Tokyo Jizake Strolling: “Heigsoba Katsura” serves Niigata specialty soba dish “Hegisoba” in Tokyo
By Ryuji Takahashi
Buckwheat Noodle Restaurant “Hegisoba Katsura” is located near the Shin-Nakano subway station on the Marunouchi Line along the Oume Kaidou Highway, running east and west of Tokyo. “Hegisoba” is a buckwheat noodle (soba) dish, a local favorite in Niigata prefecture and a specialty of the Echigo region, characteristic for using Funori seaweed instead of flour. The chewy soba noodles are renowned for their flavor and go down smoothly. “Hegisoba Katsura” serves this traditional specialty dish of the Echigo region in Tokyo. Owner Michio Katsura trained to prepare Hegisoba in a renowned restaurant in Niigata prefecture before opening his community-based restaurant Katsuraya in 2019.
Menu selections besides soba noodles include other specialties of Niigata prefecture, such as “Fried Tofu from Tochio” and “Nuka Iwashi” (Sardines Marinated in Rice Bran with Plenty of Salt). Despite its location in Tokyo, Hegisoba Katsura serves only Niigata sake selections. Tempura is delicious as expected of a soba noodle restaurant, in addition to fresh and delicious fish selections such as sashimi, rarely served in a soba noodle restaurant in the city. Business hours are from 11:00 to 22:30, open between lunch and dinner without closing in between, also rare but welcome news to sake fans.
My impression is that workers employed near the restaurant come in during peak lunch hours, followed by mothers in the neighborhood, retirees who enjoy a drink in the afternoon, then businessmen who stop in after work. Owner Michio Katsura’s experience managing various restaurants is instrumental in creating this wonderful restaurant, popular among soba noodle fans and sake fans alike.
The restaurant’s monthly event – Full course with monthly sake selections from different sake breweries - is popular among regulars, Hegisoba fans, and sake fans alike. The sake brewery of the day introduces their sake and converse with guests enjoying a full course meal of soba noodles as the main dish with sake. The menu selections served at Katsuraya complement sake, with most guests getting tipsy on a full stomach. The 2-hour event stretches into 3 hours each time.
Sake brewery staff and guests who long enjoyed Hegisoba are not always familiar with how soba noodles are prepared. Many guests marveled that they never enjoyed such delicious Hegisoba, even in Niigata prefecture. The gourmet website “Hitosara” also ranked Hegisoba Katsura as the Number 1 soba noodle restaurant in Tokyo in 2023. With such delicious Hegisoba readily available in Tokyo, Hegisoba might be a welcome choice of toshikoshi soba (soba noodle dish traditionally enjoyed on New Year’s Eve) to ring in the new year?
Buckwheat Noodle Restaurant “Hegisoba Katsura” is located near the Shin-Nakano subway station on the Marunouchi Line along the Oume Kaidou Highway, running east and west of Tokyo. “Hegisoba” is a buckwheat noodle (soba) dish, a local favorite in Niigata prefecture and a specialty of the Echigo region, characteristic for using Funori seaweed instead of flour. The chewy soba noodles are renowned for their flavor and go down smoothly. “Hegisoba Katsura” serves this traditional specialty dish of the Echigo region in Tokyo. Owner Michio Katsura trained to prepare Hegisoba in a renowned restaurant in Niigata prefecture before opening his community-based restaurant Katsuraya in 2019.
Menu selections besides soba noodles include other specialties of Niigata prefecture, such as “Fried Tofu from Tochio” and “Nuka Iwashi” (Sardines Marinated in Rice Bran with Plenty of Salt). Despite its location in Tokyo, Hegisoba Katsura serves only Niigata sake selections. Tempura is delicious as expected of a soba noodle restaurant, in addition to fresh and delicious fish selections such as sashimi, rarely served in a soba noodle restaurant in the city. Business hours are from 11:00 to 22:30, open between lunch and dinner without closing in between, also rare but welcome news to sake fans.
