For people from different countries： Enjoy Sake and Soba Noodles as You Like, In a Friendly and Informal Atmosphere
A renowned Edo-era soba noodle shop, Kanda Matsuya was established in 1884. The building is notable as a Tokyo-metro politan-selected Historical Building. While the building is steeped in history, the air inside is casual and friendly. Although it’s located in a fast-changing world, Matsuya is still the same, surrounded by people who love soba.
“When it comes to ways of eating Soba noodles, there is no right or wrong. The best way to eat them is your own”
“Sake at the soba noodle shop.” This custom started during the Edo period. People were impatient for their orders long ago, leading the owner to serve sake to customers while they waited for their soba noodles.There are many regular customers who drink sake at our shop during the day; they have their own style of drinking while they eat soba noodles. There are no rules,find your own way to eat soba noodles that makes them taste the best to you.
The timing of your soba noodle order is important
Order sake and side-dishes, then order your soba whlie enjoying them. This will allow you to enjoy fresh-cooked soba after your drinks.
Before eating the noodles, taste the soba sauce Check the thickness of the soba sauce and eat a bite of soba noodles without sauce to taste the pure soba flavor. Then dip the noodles into the sauce. Add fresh condiments to the sauce to enjoy a variety of flavors. Drinking sake along with soba is delightful.
残ったつゆを蕎麦湯で割ってかけ蕎麦のつゆ程度の濃度にし、 蕎麦を入れて食べる。（Add sobayu into the remaining soba sauce to make a delicious broth for hot soba noodles. Dip the soba noodles into it and enjoy the hot soba noodle flavor. Sobayu is the hot water that the noodles were boiled in.）
あえてちょっと蕎麦を放置し、箸先を杯に残った酒に浸して蕎麦にまぶしながら食べる。こうすると蕎麦の甘みが引き立つ。（Leave some soba noodles to sit for a while. Sprinkle sake drops on the soba noodles with your chopsticks to bring out the sweetness of the buckwheat.）
●The innovative guide to “Izakaya” with English translation!
“Sakaba STORY” available now
Today, izakaya is also familiar as an English word. It’s a Japanese casual pub where people enjoy conversations over drinks and food at a low price.
This November we published “Sakaba STORY” (Sakaba has the same meaning as izakaya) as a spin-off of “STORY”, which is our bestselling fashion and lifestyle magazine for women.
This guidebook is the collection of monthly articles in “STOTY” and supervised by a popular essayist Rui Yoshida (@karashi61) called ‘Sakaba Poet’. The articles are about the location or history of an izakaya learnt from its hostess, and her life.
What is special about this guide is that an English translation printed side by side with the Japanese original. The editor strongly hopes that many foreign tourists read it. We have already some good reviews.
Let’s make a plunge into izakaya world with this innovative road map!
E-book is also now in following stores: Apple Newsstand, Amazon Kindle, RAKUTEN Kobo, etc.
