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Gaijin Gourmet – Best Soba Chain in Tokyo？Yude Taro and ¥220 Draft Beer?!

2015年6月6日 / 13 Comments

Time once again for Gaijin Gourmet. Today’s episode is the definitive episode for people on a budget in Tokyo who want to eat healthy and safe food and love noodles – and draft beer for super cheap (read on!)

Today’s post is about what I think is the best soba restaurant chain in Tokyo. It is a Soba restaurant chain that is all over Tokyo and, in my expert opinion, blows away the competition when it comes to price, quality, taste and cleanliness; Yude Taro （ゆで太郎）. Yude Taro has, hands down, the best inexpensive and delicious noodles.

There are other chains that have a similar menu as Yude Taro and might be ¥10 ~ ¥30 cheaper ($0.10 ~ $0.30 USD) per dish, but they can’t touch the taste and food quality. Here I am specifically talking about the big soba chains in Tokyo: Fuji Soba and Yoshi Soba, etc., .. Folks, Yude Taro beats them all hands down.

Yude Taro Near Yoyogi JR Station

Here is the Yude Taro near Yoyogi station that I go to often. But, you can just look for this blue logo:

ゆで太郎ロゴ
Yude Taro logo

What does “Yude Taro” mean? Well, Taro is the most common boy’s name in Japan. “Yude” means “boiled.” So, “Yude Taro” means something like “Boiled John” or David or Mike….

Here’s their menu that I screen captured from their webpage:

As you can see, most bowls of soba items on the menu are under ¥500 (about $4 USD). If you want a little more, the highest priced set on the entire menu is a fried pork cutlet on rice along with a bowl of soba (top left hand corner photo) at ¥650 (about $5.42 USD). Really, I’ve eaten 1000 times at these stand up soba shops over these last three decades. Yude Taro is the best.

Meal Tickets – With photos!

And you can’t read the menu? It doesn’t really matter as you can see the pictures on the meal ticket machine at every shop.

Yude Taro displays the menu

There’s tens of thousands of these stand-up soba shops in Tokyo. They all have a glass case in front showing the main menu; but just look for the one with the blue logo. Usually, these places are in front of the big train stations and you can find a few competing chains right by each other.

Inside of Yude Taro

The Yude Taro I go to has a very large eating area and even seating enough for about 14 people. Don’t even bother going there between 12 noon to 1:00 pm or so. This particular Yude Taro can seat 14, but during the lunch time rush, I’ve been in there when there were more than 25 people eating and another 20 people standing in line. It’s OK, though, because most of the time, you can be in and out of a Yude Taro in 10 minutes so it’s a great deal for the person on the go and on a budget.

Clean Kitchen at Yude Taro

The noodles are best at all the chains here at Yude Taro because they make the noodles on the premises and then boil. Most of the other chains open a plastic pack with noodles and heat them up. As you know, there’s no way a packaged refrigerated item can beat the taste of a freshly cooked one.

This is medium sized soba with a softly boiled egg. ¥470 (about $3.91)… And, as you know, this is Japan so there is no tipping.

I eat the medium soba, ¥420 (about $3.50) with the fried veggies ¥100 (about $0.83) and grated radish ¥100 (about $0.83). I get a full stomach and the total damages are about 15 minutes at lunch and about $5.16 (USD). What a GREAT deal!

BUT WAIT! WHAT’S THIS???? DRAFT BEER FOR ¥220!???? That’s right! Yude Taro is running a summer 2015 campaign and is offering draft Sapporo Black Label draft beer for ¥220 (about $1.83 USD) a glass? That’s cheaper per drink than buying a can of beer at the convenience store! AMAZING.

Most cheaper drinking establishments charge twice that price for a draft beer!

¥220 Yen beer campaign over summer!? Wow!

Yude Taro wins the soba wars. Just look for the blue logo I have shown at the top of this article. Yude Taro is so good that I can honestly say that, if I really had to, I could eat there three meals a days. It’s that good.

