zaru soba

[eco-tofu]

A friend of mine was just asking me if I know a good place to find zaru soba. I'm still a bit too new to Vancouver to feel confident recommending a place. (Especially since I don't even think I've ever had it... a bit too much of a sushi/sashimi purist most of the time ). Thus, I turn to you all for guidance in my zaru soba quest.

[DarkDante]

A friend of mine was just asking me if I know a good place to find zaru soba. I'm still a bit too new to Vancouver to feel confident recommending a place. (Especially since I don't even think I've ever had it... a bit too much of a sushi/sashimi purist most of the time  ). Thus, I turn to you all for guidance in my zaru soba quest.

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Shiro's on 3096 Cambie Street has cold soba.

[canucklehead]

What part of town are you looking at?

[eco-tofu]

What part of town are you looking at?

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anywhere public transportationable; the stronger the recommendation, the further, more out-of-the-way we'd be willing to go . Another friend thinks he's tracked some down at Zipang on Main. I've seen Shiro's mentioned on here a few times, so I'll definitely let them know. Any word on Zipang?

I've had cold soba before, but never zaru soba... what is it in zaru soba that gives it this rumored greenness? Seaweed?

[sanrensho]

I've had cold soba before, but never zaru soba... what is it in zaru soba that gives it this rumored greenness? Seaweed?

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I think your friend might be slightly confused about the terms. Zaru soba can be any type of cold soba including buckwheat and cha soba (green tea soba).

Unless you can find a place that makes handmade soba (none that I know of in Vancouver) and cha soba in particular, I would recommend just picking up the supplies at Fujiya (Japanese grocer) and making it yourself. Or in true Egullet fashion, you could try and make your own cha soba, which I've never attempted before.

Edited August 13, 2007 by sanrensho (log)

[eco-tofu]

I've had cold soba before, but never zaru soba... what is it in zaru soba that gives it this rumored greenness? Seaweed?

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I think your friend might be slightly confused about the terms. Zaru soba can be any type of cold soba including buckwheat and cha soba (green tea soba).

Unless you can find a place that makes handmade soba (none that I know of in Vancouver) and cha soba in particular, I would recommend just picking up the supplies at Fujiya (Japanese grocer) and making it yourself. Or in true Egullet fashion, you could try and make your own cha soba, which I've never attempted before.

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Cha soba, that makes sense...

haha. I have just had my first crack at fresh pasta making last week... Maybe we'll go eat some first to set the bar, then give it a shot ourselves?

[sanrensho]

Maybe we'll go eat some first to set the bar, then give it a shot ourselves?

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That bar is likely to be pretty low/average, in the absence of any specialty soba shops in Vancouver.

I guarantee that any shop serving cha soba in Vancouver will either be using dry noodles, except for the remote possibility that they would use a vacuum pack (non-dry) soba. The latter wouldn't be economically feasible for the vast majority of restaurants.

I'm just saying that there isn't anything special that you can get at a Vancouver restaurant, except for some extra attention to the dipping sauce and condiments perhaps.

Edited August 13, 2007 by sanrensho (log)

[flowbee]

i think zaru soba is such a simple dish that you can make it yourself at home and end up with something at least on par with the best that the restaurants around here can muster.

quite a few times i've had zaru soba that was disgusting...preboiled, left to sit out so the noodles turn into sticky mushy garbage. it's gotta be boiled-to-order. seriously, make it at home and jack it up with your own toppings like seaweed flakes etc. yum!

i went to this handmade soba place in downtown calgary once, and it was very very disappointing. i think the owner adjusted his soba recipe to suit a non-asian clientelle and it just tasted wrong to me. i'm not sure if it's "traditional", but i like my soba to have a bit of firmness to it. the soba i ate had no springiness at all.

on a side note, i hear that there's a handmade udon place in victoria. but i find frozen udon in the stores to be pretty damn good anyways. and i find nothing wrong with the dry buckwheat soba noodles you can get at fujiya or izumiya.

[canucklehead]

Kiyo in Richmond has a cold soba dish that is quite good - thin rice noodels (shomen?) - slippery but with good chew.

Quite a trek though by bus.

[PaoPao]

We had an order last night that was quite good at Honjin Sushi in Yaletown last night.

[eco-tofu]

We are going to give Zipang a try for dinner tonight. I've heard good things, so am looking forward to sampling some things off their menu (soba et al.)

I love somen too. I missed my normal dose of it at Seattle's Bonodori festival (sometimes a tad overcooked, but always so refreshing). Mmm, perfect for summer.

I haven't spent nearly enough time sampling the fare in Richmond... its not so far, a short 98B-line away. I've already been thinking about some dimsum trips out there; so much to explore as a vancouver newbie!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll comment back on Zipang if folks are interested. And hopefully try a few other places, then maybe even tackle it in my own kitchen.

