with soba tsuyu dipping sauce. Thank you for the meal!

On May 11, 2012, I visited a restaurant that I had been to once or twice in the past, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me. However, my friend wanted to go, so I decided to give it another try. It was a cold day, so we ordered warm dishes. I had warm Hachimi Soba, and my wife had half of my request for warm Kakiage Udon. While we were waiting, a server was sitting nearby eating, and another server who appeared to have prepared the food kept coming over to chat, which was a bit annoying. As for the taste, the Hachimi Soba had a variety of ingredients, but it would have been better cold. The Kakiage was tasty and the warmth suited it well.

The place was located inside the Post Mall in Iwamizawa. I decided to dine inside the mall instead of the food court, so I entered this restaurant. They offer a recommended menu each month, and I chose the daily special one-coin menu, which was the Large Shrimp Tempura Soba. Please see the photo to confirm if the shrimp is indeed large. The broth has a nice aroma when you take a sip, but as I continued eating, the acidity of the soy sauce started to bother me. Also, the thickness of the soba noodles here is thinner compared to other soba restaurants.

My partner, my mother, and I went shopping together, and our first meal out this year was at a soba restaurant. The reason for this was that in the morning on TV, they introduced a delicious eel restaurant, which my partner and mother saw and said they wanted to eat there. However, there was no such delicious eel restaurant nearby, and even if there was, it wouldn't be open on that day. So, we decided to go to a place that seemed to have eel around here. As you can see in the picture, the restaurant was very dimly lit with jazz music playing in the background. I couldn't help but feel that they should make some effort to improve the ambiance by considering the lighting and timing. Today's orders and menu: My mother had the eel rice bowl for 1,350 yen. I wasn't expecting much, but the eel was tough and needed to be torn apart with teeth, like a food sample, but my mother said it was delicious and finished it, so that was good. My partner had the eel and soba set for 1,300 yen. It came with a mini bowl with sliced eel, nori, and wasabi, along with tempura and salad soba. My partner said the eel with the broth was delicious, so I was relieved that they had come back to reality from the TV magic. I had the mixed tempura soba for 700 yen. The broth was made from bonito, but the taste was quite complex and sour, with a mysterious flavor. The soba itself was just ordinary. I thanked a female staff member as we left. Since my mother is in a wheelchair, she immediately brought over a chair and table for us when we entered the restaurant. She also quickly assisted us on our way out, showing great care and attention. I would give her four stars for her service. Thank you very much.

Deep-fried chicken set meal for 1,100 yen Mashikari herb pork cheese dipping noodles for 980 yen