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Looking for more great deals on cheap eats in Japan?:

Gaijin Gourmet: The Best Premium Salad Bar in Tokyo? – Sizzler in Setagaya robot55.jp/blog/gaijin-gourmet-the-best-premium-salad-bar-in-tokyo-sizzler-in-setagaya/

Gaijin Gourmet! Great Cheap and Delicious Soba in Gaienmae on Ginza Line! robot55.jp/blog/gaijin-gourmet-great-cheap-and-delicious-soba-in-gaienmae-on-ginza-line/

The Gaijin Gourmet: The Best Salad Bar Deal in Tokyo at Big Boy – My Favorite Rock N Roll Diner!! robot55.jp/blog/the-gaijin-gourmet-the-best-salad-bar-deal-in-tokyo-at-big-boy-my-favorite-rock-n-roll-diner/

Tokyo’s Best Cheap Sushi is in Okachimachi!? 東京の一番安くて美味しい寿司屋？御徒町にあるの？ http://robot55.jp/blog/tokyos-best-cheap-sushi-in-okachimachi/

The Gaijin Gourmet: Soba Wars At Hanzomon Station in Tokyo robot55.jp/blog/gaijin-gourmet-soba-wars-at-hanzomon-station-in-tokyo/

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Gaijin Gourmet: The Best Premium Salad Bar in Tokyo? – Sizzler in Setagaya

2015年6月1日 / 14 Comments

Looking for the best Salad Bar in Tokyo?

Well, I’ve introduced you to Big Boy, which offers an All-You-Can-Eat Salad bar for ¥590! (about $5 USD + 8% sales tax – no tips in Japan!). But my vegetarian friend, Ken says that, even though he likes Big Boy, if he goes on a date or takes his wife and kids out, they sometimes like Sizzler better.

Sizzler does have a much nicer Salad Bar with a much wider selection of fresh vegetables, but it is nearly 4 times the price of Big Boy; so it’s up to you!

I have to admit, though, when it is a special occasion or birthday, my son always says he wants to go to Sizzler… Even though he likes Big Boy too. The big sales point for him at Sizzler is the All-You-Can-Eat ice cream bar. The all you can eat Salad Bar, Soup Bar and Drink Bar at Sizzler is included in the price of the Salad Bar so that’s to be considered… Whereas, at Big Boy, they are all a separate charge.

And when you have a bunch of kids who want to eat several scoops of ice cream and chocolate (At Big Boy, one ice cream is about ¥300 (about $2.50 USD), then Sizzler does make sense if you are watching your pennies (and have kids – or dad – who eat too many sweets….)

Sizzler is about 6 minutes walk from the west exit of Sakura Shnmachi station on the Denen-Toshi line about 12 minutes from Shibuya heading towards Kanagawa. The restaurant is open from 11 am until 11 pm seven days a week. Here is their webpage (sorry Japanese only!)

The salad bar there is fantastic. The place is extremely clean and kept quite nice. The food is always fresh (I’ve been there dozens and dozens of times).

The all you can eat lunch bar includes bread, soup, drink and dessert bar. Lunch all you can eat is ¥1980 (about $16 USD + 8% sales tax – no tips in Japan!))

Dinner all you can eat is ¥2380 (about $19.18 + 8% sales tax – no tips in Japan!)

It’s the best salad bar deal I’ve ever seen in Tokyo. The food is good, I can relax, and the kids love the place. Everyone can find what they want at Sizzler in Setagaya.

Here, let me allow the photos to do the talking.

Outside view of building from 246 heading toward Shibuya. Beautiful newly reformed building. Parking for about 28 cars.

Quite spacious inside. This photo is about 1/4 of the entire restaurant so it seats a few hundred easily.

Large salad and fruits bar. Seriously, it’s huge and the size of a salad bar you’d see in the United States.

About 21 different vegetables and organic tofu seen here.

12 different mixed salads here…. Seafood salad, Waldorf salad, others…

As well as apples, white and pink grapefruit sliced, bananas, orange slices, pineapple, peaches, as well as diced onions, shredded lettuce, olives, jalapenos, mixed cheese and salsa which is for…

…the burritos you can make yourself. Taco meat and melted cheese for cheese nachos, gratin, spaghetti and curry rice are also available on the salad bar menu at no extra charge…

There is also soup bar that offers at least three types of soup daily

Of course, there are several styles of bread to choose from…

The drink bar offers everything you can think of….

And, of course, the kid’s favorite, the dessert bar. Shoe-cream, coffee cake, chocolate mousse, apple strudel, three flavors of soft cream “ice cream” and chocolate and all sort of goodies that the kids like to sprinkle on top. Beware parents! The chocolate fountain pictured is only out on weekends and weeknights after 6 pm!

The address is:

Setagaya Sizzler

Sakura Shinmachi 1 – 33 – 5

Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03 – 3705 – 4919

東京都世田谷桜新町１−３３−５

URL: webpage

Take the west exit from Sakura Shinmachi station. Turn left down Sazai-san street. When you get to the police box turn right and go up the hill. It’s a one-way street. Follow the road up and turn to your left at the end. Sizzler will be on your left. Can’t miss it.