My impression is that workers employed near the restaurant come in during peak lunch hours, followed by mothers in the neighborhood, retirees who enjoy a drink in the afternoon, then businessmen who stop in after work. Owner Michio Katsura’s experience managing various restaurants is instrumental in creating this wonderful restaurant, popular among soba noodle fans and sake fans alike.
The restaurant’s monthly event – Full course with monthly sake selections from different sake breweries - is popular among regulars, Hegisoba fans, and sake fans alike. The sake brewery of the day introduces their sake and converse with guests enjoying a full course meal of soba noodles as the main dish with sake. The menu selections served at Katsuraya complement sake, with most guests getting tipsy on a full stomach. The 2-hour event stretches into 3 hours each time.
Sake brewery staff and guests who long enjoyed Hegisoba are not always familiar with how soba noodles are prepared. Many guests marveled that they never enjoyed such delicious Hegisoba, even in Niigata prefecture. The gourmet website “Hitosara” also ranked Hegisoba Katsura as the Number 1 soba noodle restaurant in Tokyo in 2023. With such delicious Hegisoba readily available in Tokyo, Hegisoba might be a welcome choice of toshikoshi soba (soba noodle dish traditionally enjoyed on New Year’s Eve) to ring in the new year?
東京地酒散歩（東京でへぎそば）
東京を東西に走る青梅街道沿い丸の内線の新中野駅傍に「越後へぎそば桂屋」がある。新潟では一般的に親しまれているこの「へぎそば」だが、正式には越後地方の名産で、小麦粉を使用せず布海苔（ふのり）と呼ばれる海藻をつなぎに使用するのが特徴である。喉越しが良くコシが有り、風味の良さが売りの蕎麦である。そんな越後地方伝統のへぎそばを東京で食べられるのが「越後へぎそば桂屋」である。店主の桂 三智夫氏は新潟の有名店でへぎそばを修行し東京に２０１９年、地元密着型の桂屋をオープンさせた。「栃尾の油揚げ」や「ぬかいわし」など蕎麦以外の料理も新潟にこだわり、日本酒ラインナップも新潟の酒だけと東京にいながら新潟を堪能出来る店だ。もちろん蕎麦屋なので天麩羅も美味いし、街の蕎麦やとしては珍しいが鮮魚の刺身も美味い。営業時間も酒呑みとしては嬉しいアイドルタイム休憩が無く、午前11時に開店してから午後10時30分まで、これまた町の蕎麦屋としては珍しい通し営業なのである。私の感覚では昼のピークタイムはお店の近くで働いている方々が来店し、それが落ち着くと近所のママさん達が集まり、夕方からは近くのご隠居さんが呑み始め、次第に仕事終わりのサラリーマンが呑みに来るといった感じである。店主の桂 三智夫氏は多数の飲食店の立ち上げや統括を経験していることから、この素晴らしい蕎麦好きにも酒好きにも愛される店を作れたのだろうと思う。そして、常連様やへぎそば愛好家や日本酒愛好家を喜ばせているイベントが、月に一回行われるお店のフルコースと月替わりの酒蔵の日本酒が飲み放題の酒蔵イベントである。その日は酒蔵の蔵元が酒の説明をしながら、参加者皆で語らいながら酒と蕎麦をメインとしたフルコースを楽しむことが出来る。桂屋の料理で酒が進まない訳がないので、皆酔っ払い、腹いっぱいになって、本来２時間くらいを予定しているイベントが３時間になるのは毎回のことである。参加者だけでなく、新潟の蔵元達もへぎそばを昔から食べているが、どのように蕎麦が打たれているかなどは知らなかったし、新潟でもここまで美味いへぎそばは食べたことがないと皆口を揃えて言うのである。グルメサイトの「ヒトサラ」でも２０２３年の東京の蕎麦屋で１位になった名店である。それほど美味いへぎそばが東京にあるのだから、いつもと違い、年越しそばはへぎそばという選択肢も今年は有りではないだろうか。
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