One thing about my eldest sister, she is a total, absolute, complete gourmet person. Since she was little, she always cooked up great dishes, from meal to sweets, and she still does that today. So, she knows good food, I mean, REALLY good food.
She took me to one of her favorite Soba noodle place, Komai, which I was so excited to go, I knew that no matter what, I was in for an awesome food experience with her! Soba is made with buckwheat flour, has a bit of nutty flavor. I really enjoy soba, it is great all-year-round, hot and cold. So, back to Komai. It is a small space, probably family owned and operated, one of those mom-and-pop eatery. It is located away from the main road, off to the quiet alley, you won’t find it easily unless you know where it is already. Inside, there is one 4-people-seating table, two 2-people-seating tables, and counter seats with 2 chairs. There are some loyal local customers, such as elderly couples from neighborhood.
Their menu is mainly consists of soba, as their specialty is soba. My sister talked about how delicious their soba is, so of course we ordered their soba items. First one was Cold Soba with Mini Tempura Donburi (1,030 yen, roughly $10). The tempura donburi came with a large shrimp tempura and a huge eggplant tempura. They were lightly fried, not greasy, very crunchy outside, but very plump and juicy inside. Very well done! It had a tasty sauce on it, which drizzled over the rice that was beneath the tempuras. The soba was of course super amzing! Firm texture, great flavor, simple but yet deep.
Next one was Cold Soba with Mini Tororo Donuri (880 yen). Tororo is grated Japanese yam, have a very particular slimy texture, but refreshing and tasty. It is placed on top of rice, and you add either soy sauce of soba dipping sauce, and mix it all together. It was so fresh, so awesome! Again, the soba was great, it was plump, firm, tasty. Everything was high quality here.
And the hot tea here is of course soba tea. It has a distinct flavor, a bit different from your regular green tea. It of course goes perfectly with any soba dish!
The portion might be a bit small for men, but you can always get larger size of soba noodle for additional cost. The service was really great; very friendly, polite and welcoming. It helps that it is such a small restaurant where you can always get good service even if it gets completely packed. I can see that they value their customers, and they take value in their food. They already remember my sister as one of the loyal returning customers, since she has been going there more than several times this year. It is always nice to get a special greeting with a big smile when you enter a restaurant because they recognize you (and they are really nice and friendly to begin with). So, next time you are in Shinagawa, you should definitely head over to Komai and have some soba dish, you will not be disappointed!
Komai – 6-6-8 Togoshi, Shinagawa, Tokyo 142-0041, Japan
こま井 – 東京都 品川区 戸越 6-6-8