hikawa

We recently tried a soba shop in our neighborhood, Hikawa.

The owner is a potter, I think he makes the plates & bowls that he serves his soba in.

He renovated his work area into this restaurant himself...cool!

Lunch started off with some soba.

He doesn't serve "the same types of soba" that you'd find in most other soba shops, instead he gives his customers a chance to taste soba "au naturel".

The soba comes cold without a soup and you are encouraged to try it with different things like coarse sea salt, a soy sauce...so delicious! a little nutty in flavor with a nice chew to them.

Satoshi tried the soba nigiri set...1400 yen.

This came with a yakionigiri (grilled rice ball) wrapped with a thin soba (buckwheat) crepe. His meal also came with a piece of soba tofu and some pickles.

Satoshi said this was different but delicious.

I ordered the galette complète (literally complete galette)...1600 yen.

The owner uses all buckwheat flour in his galette unlike some other shops which start with a white flour base then add a little buckwheat flour to it. (He's checked out his competition!)

There was camembert cheese, ham, and fruits like kiwi & pear in there...sweet, salty and the crepe was crisp on the outside.

So good!

The owner also let me taste a piece of soba tofu, this was dense with lots of buckwheat flavor, nutty and a little smokey.

We were the only customers at the times, so after eating we chatted with the owner.

He was so nice that he also let us taste his thick soba noodles, these were chewy, almost like mochi.

With our meals also came a thick porridge made from the soba water.

He isn't doing the kind of soba that everyone is used to, in fact he said that some customers have left because he doesn't have tempura on his menu....their loss!

Still, he says he enjoys what he is doing...a good thing.

We'll be back.

Hikawa
1-1-17-H Iguchido
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.0159
Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday
Lunch: 11:30-15:00
Dinner*: 17:30-21:00 *by reservations the day before