01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
Along the street running from Koishikawa Botanical Garden toward Myogadani in Hakusan 3-chome, Bunkyo Ward, Saito-an preserves the unassuming air of a Showa-era neighborhood eatery. Its easygoing ambiance makes it an inviting destination to drop in for a quick, comforting meal of slender soba noodles that lift smoothly with chopsticks.
For a hearty midday meal, the combination sets pairing soba with a mini donburi rice bowl are an especially reliable pick. Alongside the mini katsu-don set featuring thick breaded pork cutlet paired with chilled mori or hot kake soba, the compact bowls span mini ebi katsu-don (shrimp cutlet), mini gyudon (beef bowl), richly flavored mini niku miso-don (minced meat with savory miso), and an old-fashioned mini curry. Guests can also match their rice bowl with their choice of noodle style, such as mori, zaru, or broth topped with crunchy tenkasu flakes in tanuki.
The standalone noodle lineup is just as extensive, catering to daily appetites with freshly fried tempura soba, cold tenzaru, kamo nanban with duck and scallions, hearty kenchin broth loaded with root vegetables, and bubbling nabeyaki udon for colder days. Lingering after your meal to pour hot sobayu into the remaining dipping broth rounds out the savory flavors, making the shop a comfortable pause for solo diners and neighborhood walkers alike.
