Lunch set for 990 yen. It includes soba noodles, tempura rice bowl, dried daikon radish, and sweet red bean soup. The soba noodles are more than average, without much chewiness. The tempura rice bowl is small but comes with 2 shrimp and a decent sweet sauce. It was quite crowded during lunchtime. Thank you for the meal.

I had been hesitant to visit this restaurant after reading other reviews. However, upon finally visiting, I found that the soba noodles were indeed delicious as the title suggests. It seems that they have improved their noodles. The broth had a strong aroma of bonito and a rich scent of kelp. Noteworthy is the "thin noodles" that are designed to cling to the broth. What's even more remarkable is that they offer "cold soba noodles," which is rare in this area.

This is a commercial facility called "Parabo" in front of the station. The city hall, which was temporarily occupying the 4.5th floor, has left, leaving the ground floor food market and tenants on the 1st to 3rd floors, making it a slightly lonely facility. The restaurant area on the 6th floor is working hard, and miraculously, 5 shops are still open. (laughs) I visited the only restaurant that I hadn't been to yet. Before it disappears, you know. (Just kidding.) "Sushi & Soba Restaurant Yuzuri" It's 12:30. No customers yet. (2 customers came later) The interior of the restaurant has a Japanese-style design and the atmosphere is nice. There is only one option, the "Recommended Lunch Set C" for 980 yen. I wonder why there are only C sets. There are usually about 3 recommendations, right? It's a set of tempura rice bowl and soba noodles. After the Sochi Olympics, when Mao Asada was asked about her future, she answered "half and half." Let's not make a joke about "fifty-fifty." (laughs) - Tempura rice bowl: 2 shrimp, eggplant, green pepper. The tempura is moist, but I prefer it crispy. The sauce is not too sweet and has a good balance. - Tanuki soba: The buckwheat noodles are thin. They use ground buckwheat flour, but you can't really taste the fragrance. The noodles are not very firm. It's okay as a soup refill. - Side dish: For some reason, broccoli with mayonnaise. This is unnecessary. (laughs) - Dessert: Orange and agar with cream and sweet bean paste. This is also a bit strange. It was a bit lacking in quantity. I prefer to end with soba-yu.

This year, I plan to eat as much soba as ramen. The problem is that there are not as many soba shops as ramen shops, so I can't be picky. I was torn between going to Ion or Parabo. Ion has a bigger parking lot, but I don't feel like having a meal at Ion. After much deliberation, I decided to take the escalator up to the 6th floor of Parabo. It's lively up to the 3rd floor, but the 4th and 5th floors are deserted. The 6th floor still retains a restaurant area, reminiscent of a department store. It's my first time here at the sushi and soba restaurant called "Hitori." When I said "one person," they seated me at a table for two. The previous customers were mostly elderly, about five of them. The background music is light pop music. It's quite a big place, but I doubt it will be full in the future. They also serve "Hiyashi Tanuki," and when I asked if it comes with cucumber, they looked puzzled and explained that the soup is already in it and it comes with tempura. I quickly added, "It also comes with green onions." In the end, that's all it comes with. The dish arrived in less than five minutes, which is not necessarily a good thing. It looks quite sad with not enough wasabi or green onions. The service for the soba is good though. The soba has a surprisingly firm texture. Since the soba is soaked in the soup, it's hard to tell the taste and aroma of the soba itself. The soup, which I thought would be sweet, was unexpectedly not too sweet, which I appreciated. The broth was slightly present but not overpowering. It was just a normal soba dish, so it's not bad. The two elderly ladies at the next table were both hard of hearing, with one speaking loudly and the other seemingly forcing herself to speak loudly too. They were so noisy, but well, it's that kind of place. I might end up like that too, so until then, I might complain too. "My butt hurts, let's go home," I said as I got up and left. 780 yen for this is outrageous. Soba shops should take pride in their soba. Tempura is free, right? Why bother asking for it for free? It's just trash. Just give me the soba for the same price as the kake soba. The floor attendant lady seemed nice though.

I went for revenge from before. The prices are a bit high! Well, it's okay.

I had a seafood bowl and a warm tanuki soba set. At first, I thought it might not be enough, but after finishing it, I was full and satisfied with the dessert included. I entered the restaurant at 4 pm, and it was still possible to order the lunch set.

Cold soba noodles are delicious.

The sushi and soba restaurant on the 6th floor of Parabo offers a reasonable set menu of sushi and soba, along with seafood donburi. I ordered a set of 5 pieces of sushi, tanuki soba, and dessert. The sushi included tuna, squid, mackerel, salmon, and shrimp. While not extremely delicious, it was decent. The soba had a good texture similar to Soba noodles, and although lacking in firmness and fragrance, I've come to appreciate this kind of noodle recently. Considering the price, I would say I was overall somewhat satisfied.

The former department store in Kitami, which used to be a landmark, is now struggling to attract customers due to the increasing trend of shopping in the suburbs and lack of a spacious parking lot. It's a shame. Anyway, I decided to have a light meal and tried the cold soba noodles, specifically the cold Tanuki soba. The cold dipping sauce was quite bland, almost like the original sauce, and the main ingredient, the fried tempura bits, were cold and soggy. It seemed like they had been kept for several days. I imagine that the restaurant is not very busy on weekdays. Perhaps they could come up with a better way to preserve the taste of the food. Keep up the effort.

It's nice to have a place to rest and relax before or after shopping or running errands at the government office.