This is a report from Hokkaido, where I visited "Minatoya" in search of "Shintoku soba"! At the end of November, there was light snowfall, so it was good to visit before the heavy snow season! I arrived around 11:20 am on a weekday and there were about 4 groups of customers already there. The restaurant had about 3 counter seats, 3 tables for 4 people each, and 2 raised tables near the entrance where about 4 people could sit. There seemed to be parking space for about 10 cars on the side of the restaurant! This was my first visit and I decided to try the popular dish featured on "Dosanko Wide"! The "Couple Donburi (Tendon, Hiyakashi) ¥1,200" allows you to choose two items from pork bowl, tempura bowl, chilled noodles, chilled mountain vegetables, chilled natto, chilled pickles to combine. Inside the restaurant, there was no background music, and a serious atmosphere with a TV showing a parliamentary broadcast (laughs). In the hallway before the restroom, there were many autographs of celebrities displayed, which added to the anticipation! The dish arrived in about 5 minutes! Oh, this is the one I saw on TV! It looks so delicious with both the rice bowl and soba in one bowl! It's a great idea to have both a rice bowl and soba together! The service of a warm mini soba bowl on the side is also wonderful! When I tried the Shintoku soba alone, I could taste the original aroma and flavor of the soba, it felt like "I'm eating soba right now"! It was incredibly delicious! When mixed together, the wasabi, grated daikon, chopped seaweed, large leaf, and pickled ginger enhanced the flavor beautifully! And choosing the tempura bowl was definitely the right choice! The balance of sweetness and saltiness in the sauce was outstanding, and the rice soaked in the sauce was so delicious! The rare cooking of the prawns had a perfect texture, tender and sweet, incredibly delicious! The white fish tempura, which I think is smelt, was fluffy and thick with a delicious taste! Among the 6 choices, I highly recommend trying the tempura bowl at least once! I also made good use of the ladle for soba soup, scooping up the rice soaked in tempura sauce and enjoyed it easily! I finished it all in no time, enjoying the soba soup until the end! Minatoya in Shintoku is a highly recommended soba restaurant that you must visit! As it approached noon, more customers started to arrive! I would love to visit again if I have the chance, it's a recommended soba restaurant! It was a very delicious meal! Thank you.

I visited this restaurant in Shin-toku the day after descending from Mt. Kurodake to Mt. Tomuraushi. It's about a 5-minute walk from the train station. There were 2 people waiting in line 10 minutes before it opened on a weekday, and it quickly filled up once it opened. I ordered the popular Abekkodon as a Tempura Rice Bowl and a Cold Soba on the side. The tempura in the Tempura Rice Bowl was delicious and freshly fried! The Cold Soba was also tasty! Additionally, warm soba was served as well, making it a satisfying meal with a generous portion. I was able to enjoy delicious Shin-toku soba and rice bowl as a perfect ending to my mountain trip!

Today, I ordered the "Abeck Don" at this famous restaurant along with the always reliable Mori Soba and renowned Tempura Don. The food arrived in just a few minutes. The Mori Soba was as good as always, although it seemed like the noodles have become thinner compared to before. Maybe it's because it's not the season for new soba? I ate about half of the soba before moving on to the Tempura Don while it was still hot. The tempura was crispy and delicious, and the sauce was tasty. It was nice that a mini warm soba came as a side. I also enjoyed the soba broth slowly. Overall, I was very satisfied.

Established in 1920, the hundred-year-old restaurant, located in Shintoku, is known as the town with the highest buckwheat production in Japan. I visited during lunchtime on a weekday and despite the restaurant being almost full, I was able to find a seat through rotation. It seemed like there were many visitors from outside the local area. The restaurant has counter seats, four tables for four people, and a raised seating area. There are also private rooms available. I ordered the famous "Abeck Donburi" and a tempura bowl with cold soba. The dishes arrived in about 10 minutes. The meal was served in a divided dish with tempura and soba. There was also a side of warm mini soba. The soba was served in a dipping style with a good texture. The tempura, made with local Shintoku chicken, had a nostalgic and stable taste. I particularly enjoyed the warm mini soba broth. However, the tempura bowl was a bit difficult to eat due to the shape of the dish. I wasn't sure where to pour the soba broth, so I ended up pouring it into the pickles dish to finish the meal. Overall, the taste was satisfactory, with a nostalgic atmosphere of the Showa era in the town. I hope they continue to do well for many more years to come.

