I am an Australian who has been lucky enough to live in Mishima and Numazu for nearly 4 years.I was given the chance to sample some of the areas first restaurants and would like to share my experiences with you. I went to only Japanese style restaurants in the hope to introduce this unique, traditional and delicious style of restaurant to people from all over the world.
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You won’t have any trouble finding the Soba Dining Den – as long as you are on the right street you will easily find the impressive and stylish deep blue building.
It is immediately obvious that this is a Japanese establishment by the attractive bamboo decorating the outside of the building.
The reception area and whole interior is beautifully done – so traditional and serene that you relax immediately upon entering.
We had excellent, friendly service right from the word go, and we were shown to a lovely private setting with the very comfortable space under the table whereby although you are sitting on the floor you can stretch your legs out as if you were sitting on a chair. The décor was a mixture of modern and traditional, and the smell of the new woodwork was divine.
We spent our evening at Soba Dining Den alternating between admiring the interior design and admiring the fantastic food laid before us.
The first course was an amazingly presented assortment that included prawns in sweet chilli sauce, coriander and celery, and warm sesame sardines that were delicious with a rich depth of flavour. We also had broad beans, squid and konyaku, as well as a slightly spicy chicken ball that was very good. There was a prawn croquette that had a firm texture and had been skilfully fried.
Second course consisted of ‘tezukuri’ or ‘home made’ tofu, which was topped with spring onion shallots and ginger. It had a firm, fresh taste and was very refreshing after a day spent in a hot, humid climate. The third course was an absolute stunner – crab shumai with a yuzu juice sauce which was strong but not overpowering. The crab flavour in the shumai was exquisite – the best shumai I have ever eaten, and it almost requires a different name as it is so much better than regular shumai.
We also enjoyed admiring the plates that the food was served on. Each plate was handmade and unique, and added to the superb presentation of everything. Everything combined made us feel lucky to be in Japan!
Our fourth course was a moist and tender grilled yellowtail fillet with a slight teriyaki flavour, accompanied by a rich grilled shiitake mushroom which was also juicy yet firm, and a delicious crispy minced vegetable ball. The balance of flavours within each dish was skilfully manipulated – we had some sweet flavours, then savoury, others refreshing. We were feeling quite satisfied after the fourth course – not just full but the feeling that we had enjoyed a very satisfying mix of delicate flavours.
The fifth course was a lovely ‘chirashi’ sushi, and again demonstrated a balance between sweet and salty. The octopus was a bit too chewy, but the tamagoyaki was excellent. It may have been because we were getting full as while it was still very enjoyable, the chirashi sushi made less of an impression than the previous courses. Unfortunately after this course we had a rather long wait and as we didn’t know if the courses had finished or not and as a result we almost drank the noodle sauce that was placed on our table thinking it was tea. After a period of time a dish each of tempura and soba noodles arrived, and they were both well-worth waiting for.
The tempura was light, crispy and was served with a choice of two salts and green tea powder. The fish in the tempura dish was absolutely excellent. The soba at first taste was al dente and a little tasteless, but it came to life once dipped into the sauce with a mixture of wasabi and spring onion. It was very mild and delicate, with a hint of soy and bonito or some other fish flavour. The soba and tempura contrasted well with each other, and was another excellent combination of taste, texture and richness.
We were surprised to be offered the hot water used for boiling the soba, which we were told to add to our dipping sauce and then drink. It actually tasted very nice indeed, like a rich broth, and I drank it all even though I was very full. In the meantime, the almost empty restaurant that we had walked into at 6.30 pm was now packed at 8.00pm and staff were turning people away at the door.Finally we enjoyed a dessert of a rich creamy vanilla icecream, served with kiwifruit and grapefruit. The soba cha tea had a slight wasabi flavour to it, and it was a nice way to finish a spectacular meal. The course we had was extremely good value, and that combined with the excellent food and service means we will be visiting again soon.
Soba Dinning Den
Address:5-14, Takazawa-cho ,Numazu
Tel:+81-55-925-4141
http://www.soba-den.com/menu/menu.html
Budget:Lunch 3,000 yen Dinner 5,000 yen
Open:11：30am～1：30pm,5：30～10：00pm
Closed:Sun.
Tim and Karen's review
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