Soba Totto

Feisty and I are big fans of soba so when we heard that this restaurant opened on Christmas day, we were both eager to go try it out. The restaurant is located next door to Sakagura, in an area that is becoming increasingly populated with authentic Japanese restaurants. The marquee says "Yakitori Totto", it's sister restaurant. Further down, on the glass door, is a sign for Soba Totto. I thought perhaps the main floor was Yakitori Totto, with Soba Totto in the basement or on the 2nd floor. I was confused enough to ask the hostess when we walked in. It turned out we were in the right restaurant and they were borrowing the name from their West 55th street location. Since we were there early, we had a choice between sitting at the sleek bar or at a table. I chose the bar for its view of the yakitori grill and cute chef. While the restaurant specializes in soba, it has yakitori offerings as well.

Feisty and I decided to share a raw wasabi octopus appetizer to start. She got Kake Soba and I got the same with a farm fresh poached egg as our entrees. When our waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, I said Green Tea, a simple request at a Japanese restaurant. The wait staff ended up in a conference over it because they don't offer "green tea". They offer "Hoji tea", which is roasted green tea. It has a different flavor from pure green. I didn't care, I had meant green tea in a generic way. The wait staff is still a bit inexperienced and there is a slight language barrier but they do try to provide exceptional service.

The appetizer had a tartare consistency and is really meant for one person. Our entrees came a little while after. I had expected a whole poached egg atop my noodles but what I got was soba in what looked like egg drop soup. It was still very good but not what I expected. I wouldn't order it again though. The soba noodles were freshly made and it tasted like what it should. Right before our noodles came out, I remembered that I don't like hot soba. I prefer the cold version but being that we're in the middle of winter, I didn't feel cold soba was appropriate.

The prices are average. The soba entrees cost between $10-15. They offer toppings such as Japanese yam and mushrooms. I noticed that they didn't have a few my favorites such as roe, sea urchin or duck soba. I had originally thought the soba was cheap here but that's because the previously mentioned sobas that I usually get are about $5-10 more than plain soba. While the food was good and the atmosphere is nice, they didn't wow me and I probably wouldn't go back.

Feisty will have pics up on her blog. Check it out.