In the trendy Ebisu neighborhood of Tokyo lies a famous soba noodle restaurant called Shodai (初代) that specializes in some pretty unique dishes. On a cold night in December, I decided to try it and thus discovered my favorite dish: Sweet Potato Cream Soba. Though sweet potato cream may seem like an unlikely soba topping, the cream actually adds a lot of delicious flavor and texture to the broth. You can’t even really taste the potato–it truly just tastes like a light fluffy whipped topping, but isn’t even that sweet. When it melts in the broth to coat the thick soba noodles, it truly creates an exquisite taste! Some cheap soba broths aren’t that tasty, but this is definitely one you want to try!
Whenever I walk outside this restaurant, it is usually very crowded so it is recommended to make a reservation in advance. However, if you are by yourself then it may be possible to walk in and find available seating without reservation. There are many soba and traditional Japanese dishes available for you to order, as well as sake!
So far Shodai is the only restaurant where I have seen this dish available, but is likely there are more soba restaurants that use similar culinary techniques! I hope to try them out in the future.
Whaaaaat? This looks interesting. I wonder if I can try making a version of this at home…
Right!? You should be able too, the topping is as light as air! Maybe getting the right texture will be challenging, but I have seen this used in cooking before so I’m sure you can do it!!
How do i go there? Which metro station to alight?
First you go to Ebisu Station (one stop from Shibuya), then go to this address:
初代
〒150-0022 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Ebisuminami, 1 Chome−1−10 サウスコラム小林
Enjoy!