No.7 Ekisoba

About Japanese businessmen’s favorite snacks

One of the foods that Japanese people, especially men, who work hard in the city frequently eat is “ekisoba”. Ekisoba is soba noodle served at small restaurants that offer soba and udon at the railway stations. Sometimes it refers to the restaurant itself. In general, it is often called “standing eating soba”. Originally, noodles were served near the station during the stop time of long-distance trains and the waiting time for transit. Eventually, commuters came to eat simple breakfast or lunch of ekisoba at urban stations.

Don’t ridicule ekisoba, it’s quite delicious. At the ekisoba cafeteria, you first buy a voucher at a vending machine near the entrance. Of course, you decide what to buy (or eat) at that time. What they sell is basically soba or udon. Here are the basic menus. If there is nothing in soba or udon, it is called kake soba or kake udon. Other optional toppings are raw eggs or kakiage, mixture of vegetables and other ingredients fried in batter, for instance. Soba or udon with kakiage or other tempura on it is called simply tempura soba or tempura udon.And soba or udon with raw egg topped is called tsukimi soba, or tsukimi udon. Tsukimi means moon viewing.

With the ticket, find where the counter is open and push in your body to secure a place. And, of course, put the ticket on the counter. The clerk places a glass of water in front of you and takes the ticket. (In some cases, there is a basket with several cups on the counter, and you can take it yourself and put water in it from a water dispenser also at the counter.)

Mr. Otsuka, my senior at work and a long-time friend, is known to his coworkers as a soba connoisseur who has a lot to say about soba. When I asked him which soba restaurant is good, he told me about some famous long-established soba restaurants. He himself seems to visit those restaurants often. One day, I decided to go to a soba restaurant with Mr. Otsuka after work. He guided me to a soba restaurant in the town with a magnificent structure that gave off a sense of history. When we entered the restaurant and sat down at a table, he ordered hot sake and tatami sardines for two. After chatting for about an hour with the tatami sardines as a snack, I thought he was finally going to order soba, but he picked up the bill, stood up, and paid at the register. He then said, “I’ll pay here.” I asked him, “Oh, you’re not going to eat soba?” and Mr. Otsuka silently grinned and left the restaurant, heading toward the station. I followed him, wondering if there was a good soba restaurant on the way, but there was none, and we arrived at the station. When I asked, “Are we going to take the train again from here to eat soba?” Mr. Otsuka grinned again and pointed to the line of people next to the station building. It was a soba restaurant run by a family that had been running for three generations, and had been featured on TV the other day. Mr. Otsuka said, “The freshly made soba here with all-you-can-eat green onions is pretty tasty. The soba at the previous restaurant is also tasty, but it’s about five times as expensive. You have to pay for it yourself here.” Hmm, I see. Anyway, let’s enjoy some warm soba at ease.