Convenient location, in the basement of ARCA EAST, just steps away from Kinshicho station!

Don’t worry if it’s raining, ARCA EAST is just a minute walk from Kinshicho station on the JR Line and attached to Kinshicho station if you are coming by the Tokyo Metro. Sojibou is a conveniently situated restaurant, located in the basement of the building.

A comfortable atmosphere in the old-fashioned style architecture restaurant

The entrance is a welcoming wooden style. I arrived at around 1:30 pm, well after the busy lunchtime, so the restaurant was not very crowded at all. It seemed like the majority of the customers were women who’d stopped by after going shopping.

A wide selection of soba dishes and two lunch specials: eggplant “oroshisoba” (soba topped with a mound of grated Japanese radish) and the soba set meal. Both come with rice and are very reasonable.

Don’t worry if you can’t finish the fresh wasabi, what’s left of it you can take home.

The casual interior makes it pleasant and comfortable to stay there for a while, even if you are alone.

Small bags to take home the wasabi are placed on the individual tables, as well as “Shichimi” (pepper), soy sauce and toothpicks.

Ordered “katsudon” (large bowl of rice topped with breaded fried pork cutlet) and soba set meal

I thought of simply ordering “tororo-soba” (soba with grated yam topping), a common and popular soba dish, but I decided to get the katsudon and soba set meal after being recommended by the waiter. It doesn’t cost much more than the regular soba set. So why not add the mini-katsudon!

Right after my order, I was served with cold soba tea and fried soba. Umm, the delight of a soba restaurant!

Five minutes later, the katsudon and soba set meal is placed in front of me. Wow, it’s actually much more substantial than I’d imagined… Hmmm, hope I can finish it!

Although it’s a set meal, the quantity of soba is not less than a regular soba dish and the mini-katsudon, not so mini for a non-big-eater like me.

Just ask the staff for more “negi” (onion) or fresh wasabi, and they will be happy to serve you.

Dip the soba in the sauce and “itadakimasu” (let the meal begin!) The sauce was a bit on the sweet side for me, so I balanced it with a large amount of fresh wasabi. Delicious.

The pickled “tsukemono” is nozawana, a green leaf vegetable. Seasoned just right, perfect texture. I could eat it endlessly with rice to accompany it.

Finished the soba, and now on to the katsudon. Look how thick the katsu (pork cutlet) is! It’s very soft, nicely flavored and just extremely tasty!
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting such a high quality katsudon on a set meal. It’s just as delicious as an individually ordered dish. The relaxing scent of “mitsuba” (seasoning leaf) with the juicy katsu in my mouth is pure pleasure!

It was a very hot day and I was pretty unsure of the state of my appetite. But I didn’t leave over one bite. To finish the meal, a cup of “soba-yu” (soba water to add to the sauce).

Sojibou, the casual soba restaurant, is comfortable and friendly to all types of customers.

writer：Yoko