I don’t intend to write restaurant reviews, but I can’t resist the temptation of mentioning some of my favorite restaurants, so I thought I would share those memorable moments when a specific place perfectly satisfies a peculiar craving.
Fall is the season for soba in Japan, when the flour ground from freshly harvested soba (buckwheat) is most flavorful; it seems the Japanese seek out soba noodles in the fall the way Germans chase asparagus in the spring. Although I didn’t grow up with the concept of a season for flour, I’m happy to embrace the idea, and coincidentally (or perhaps not), every year when the leaves begin to change and the temperature drops I am irresistibly drawn to Sobakoh.
Sobakoh is a small restaurant in the East Village with a low key atmosphere and excellent food. The owner can often be seen making his soba in a little windowed nook between the bar and the street; the process is beautiful, and the result delicious. The bowls of soba noodles – hot or cold – are the best I’ve had, and there are other incredible dishes: appetizers such as gomaae (broccoli rabe with sesame sauce), age soba (deep fried soba with sea salt), and a memorable burdock salad that was not on the menu yesterday, but which the kitchen was kind enough to prepare nonetheless.
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309 East 5th St. (between 1st and 2nd Aves.)
New York, NY 10003
212-254-2244
Open daily, 12pm-3pm and 5.30pm-10.45pm
Tags: new york, restaurant
Nettle and Quince 
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