I still love the soba, and now I'm bordering on obsessed. I tried to make my own, and I tried to love it somewhere else, but there's nothing like the toasty buckwheat texture after a cold dip in mirin and soy.
It's hard to try new things when the soba is all I want and need, but now they have summer specials, and the game has changed. The Scallops Rice Bowl is as it sounds. Fresh slices of sweet sea scallops, in a circular array over a bed of vinegar rice. There's a pile of ikura in the middle to contrast the scallops with a briny salt.
The combo comes with a mat of their buckwheat soba, the paragon of all Soba, which I like best in zaru style; cold and dipped in a soy-and-mirin mix. The side of Mochi Tempura is a luxury, a glutinous mouthful of soft mochi ringed by tempura crisp.
The Unagi Bowl is another combo contender, The eel is a melting cushion, disappearing by the mouthful as its sauces seep into the rice below.
Noodles are more common than sand in the South Bay, but Ichimi-An stands alone. Few can contend with their soba, and I've heard volumes about their udon as well. There are so many other places to go and many new bowls to try, but I rarely stray from Ichimi-An. I doubt I'd find better soba anywhere, even in Japan, so I'll stick to sticking with Ichimi-An.
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