Tansōan Soba Lunch　  丹想庵蕎

I happened to be in Asakusa around lunchtime today so I decided to swing by one of my favorite soba shops, Tansōan, for a good—and cheap—tenpura and soba lunch. I’ve been a fan of this place for over ten years, since a year or two after it opened, back when I was trying to eat lunch at every soba shop in the area, way back before Kenji san, the owner, received a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. I even filmed a segment for an NHK TV show there a few years ago.

As for lunch, I always order the tenpura set, usually the vegetable and fish rather than the ebi kake-age. On this day the fish was, as usual, kisu, while the vegetables included broccoli, something a bit unusual, as well as a red pepper (again, not too common), plus satsuma-imo, kabocha, and a small piece of fukinotō. Rather than the normal kyū-wari soba (nine parts soba and one part wheat flour), I went with the inaka (country style) soba, something Kenji san has only recently been making. The noodles, made with black soba flour from Tochigi Prefecture, were great. The total, including tax; ¥1,430.

There is more on the lunchtime menu than just soba, but not nearly as much as Tansōan offers in the evening. That may be why it is usually wise to make reservations to get in at night.

Taitō-Ku, Asakusa 3-35-3 東京都台東区浅草 3-35-3

03-5824-3355