I went back to Soba Ichi after a four-year gap with very high expectations based on my last meal there. Unfortunately, I found the meal to be good, but not nearly as good as I remembered.
Herring simmered in sweet soy sauce with green onion and shiso: This was pretty tasty, lacking any strong fishiness, and having been simmered long enough for the small bones to become edible. The meat was soft, and I wished I had some salt or vinegar to brighten the flavor.
Tempura Soba: On the one hand, the tempura was fried very well, lacking greasiness and showing off lots of craggy cruchiness. The set came with shrimp, shishito, and either maitake or oyster mushroom tempura. The shrimp tempura was plump, meaty, and juicy. I found the shishito pepper to have far more seeds than I was used to, and having my mouth so full of seeds almost completely distracted me from the flavor and texture of the pepper. The mushroom tempura, which, granted, is very tough to make, still contained nearly-wet tempura batter between the multiple caps of the mushroom, which was not very enjoyable. All of the tempura seemed to be unsalted, and the small amount of matcha salt served with it was difficult to apply.
Hot Soba in broth: I found the broth to be severely lacking in salt, and when I added the shichimi, the main flavor that came through was pepper. The noodles themselves were cut thick and quite chewy, which I didn’t expect for soba. Unfortunately, little to no buckwheat flavor (or any flavor, really) came through, and the textural experience was not enough to make up for the lack of taste.
I really wish that this had been better, and I’m not sure that I’ll be going back. That said, I saw an instagram (?) post about revamping their menu, so maybe things will change.