Minatoya 2023.04.04 Today, I wanted to eat my favorite Kamameshi in Niikappu, but found out that the restaurant will start its business from April 8th. So, I decided to visit Minatoya instead. They offer takeout options and are located a little east from the Shintoku Station intersection. The exterior of the restaurant has a traditional look with white walls, while the interior has 4 counter seats, 3 tables for 4 people, and a raised seating area. I ordered the 5-color soba for 1,650 yen and the Abekkodon (Tendon or Butadon) for 1,200 yen. The soba was made with 90% Niikappu soba flour and hand-cut, giving it a strong texture and a delicious taste. The broth made with kombu and bonito was also very tasty. The 5-color soba had tempura, mountain vegetables, grated daikon, natto, and tororo toppings, making it a delightful dish. The Abekkodon had tempura with shrimp, smelt, shiso leaf, and green pepper, served with a sweet sauce that complemented the rice well. The Butadon had thinly sliced pork loin with a rich sweet and savory sauce, which was also delicious. I will definitely come back to Minatoya for their soba. Thank you for the meal. Minatoya offers takeout options with business hours from 11:00 to 14:30 (until sold out) and is closed on Thursdays and Sundays.

It's been a while since I've been to Minatoya, and I realized I hadn't tried the pork bowl here. I decided to go with the Abekkodon, which is a combination of pork bowl and cold noodles. It arrived in about 10 minutes. The pork slices were thin and topped with green peas. The sauce was average, and the meat didn't quite match up to what you'd find at a specialty shop. I think I may have made a mistake, I should have just stuck with the usual tempura bowl. However, the soba noodles were consistently delicious, and the warm soup that came with it was a nice touch.

Minatoya-san, I really love this place. When I asked for salt, they gave me snow-like salt and a yuzu salt that was not overpowering. I'm always impressed by their thoughtful gestures. I love the soba here, so ideally I should enjoy the mori soba. But being a foodie, I instinctively knew that the soba here would go well with natto too. However, I also wanted to enjoy the soba without mixing it with natto. So, I ordered a large serving of soba with an extra raw egg yolk on the side. I poured some soba soup into a borrowed cup, and savored the mori soba with wasabi for a while. The aroma, texture, and lingering taste of the soba made me happy. After enjoying some, I poured a little soba soup into the second cup and drank it mixed with soba water. I repeated this cycle until I was satisfied, with about half of the soba left. I then mixed the remaining soba with natto, egg yolk, perilla leaves, and pickled radish, and enjoyed it slowly. I finished off the meal with some tempura, dipping it in different salts. I left a little cold soba and a small portion of warm soba, enjoying the last sip of soba water. It was a truly satisfying meal. Thank you, and I will definitely visit again.

This year's year-end soba was at my favorite restaurant, Minatoya. I hadn't been able to visit for a few years, but I was able to go twice in quick succession. The second time was on the last day of Minatoya's indoor dining service, around the time of the last order. I was a little late, but they kindly accepted me. The first time, I couldn't order the Abekko Don (cold natto soba with extra noodles and a little salt instead of tempura sauce) due to lack of time. I transferred the natto and egg yolk to the rice and enjoyed it with the soba. The soba was firm and delicious. After enjoying the soba, I moved on to the tempura. The tempura was crispy and the ingredients were luxurious. I also enjoyed the warm soba and the soba water. It was a happy way to end the year. Thank you, Minatoya, for the delicious meal.

I have been to this restaurant many times, but today I decided to try their recommended dish, the "Aveck Don" which consists of tempura rice bowl and cold soba noodles. The tempura, especially the two shrimp, was delicious. The cold soba noodles with chicken on top was also decent. It had been a while since my last visit, as they are closed on Sundays. I couldn't help but wonder if I should have stuck with their traditional tempura rice bowl, as I feel like I would have enjoyed the soba more that way. Nevertheless, I visited two soba restaurants within 20 minutes, so I was completely full by the end.

