Sankyu, Jiyugaoka: The Soba Shop with a Line Before Opening

I had lunch at Sankyu, a popular soba (buckwheat noodle) shop in Jiyugaoka.

Jiyugaoka is famous as a sweets town, packed with stylish cafés and dessert shops.

But the Japanese food here holds its own, too!

There are unagi (eel) restaurants and sushi places as well.

And this soba shop, Sankyu, is just as popular.

The name is read "Sankyu," which is a play on "thank you" in English. So cute.

It was a weekday and a scorching 33°C day. I got there 15 minutes before opening and was surprised to find more than 10 people already waiting (lol).

Still, I made it in with the first seating!

The shop is decorated with lots of little Japanese touches like wind chimes and paper fans, and it's adorable.

I ordered the lunch set.

It comes with a small serving of soba, two pieces of inari (sweet fried tofu pouches with rice), sesame tofu, a sesame-dressed salad of sweet potato and bitter melon, zunda shiratama (rice dumplings in sweet edamame paste), and a tempura of chikuwa (fish cake) and okra, all for just ¥1,100!

The sesame tofu is made in-house, and the recipe was apparently taught by a monk at Kenchoji Temple in Kamakura.

The buckwheat is grown for the shop by contract farmers in Yamagata.

You can also switch to darker, rustic inaka soba, which includes the hull of the buckwheat.

I thought the small serving might not be enough, so I upgraded to a large, and I ended up really full (lol).

The noodles are a little wide, with a satisfying chew and plenty of buckwheat flavor.

Cafés are great, but soba is a hidden gem here too!
Do give it a try 🙂

Sankyu
1-7-3 Jiyugaoka, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-0035 (Jiyugaoka Daiichi Mansion)
11:30–14:00, 18:00–22:00
Closed Tuesdays
03-5701-1180