[eco-tofu]

Some comments on my Zipang experience (our group focus was on non-sushi items with the goal of trying other japanese restaurants in the future with non-sushi focuses in a battle for our hearts):

Everything I sampled was tasty. I had wakame sunomono, beef shortribs, beef sashimi, zaru soba, uni nigiri, and yuzu tobiko nigiri. All was very good, but nothing really blew me away.

Wakame sunomono was pleasant, cool and refreshing; mostly rice vermicelli noodles, with a small pile of chopped seaweed and three cucumber slices swimming in rice vinegar. I was hoping for more seaweed, but the sunomono trend seems to be noodle heavy these days.

Beef shortribs were also good, nicely charred and in a not-too-sweet soy glaze; some pieces were really fatty, while others were pure meatiness. I wished there was more balance between fat/meat, but the flavor was good.

Beef Sashimi, barely seared, thin-sliced medallions sprinkled with fresh chopped garlic. Only had a couple bites, but nice tender beef with just the right zing of fresh garlic. Super simple, yet really tasty.

Zaru soba, pile of firm buckwheat soba noodles sprinkled with dry seaweed, served with a small pitcher of cool, very light soy broth (?), plus a small dish with two piles, chopped green onion and wasabi. Very fun to eat dish, the infusion of the wasabi into the soy broth with soba noodles dunked in = mmm. Again, really simple dish, refreshing, light, and tasty.

My friend ordered the black cod, which I didn't get a sample of, her only comment, "I wish I could have had the whole fish."

Not specifically part of the non-sushi battle, but the uni was very good; rich and a little funky like a good cheese. Like a delicate, cool, ocean Tallegio (man alive, I love uni). The yuzu-infused tobiko was quite interesting; more yellow and very citrus-y just as the waitress described it, with even a faint bitterness flavor from the zest. It was good, but pretty overpowering of the light bursts of natural tobiko flavor.

In all, a very nice experience and very reasonably priced. The food arrived from the kitchen in a somewhat haphazard order, but in a fairly steady stream of food, so I didn't mind. Zipang's offerings are much simpler than my (semi-distant & very distant) memories of Hapa Izakaya (Yew st.) or Guu (Gastown) dishes, which is both its charm and it's slight boringness. However, Zipang is definitely worth another visit for further exploration of the menu. (I remember loving Guu, need to make a return trip there sometime soon too.)

* next week's outing, we're jumping genres: Battle #4: Chicken Wings, Contender: Phnom Penh

[Paul B]

Seems to me I've had zaru soba at Nikko on Granville. Can't remember if it was any good. When we lived in Japan, lo these many years ago, we became addicted to the stuff, especially during the sweltering summer months. I second the idea of making it yourself. It's dead easy and better than you'll probably get in most restaurants.

Come to think of it, I was once served zaru soba on JAL. And it wasn't bad...

[mizzjessica]

Following my recent week in Tokyo, there are obviously many very exciting food memories. I ate my way across Tokyo, and from it all one of the standouts was definitely a very austere, formal soba house. That's all they do. Soba. Hand rolled, hand cut. The only optional pairing was tempura. It's one of the pricier, lauded soba houses, I believe they've been open longer than a century?

There is a unique chewiness that's not the same as dried pasta cooked all dente. Springy. Your noodles shouldn't cling together, but sit in a surprisingly airy heap, separate from each other without having been oiled. They can be easily eaten, transfered from a bamboo tray to your cold broth bowl. It was a very hot day and it was supremely refreshing, and digested beautifully. The broth/dipping sauce was the perfect balance of sweet/salt/bonito, and the nuttiness of the buckwheat added substance to a very minimalist lunch, accompanied only by a few light, airy, completely non-greasy tempura prawns. The very matronly, middle-aged, kimono-clad waitress was very sweet.

I'll never forget that lunch.

[flowbee]

Following my recent week in Tokyo, there are obviously many very exciting food memories. I ate my way across Tokyo, and from it all one of the standouts was definitely a very austere, formal soba house.  That's all they do. Soba. Hand rolled, hand cut.  The only optional pairing was tempura.  It's one of the pricier, lauded soba houses, I believe they've been open longer than a century?

There is a unique chewiness that's not the same as dried pasta cooked all dente.  Springy. Your noodles shouldn't cling together, but sit in a surprisingly airy heap, separate from each other without having been oiled.  They can be easily eaten, transfered from a bamboo tray to your cold broth bowl.  It was a very hot day and it was supremely refreshing, and digested beautifully.  The broth/dipping sauce was the perfect balance of sweet/salt/bonito, and the nuttiness of the buckwheat added substance to a very minimalist lunch, accompanied only by a few light, airy, completely non-greasy tempura prawns.  The very matronly, middle-aged, kimono-clad waitress was very sweet.

I'll never forget that lunch.

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i just drooled on myself from reading your description. thank you!