Tokachi is one of the leading buckwheat producing areas in Japan, and among them, Shintoku is famous for its soba to the extent that the Shintoku Soba Festival is held on September 25th in the fourth year of Reiwa. When searching for "Shintoku Station x Soba" on Tabelog, it was confirmed that out of the four soba restaurants, only one had over 100 reviews, so I visited on a weekday at 11:50 a.m. After looking at the menu, I ordered the "Kamiten Zaru Soba with Chicken (without soba)" for 1,650 yen and a 450 yen glass of sake. There were seats on the second floor as well, and the staff mentioned that a group was coming in that day. A local wearing work clothes ordered a large portion, but even the regular portion seemed like a lot, and I felt like I wouldn't be able to finish it. I had planned to just have a bowl of "chicken without soba" after taking out the soba from the dish, but I felt a bit out of place as I was the only one ordering alcohol. The soba noodles were flat and had a strong soba flavor, to the point where I thought my temples might start hurting if I ate a large portion. The tempura consisted of 3 shrimp, seaweed, shiso leaf, squid, and smelt, all fried to a crisp.

I visited for lunch. I was on a business trip to Niikappu Town. It's crowded because it's lunchtime. The soba noodles are popular so I'll wait. This time, I ordered the "Aveck Don" which comes with tempura and cold mountain vegetables. I like that you can choose. Maybe because it's a set for two people, the containers are special and a bit hard to eat from. But both the mountain vegetable soba and tempura were delicious. I understand why there's a line. Next time, I want to come back to try the individual menu items. Thank you for the meal!

New Tokachi Town is famous for its production of soba noodles. I visited for the first time and chose to dine at this highly rated restaurant near the station. Although it was just after opening, it was almost full. I opted for the straight soba with tempura, which cost 1,450 yen. The soba had a standard taste, with good quality soba flour, but the overall dish was quite ordinary. It may not be satisfying for soba enthusiasts. The tempura included 2 large prawns, smelt, shiso leaf, bell pepper, and seaweed. The prawns were sizable but not freshly fried. The vegetables lacked warmth. In conclusion, this restaurant seems more geared towards tourists.

I had lunch in Niikappu! On the way to Furano, I decided to have lunch in Niikappu and visited Minatoya. I planned to go after the usual lunchtime, so I adjusted my schedule and arrived around 1 pm. Luckily, I found a parking spot! When I entered the restaurant, there was only one group waiting. Great! I was seated within 2-3 minutes. The restaurant has counter seats, raised seating, and table seats. Although their Abekk Don is famous, I didn't want something too heavy, so I ordered the Zaru Soba for 800 yen. It was nice that they served tea. I thought it might take a while, but the food was served in about 5 minutes. The soba noodles were thick in a countryside style. Let's dig in. First, the soba noodles. The flavor of the soba was strong and authentic. This is what real soba tastes like. I've only had dried Niikappu soba before, and to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of it. But eating it at the restaurant, it tasted really good. Oh, I actually had Niikappu soba at some other place before, but I can't remember the name of the restaurant. The broth had a strong dashi flavor and a sharp soy sauce taste. This soba needs a broth and soy sauce like this to stand out. When you dip the soba in the broth, it's surprisingly sweet. At first, you taste the soba, then the sweetness kicks in. This is some delicious soba. Finally, I had the soba broth to warm up. It was delicious. Next time, I should try their hot soba. And I should also visit other soba restaurants. Thank you for the meal!

Founded in the Taisho era, this restaurant is a century-old soba shop representing the soba-producing town of Shintoku. On the 5th day of a 5-day Golden Week trip on May 5th, I was enjoying the scenery, gourmet food, sake, and social media, but my love for soba is undeniable. I have always wanted to try the "Aveck Don" and finally visited this restaurant. The Aveck Don costs 1,200 yen and includes tempura and mountain vegetable soba (cold). The soba is made from Le Rano Kaori ground flour with a slight hand-kneading process. The soba conveys a direct masculinity rather than delicacy, and it may be tough during this season, but it will shine in the right season. The broth was excellent, especially the rich umami flavor, showing effort and dedication. The tempura was crispy and light, and the rice was cooked skillfully using local rice. It seems to have a good part-time staff. If they want to promote Shintoku soba more, they should aim for even greater heights in terms of the soba itself. There may be some aspects benefiting from past reputation. This restaurant is where Shintoku pride can be preserved and elevated. I am looking forward to it. I want to become an Aveck too (laughs).

