Kagetsu-an

In a residential part of Kami-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Kagetsuan is a soba restaurant with a calm atmosphere and comfortably spaced tables. It suits everything from an everyday meal to an early-evening drink. The soba is cut on the fine side, a style diners appreciate for its clean, smooth finish alongside a sweet-and-savoury dipping sauce rich with dashi. Cold soba comes in several forms: a simple seiro, tempura seiro topped with hot shrimp and vegetable tempura, and duck seiro, whose flavour is especially full.

For lunch or dinner when you want a more substantial meal, set menus pair a rice bowl with soba. Options include a pork cutlet rice-bowl set with dashi and a sweet sauce, a tempura rice-bowl set piled with shrimp and vegetables, as well as beef-bowl and chicken-and-egg rice-bowl sets. You can choose the soba portion to suit your appetite. There are also comforting single dishes, including curry nanban, a curry rice bowl flavoured with dashi, and nabeyaki udon, a winter favourite.

For a leisurely drink, the selection of small plates makes a good companion. Choose classic ita-wasa or soba miso, fragrant chicken karaage or an assortment of tempura, with beer, chilled sake or soba shochu mixed with soba-yu. Payment at the restaurant is cash only, so it is worth bringing cash when you visit.