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Looking for more great deals on cheap eats in Japan?:

Tokyo’s Best Cheap Sushi is in Okachimachi!? 東京の一番安くて美味しい寿司屋？御徒町にあるの？ http://robot55.jp/blog/tokyos-best-cheap-sushi-in-okachimachi/

The Gaijin Gourmet: Soba Wars At Hanzomon Station in Tokyo robot55.jp/blog/gaijin-gourmet-soba-wars-at-hanzomon-station-in-tokyo/

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コチラよりお気軽にお問い合わせ下さいませ♬

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Gaijin Gourmet! Great Cheap and Delicious Soba in Gaienmae on Ginza Line!

2015年5月28日 / 12 Comments

Welcome Tokyo travelers to another installment of “Gaijin Gourmet” or “Great places to eat in Tokyo for Super-Cheapskates (like me)” written and researched by me, Mike Rogers, cheap-bastard connoisseur extraordinaire and one of Japan’s top Gaijin experts on good tachi-gui (stand up and eat) soba shops.I’ve been doing these specials shows for your folks who will be traveling to Tokyo for the Tokyo Olympics and don’t want to spend $500 (USD) for a Tuna Sandwich every time you need to eat! (OK. $500 is a bit of an exaggerration… Writer’s privilege and all…)

Today, I’d like to introduce you to a shop named Shinetsu near Gaienmae Station.

This place is excellent soba for the price!

Shinetsu, interestingly, is located right next door to one of the finest (and most expensive) Italian restaurants in Tokyo: Sabatini. I thought that was funny because a fine Italian dinner with some Italian guys singing the same old 8 songs over and over right into your ear at your table as well as wine for two next door at Sabatini can easily run ¥50,000 yen! ($600 USD)

Whereas Sabatini is great for expensive Italian, so is Shinetsu for delicious cheap-assed soba! But, I reckon if you were going on an important date with that special someone or planning to do something stupid, like say, propose marriage, then Sabatini is probably a better bet. Just a guess….

Or, if you have a sense of humor, you could tell her that you are taking her “Someplace special. How about something realy special like Sabatini?” When she smiles and says, “Oh, Brad!” You know you’ve got her! (Get it? It is like Sabatini; they are both near Gaienmae station exit #3)

Bwa! Ha! Ha! If she doesn’t walk out on you when you walk into the stand up soba, then you’ve found a real keeper!

This meal with cold soba, inari sushi

and tempura topping for ¥540 and it tastes pretty delicious!

Two people can eat excellent soba and toppings freshly made on the premises for ¥1,200 (the water is free and all-you-can-drink!)

Extremely clean kitchen!

And, as usual, a spotless kitchen is a must for me and you can see into the kitchen from the counter at Shinetsu. The tempura and all toppings are made on premises and the soba is good quality for a extremely reasonable price.

Don’t bother going there right at lunch time between 12:00 noon and 1 pm on a weekday, because there will be a line and there’s no place to sit… Er, I mean, there’s never any place to sit anyway – so it’s not good for a first date – but fantastic for a quick lunch for the businessman or traveler on the run!

The place is about a 30 second walk from Gaienmae Station Exit 3.

Here’s the address:

Shinetsu Soba

Kita Aoyama 2-13-4 Tot Aoyama 1F.

東京都港区北青山2丁目13-4 ToT青山１F

Tot Aoyama Bldg. 1F

Kita Aoyama 2-13-4, Minato Ku, Tokyo

Here’s a map: http://yj.pn/bBNRd_

To get to Shinetsu Soba, take the Ginza line to Gaienmae. Exit 3. Thirty seconds walk.

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Looking for more great deals on cheap eats in Japan?

The Gaijin Gourmet: The Best Salad Bar Deal in Tokyo at Big Boy – My Favorite Rock N Roll Diner! robot55.jp/blog/the-gaijin-gourmet-the-best-salad-bar-deal-in-tokyo-at-big-boy-my-favorite-rock-n-roll-diner/

Tokyo’s Best Cheap Sushi is in Okachimachi!? 東京の一番安くて美味しい寿司屋？御徒町にあるの？ http://robot55.jp/blog/tokyos-best-cheap-sushi-in-okachimachi/

The Gaijin Gourmet: Soba Wars At Hanzomon Station in Tokyo robot55.jp/blog/gaijin-gourmet-soba-wars-at-hanzomon-station-in-tokyo/

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コチラよりお気軽にお問い合わせ下さいませ♬

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Gaijin Gourmet: Soba Wars At Hanzomon Station in Tokyo

2015年5月19日 / 12 Comments

(Photo above: Danny from the world famous Japanese band, the 50 Kaitenz, unknowingly posing with me – Mike Rogers – for the Gaijin Gourmet at Hamazushi!)