I came to Shintoku Town for work. Since I was here, I decided to try Shintoku soba. When I searched on Tabelog, I found a place nearby with a spacious parking lot (perfect for my 2-ton truck). It was already past 1 pm (almost 2 pm), but customers kept coming in one after another. I was planning to get the Mori Soba, but there were many signs and posters of Shintoku Town's local chicken, so I ended up getting the chilled Kashiwa Soba (chicken soba) instead (lol). Before pouring the sauce, I tried just the soba noodles, and they were smooth and had a strong, sweet texture! It's no wonder this place is popular with customers. If I have the chance, I would like to try the Mori Soba next time (lol).

Speaking of Niigata, it is known as a region famous for soba noodles, both fresh and dried. I visited a local well-established soba restaurant and tried their zaru soba. The noodles were thick and firm, similar to country-style soba. The soba dipping sauce was light in color, not too sweet or salty, with a strong dashi flavor. It paired perfectly with the soba broth. Their recommended dish is the Abekk Don, a set menu where you can choose two items from tempura bowl, pork bowl, or various cold soba options. It also comes with a warm soba soup, allowing you to enjoy both hot and cold soba dishes.

On February 8, 2022, what I can do now is to at least support restaurants while being careful. Let's all give our best effort! Today, I came to "Minatoya" to quickly grab some soba to nourish myself after basically pulling an all-nighter (laughs). The location is a bit east of Shintoku Station at the intersection. The exterior has a dignified white wall that looks like a long-established place. Inside, there are currently 3 counter seats, 3 tables for 4 people, and a raised seating area. It was exactly 11 o'clock. I ordered the following: - Abekawa Don (cold, with cold mountain vegetables) for 1,200 yen (tax included). - Mini Tempura Don for 600 yen (tax included). In about 6 minutes, the food arrived. The soba is made with 90% Shintoku soba flour and hand-cut, giving it a strong texture and a slightly thin thickness, making it satisfying and delicious. The broth made with kombu and bonito, with plenty of mountain vegetables, is delicious. The cold shiso leaf as a topping goes well as a condiment. The tempura bowl consisted of 1 shrimp, smelt fish, shiso leaf, and green pepper. It was delicious with the sweet sauce and made the rice go down smoothly. I will come back to eat their soba again. Thank you for the meal. Minatoya offers takeout. Operating hours are from 11:00 to 14:30 (until sold out), closed on Thursdays and Sundays.

A soba restaurant near Shinde Station. I visited here for the first time in 8 and a half years. This time, I was seated on the second floor, in a spacious tatami room. I ordered the classic tempura soba. The soba noodles were slightly flat with a good chewy texture, and had a nice flavor. The tempura consisted of 2 shrimp, smelt fish, bell pepper, shiso leaf, and seaweed. The tempura had a crispy coating and each ingredient had a delicious flavor. Although the presentation of the tempura could have been better, overall the meal was enjoyable. I had a better impression this time compared to my previous visit, and I would definitely consider coming back again.

I went to Shin-toku station looking for a soba restaurant, but it was unexpectedly closed on the 5th Wednesday. Instead, I visited this place. I was drawn to the chicken and pork bowl, so I ended up getting the chicken with dipping sauce set. The pork bowl was quite delicious and overshadowed the soba. In the otherwise quiet Shin-toku station area, this place was bustling and a reassuring presence.

I visited around 12:00 on the first day of the consecutive holidays on Saturday! When I arrived, there were four groups waiting, and we started eating soba around 12:40. I was very hungry! I had grated daikon soba, and my senior had a tendon bowl and natto soba! Both were quite filling, but since I was so hungry, I finished it all. The soba had a good texture and was very delicious. The scent of the soba coming through my nose was amazing. It's far and hard to visit often, but I want to go again!

On September 7, 2021, I visited a long-established soba restaurant in Niikappu, "Minatoya." They offer takeout service as well. The exterior of the restaurant has a traditional charm with white walls. Inside, there are 3 counter seats, 3 tables for 4 people, and a raised seating area. I ordered the "Aveck Don" which includes tempura and cold natto soba for 1,200 yen, with an extra serving of soba for 50 yen. The soba noodles are made from 90% Niikappu soba flour and are hand-cut, giving them a strong texture. The cold natto soba was delicious, with a broth made from kombu and bonito that complemented the natto well. The tempura included 2 shrimp, kisu fish, shiso leaf, and green pepper, served with sweet sauce that paired nicely with the rice. I enjoyed my meal and will definitely come back to try their soba again. The restaurant is open from 11:00 to 14:30, closing once they run out of food, and is closed on Thursdays and Sundays.