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A review of one dish at three different Bay Area restaurants By Ji Hyun Lim

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image courtesy of www.caterplanasia.com

Cold Soba Noodles

Cold Buckwheat noodles are served with dipping sauce. The sauce is a light, sweet soy-based sauce with a side of wasabe and minced green onions. The cold soba is garnished with minced, dry seaweed. The cold soba can also be served with tempura or salmon roe among other variations.

• Good: Isuzu Japanese Seafood Restaurant
• Better: Mikaku Restaurant
• Best: Hotei — Japanese Noodle Cuisine

“A bite at the mall”

If you’re in J-town and strolling around the mall working up an appetite, check out Isuzu for a quick bite.

Upon entering the restaurant, you’d expect soothing Japanese music, but you’re bombarded with competing western tunes that blare from the adjoining bar. Paper lamps and burgundy carpet gives that east meets west confusion.

One good thing — they provide complimentary edamame. Minutes after ordering, the soba arrives cold — the way it’s supposed to be. It is served in a lacquered dish and placed over a bamboo mat. The cup that holds the dipping sauce is a bit small. It’s like trying to dip noodles in a small teacup.

The noodles are evenly cooked but the secret is the dipping sauce mixed with wasabe. Soba is light and healthy enough to eat mid-afternoon or as a meal.

“Downtown grazing”

Head to Mikaku after a hard day of work downtown. You’ll probably be in the company of Japanese businessmen who patronize the establishment regularly. The 6 o’clock news blares on a 19” television, providing an in-your-face urban reality. A large painting of a mask that hangs over the back wall is frightening yet quirky. This restaurant shows that good food can be appreciated amidst the chaos and dangers of the city life.

The small restaurant holds 45 people. A tiny cup of water is constantly re-filled by the waiter. The food arrives within ten minutes.

The soba is placed in a round lacer dish. The noodles are more on the chewy side — my personal preference. The seaweed garnish has a distinct flavor, a cut above the others. The sauce is a bit on the sweet side. Add more wasabe, but with caution. It clears the sinuses and makes your eyes water. The great food will divert your attention from the slightly disturbing environment.

“I forgot my bib.”

This medium-sized restaurant has pleasant mood lighting, but the tables are cramped. The hanging ornaments look like artistic renditions of metallic squash. Wood beams, bamboo, rice paper motifs and a small articial waterfall provides a Zen-like experience — if you can tune out the conversations around your table.

After you are seated promptly, the waitress serves hot, hot tea. So hot, you can’t even lift the ceramic cup. After the cup cools off, the tea is invariably lukewarm. They also serve a complimentary green salad.

The presentation of the soba is artistic and delicate. All the lacquer dishes match. In a large rectangular serving dish, a medium serving of soba is placed on the right side with a side of dip and the wasabe and green onions. The noodles are moist and the dipping sauce is light, but could use a punch.

Don’t even think about sharing this dish with your date. In contrast to its delicate presentation, it splatters everywhere as you try to slurp it up. If you’re not careful, it can ruin the nicest clothes, so don’t forget to bring your bib.

Reach Ji Hyun Lim at jlim@asianweek.com.