I visited this restaurant for lunch. Although it said it opens at 11:30, the curtain was already up a little earlier, so I entered. I was the first customer, but it quickly became full on a weekday. It seems to be run by a mother and son, and it takes quite a bit of time. Probably because of the excessive variety of menu items. There are nearly 10 different types of soba, with a wide variety of flour blends and cutting styles. There are also two types of dipping sauce, sweet and spicy, and you can choose from a variety of tempura and toppings, not just as part of a lunch set. It's like they really care about the customers or have a craftsman-like quality... At night, there are many fresh fish and ingredients on the menu, making it a restaurant that makes you want to come back for dinner as well.

"Soba Man" Last time, I had a lot of things I wanted to write about because the soba was so exquisite, but I managed to keep it short. This time, what I wanted to write about was that it was even more expensive than last time. On Sunday, it was just the two of us in Obihiro for the second garden tour. We started at Murata Garden and then headed to the next garden, Manabe Garden, but before that, we needed lunch. I was driving, and since my wife hadn't decided on a restaurant, I suggested, "Oh, there's a soba place that Keipon hasn't been to. It's a place that serves 100% soba." "Really?" I thought it was unbelievable. "There's only one review." "Is it new?" "No, it moved. It's called Soba Man." "Oh, I remember going there. It was delicious." I couldn't remember more details. Why did it move? It wasn't old. Well, it was delicious, and most importantly, my wife said she wanted soba, so I went along. When we arrived at the restaurant, we saw a sign that said it was an izakaya. My wife later found out that it used to be a soba place. The restaurant had a counter with a moat and four cushions, and there were three tables that could seat ten people in total. The menu was quite confusing. Why do they make it so hard to understand? I understand having a preference, but forcing that preference on customers or making things unnecessarily complicated in the name of preference is something I can't understand. I just wanted to eat soba, and if it's good soba, just serve me the "morisoba," that's all I need. It was confusing to figure out what "morisoba" was, so I ended up ordering the "nisokusoba" and the "arasobagiri and jūwari" for 1500 yen, which seemed quite expensive. It was surprisingly light... It came with real wasabi. The recommended item was apparently the burdock. My wife ordered the "tsuketororo no nihachi" for 1,100 yen. It seems that many people come to this place for a daytime drink in a nice atmosphere. I learned this from a conversation with the previous customers, who seemed to be a couple. When they left, the next customers arrived. It seemed like they knew the previous customers. They asked, "Is it okay if we leave it up to you?" Is leaving it up to the chef the norm? It was all very confusing. The real wasabi was self-grated, and it had a nice aroma, but the color was quite light. Is this really real wasabi? Even if it's in the same category, it's not necessarily a good thing. I waited for about 15 minutes, and when the soba finally came, I started with the "arasobagiri." It looked like thin flat noodles... I think calling it flat is a bit misleading because they're not actually flattened. They're just flat noodles. The texture was somewhat firm, and the soba flavor was weak. The draining was good, but it seemed like the arasobagiri was losing its flavor. The jūwari soba was a bit darker in color, and the flavor was stronger. The draining was good, and the soba flavor was more pronounced. The texture was firm, and it felt like the soba aroma was fading away. I wonder why that is? The draining was sweet, and it seemed to be interfering with the flavor. If you want to bring out the flavor of the soba, the excess moisture is just a hindrance. The dipping sauce came in two varieties, spicy and sweet. They were served in a small cup right from the start. I prefer to have a tokkuri for the soba broth. I hope they pay more attention to this. When drinking the soba broth, it can be a hindrance. The amount of soba was not substantial, so a small cup would have sufficed. The spicy sauce was strong and lacked a strong dashi flavor. It seemed to be more like kelp. I like strong sauces, so this was quite rare and to my liking. The sweet sauce was just average. The sweet sauce had a slight dashi flavor, but the sweetness was overwhelming. Overall, the soba experience was not as satisfying as I had hoped. The attention to detail was evident, and the price reflected that, but there were some aspects that were lacking.

The restaurant "Sobando" caught my attention as I passed by, and when I saw the open sign on my next visit, I decided to stop by. It is located on Yayoi Street, heading east and turning right on Nishi 2-jo Street, about 200m ahead on the right. It is before crossing the South Line Bridge of Baikai River. The place used to be an izakaya. There is a standing sign, but the name of the restaurant is not written yet. You can recognize it by the blue noren curtain. There are 4 counter seats and 3 table seats, and it seems to operate as an izakaya at night. They offer various types of soba, such as 100% buckwheat, 80% buckwheat, rustic 80% buckwheat, and thick noodles, and can accommodate any menu. I ordered the "100% buckwheat Hon Wasabi Zaru Soba" for 1,100 yen. The other two customers ordered Zaru Soba with "100% buckwheat" and "rustic 80% buckwheat." The soba noodles are thin and the sauce is delicious. The Hon Wasabi is prepared by yourself on the spot, but it didn't have the expected strong kick, making me think that commercially available tube wasabi might be more flavorful. Perhaps it was not ground properly. The portion of soba itself is modest, so it may not be filling for some. With a wide variety of soba types available, those who enjoy trying different options may have a good time.