You can say that Asakusa is the most popular tourist destination in Tokyo. There are many historical buildings and spots where you can feel cultures from the Samurai era. Asakusa also offers many long-established restaurants where you can enjoy various local gourmets. In this article, we will be referring to “Namiki Yabusoba” and “Owariya,” which are the most recommended long-established restaurants where you can eat delicious soba.
Want to know more about gourmet town Asakusa? Check >>“Where to Drink and Eat in Asakusa - Five Best Local Gourmet.”
Best Gourmet in Asakusa 2
Soba
Soba is a type of noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is made grinding the seeds of buckwheat and kneads it with water, thereafter stretch and cut into thin noodles. After boiling the noodles, they are served in a broth or with separate dipping soup. Soba has rich aroma and can be eaten either cold or hot. There are also soba topped with tempura or sansai (edible wild plants from the mountains).
In the downtown of Asakusa, soba was eaten since the time of Samurai era as an affordable dish. As a result, you can still find many long-established soba restaurants in Asakusa, making the city as the best spot for good soba.
Recommended Soba Restaurant “Namiki Yabusoba”
Source： flickr
“Namiki Yabusoba” is located just two minutes away from Kaminarimon in Sensoji Temple, which is the most popular sightseeing spot in Asakusa. It is a long-established representative soba restaurant in the area opened in 1913. As it is a famous restaurant that has been introduced on TV, magazines, and even cartoons, there is always a long line in front of the restaurant around noon. Their soy sauce based broth is said to have the spiciest flavor in Tokyo. Enjoy eating soba by lightly dipping into the broth.
In addition to the classic “zaru soba,” which you can fully enjoy the aroma and taste of the noodles, “tenzaru,” soba with tempura and healthy “tororo soba” are popular.
Access
Address: 2-11-9 Kaminarimon, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 111-0034
Opening hours: 11:00AM - 07:30PM
Closed on Thursday
Googlemap URL：
Recommended Soba Restaurant “Owariya”
Source：blog.livedoor
Owariya is a long-established restaurant in Asakusa with 160 years of history, which strives to use only best ingredients. This popular restaurant is always crowded with tourists and locals. One of their popular menu items, "Seasonal soba” offers seasonally flavored noodles using yuzu, shrimp, shiso and sesame according to the season. Simple Morisoba or Kakesoba served with warm soup are available at reasonable price from 600 yen. Among them, the most popular menu is Tempura soba, which is soba topped with two fresh large deep-fried shrimp in their original sesame oil.
Access
Address: 1-7-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 111-0032
Opening hours: 11:30AM – 08:30PM
Googlemap URL：
About Asakusa
History of Asakusa
Asakusa is a city that has flourished mainly around Sensoji Temple, which is a popular tourist spot. It is said the temple began when in 628, the Kannon statue was worshipped, and later in the Samurai era it has developed to a large temple, under the patronage of the government at the time.
During the time samurai were paid in rice, Asakusa was an area where the rice was kept, leading many people including samurai and merchants to gather and local culture to flourish. Local gourmet, business and theater for the common people have developed, attracting people even today as a representative tourist spot in Tokyo.
Enjoy Gourmet at Asakusa!
Asakusa offers various gourmets at long-established shops, which has long been loved by the locals. Famous ones are tendon, unaju (grilled eel on rice), soba and ramen. Among them, ramen is a popular dish that everybody loves. Recommendation is "Yoroiya," a restaurant that keeps the tradition of Tokyo ramen.
Recommended Asakusa Tour with a Guide
Magical Asakusa Tokyo Pub Crawl Tour - Night Crawl through Tokyo’s Historical Town
If you want to enjoy the Asakusa gourmet, the best way is to go for a bar hopping. Have some of the delicious local cuisines and drinks while enjoying the atmosphere of the downtown. The easiest way to do it, is to join an izakaya hopping tour that offers you a night with visits to the three best izakayas selected by the guide. Have a wonderful time enjoying delicious local food and drinks such as Monjayaki and Hoppy!