TACHIKAWA CITY’S LANDMARKS: # 4 SOBA OGAWA RESTAURANT そば処小
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Looking for freshly-made buckwheat noodles for lunch or just observe how to make Japanese “soba” (noodles from buckwheat flour)? Go to Ogawa Family Restaurant located at 6-9-1 Saiwaicho, Tachikawa City (Phone #: 042-535-5025). It’s within my block — about 3 minutes walk from Tamagawajosui Station and at the back of my schoolhouse. It’s great cultural exposure and healthy meal with a very reasonable price! Great to hop & eat lunch here today.
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The first time I saw “soba-making” was at the train station in Nagano Prefecture. While waiting for my friends, I was captivated by a small eatery with glass windows. The chef in a clean white uniform was busy grinding buckwheat grains. I was awed at how fast he made the dry flour into a dough then cut them into long strips with a big knife. Quite a very impressive skill with rhythm and the cut of the well-stretched dough was in uniform length!
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The local eatery was packed with commuters and the chef & waiter moved fast in serving them with a hot or cold bowl of noodles. What a joy & excitement when I found the same Japanese traditional restaurant when I moved to Tachikawa in 2010. It’s also a good place to meet my neighbors especially the employees of the bank and students of a tennis school in my district. The shop offers delivery service and it’s a blessing to my adult student’s family as they sometimes cannot go shopping nor cook dishes.
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Like pasta, buckwheat noodles are available in dried form in grocery stores but they taste best if freshly made by hand. It’s a hands-on activity in making “soba” that it’s good for foreigners to learn and teach in their home countries.
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