A note on the words: juwari soba is buckwheat noodles made with no wheat flour at all. Soba-mae is the habit of drinking, with snacks, before the noodles arrive — which is what this visit turned into.
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Naraya on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hangover Meshi here. Business in Ikebukuro done, I went looking for lunch over towards Naka-Ikebukuro Park. I always knew Ikebukuro was busy, but was it ever this busy? It felt like Shibuya at its peak. Every restaurant was full at lunchtime, and even the coffee shops — Renoir and the other slightly upmarket ones — were packed. There was an event on at Naka-Ikebukuro Park with stalls going up, but even so. Times change. Complaining does not feed you, though, so I joined the queue at Naraya, the soba shop next to the park, and settled in to wait.
There was a decent queue: you write your name on the sheet by the door and wait. Fourth group or so, I think. I had time, so fine — twenty or thirty minutes and I was in. Lunch service seemed to end partway through, so I was near the back of the second-to-last turn. Lucky to get in.
Ten-seiro 2,000 yen
Kamo-seiro (duck) 2,000 yen
Grilled duck thigh 1,500 yen
Grilled duck offal 1,200 yen
Plenty to choose from. The shop does duck and juwari soba — buckwheat noodles made with no wheat flour at all — so duck was tempting.
But what caught my eye was the recommended platter. 1,500 yen, and a little of a lot of things.
I was tired from waiting outside, so I decided to drink with this and finish with soba. Soba-mae, as they call it — drinking before the noodles.
So: a cold highball to start.
A cold highball. They put lemon in it, which sharpens it up nicely. Very good.
That is a fine sight. The snack platter.
Though for a place that bills itself on duck, there is not much duck here at all. Not that I mind.
Pickled gourd, something like pickled wakame stems, pickled turnip, sliced raw aubergine, negitoro, zha cai and onion.
Mostly pickles and vegetables, then. I had imagined a little of each duck dish, but honestly I would not have got through that much duck anyway, so perhaps this is the right amount. It is light, and it goes with a highball well enough.
And for the soba, the kuro arabiki — coarse-ground dark soba.
Being coarse-ground and dark, I wonder whether they grind the husk in as well.
It comes out fairly thin. A mouthful in — yes, good.
It is a shame that it breaks up a little as you eat, but that comes with coarse-ground soba.
The dipping sauce is clean. I found it better to dip about half the length rather than the whole thing.
There was shichimi — the seven-spice chilli blend — on the table, so I shook some straight onto the noodles, and it was good.
I hear this is fairly common in Nagano, and I can see why. Once it is in the dipping sauce there is no going back, so a little sprinkled on the soba itself is the way to do it.
The soba itself might be better with a little more aroma, and served properly ice-cold.
So: a cold highball and snacks, then soba. I managed a full soba-mae without meaning to, and with the weather warming up I think this style works rather well. Next time I might go looking for another shop where I can pick at snacks over a highball or a shochu soda before the noodles arrive. It gets busy at weekends, so if you want to come here, come early.
Naraya — Juwari Soba and Duck (soba / Ikebukuro Station, Higashi-Ikebukuro Station, Higashi-Ikebukuro-yonchome Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