Looking for the best places to eat and dine in Tokyo and Japan before the upcoming Tokyo Olympics? Welcome to the Original Gaijin Gourmet!

Long, long ago in a land far away, Soba was made sometime during the Tokugawa period.

The ancient scrolls of the Wikipedities say:

Soba is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle (unlike thick wheat noodles, known as udon). Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup.

It takes three months for buckwheat to be ready for harvest, so it can be harvested four times a year, mainly in spring, summer, and autumn. In Japan, buckwheat is produced mainly in Hokkaido. Soba that is made with newly harvested buckwheat is called “shin-soba”. It is sweeter and more flavorful than regular soba.

In Japan, soba noodles are served in a variety of settings: they are a popular inexpensive fast food at train stations throughout Japan, but are also served by expensive specialty restaurants. Markets sell dried noodles and men-tsuyu, or instant noodle broth, to make home preparation easy. Some establishments, especially cheaper and more casual ones, may serve both soba and udon as they are often served in a similar manner.

Soba is the traditional noodle of choice for Tokyoites.

Yude Taro is my favorite Soba place in all of Tokyo. This restaurant is very inexpensive and the quality and taste of the food is unbeatable!

In many places in Tokyo the Soba Wars are in full swing. Let me introduce you to what I think are the major players at Hanzomon on the Hanzomon Line. Leave the station at exit 5 to find both of these battling warriors within sixty-seconds walk from each other.
The first one is Yude-Taro. Just across the street from exit 5 as you walk out the station. In my opinion, Yude- Taro is the Empire of the Soba Shops; it is cheap, delicious and clean; the others pale in comparison.

Yude Taro is spacious, extremely clean and has seating enough for you and a entire troop of Imperial Storm Troopers.

They have both seating as well as standing room. Don’t bother going there right at 12 pm until 1 pm on a workday, the place will be packed!

As you can see the kitchen is extremely clean.

Buy your food tickets from the machines outside. The staff who handle your food never touch money.

The trump card for Yude Taro is that the soba noodles are made on the premises. This place is cheap but just as delicious as a shop that costs twice the price. I have also read that a man who is considered an expert on Soba said in an interview that he thought Yude Taro was the “Best Soba in Japan.”

Large Zaru soba (¥320) with Wakame (seaweed) total is ¥390. That’s about $4.70

Wide menu that even includes curry rice and, of course, fried foods.

That’s the boss of this branch of Yude Taro in front of a spotless kitchen and freshly fried veggies and fish.

….. And now, to the rebel base!

The next place that isn’t quite as tasty (in my opinion) as Yude Taro is Komoro Soba (about a 45 second walk around the corner). BUT! Komoro Soba is cheaper by about ¥30 ($.50) a plate for the soba. If you are on a budget, then maybe Komoro Soba is for you. The exact same menu of Large Zaru soba with Wakame (seaweed) is ¥390 at Yude Taro (about $4.70) but at Komoro Soba it is ¥310 (about $3.90)… Now, if you are a cheap skate bastard like me, that makes a difference – ESPECIALLY when you are eating this healthy and wholesome food everyday for a week or a month!

Komoro Soba

To go to Komoro Soba, you need to walk out of the station and turn left (and left again at the corner) instead of walking across the street to Yude Taro)

The soba alone is ¥290 at Komoro Soba (about $3.68) while it is ¥360 (about $4.60) at Yude Taro. Yude Taro tastes a bit better (of course, their noodles are made on premises, but it depends on your pocketbook if it is worth it or not. And, unless you’ve eaten soba a lot, you might not be able to tell the difference!)

Komoro Soba is also extremely clean with plenty of seating.

Kitchen is spotless too (I love Japanese restaurants!) Here is a photo of a clone making soba.

As usual, the machines sell the goods and so these are not the droids you are looking for (unless, of course, you want a great meal for a great price!)

Map of the galaxy (Hanzomon)…. Go and seek.

There is no try. There is only do or not do.

Do try these great places to eat. May the force be with you!

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Looking for the best sushi in Tokyo?:

Tokyo’s Best Cheap Sushi is in Okachimachi!? 東京の一番安くて美味しい寿司屋？御徒町にあるの？ http://robot55.jp/blog/tokyos-best-cheap-sushi-in-okachimachi/

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コチラよりお気軽にお問い合わせ下さいませ♬

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