This soba restaurant in Azabu-Juban has been a popular local spot for over 230 years, even serving daimyo lords during the Edo period (1603-1867) and, later, the imperial household. Soba usually comes in different shades of brown, courtesy of the buckwheat husks traditionally ground into the dough. The downside of that approach is it can give the noodles less elasticity and a rougher texture.
Sarashina Horii has its own special technique for dealing with this, which yields the shop’s signature white soba noodles. Of course, you’ll also find classic light brown soba and some thicker noodles, as well as seasonal soba with flavours like yuzu, shiso, tomato or pumpkin kneaded into the dough. The best way to eat the soba here is with cold dipping sauce (from ¥900), but the kamo seiro (cold soba and warm dipping sauce with grilled duck; ¥2,090) or natto soba (¥1,590) are also great options. There are also plenty of warm soba dishes like the kamo nanban with grilled duck slices (¥2,090) and classic tempura soba (from ¥2,040), too.