かぞくキッチン 手打ちそば 楽 — Restaurant in Fujikawaguchiko

Such a gem! They just opened in April 2025. It's nestled off of busy streets and has enough free parking outside of the restaurant. We were welcomed by two chefs. The ocha (tea water) was so refreshing! Inside has tadami floors. We ordered seafood tempura, tororo soba, and mushroom soba.

Seafood tempura: the amount of tempura is very generous. The tempura was fried after we put in the order so it was very fresh and crisp. We could tell that the chef used good and clean oil. It is served with matcha salt. We've never tried tempura with matcha salt but it went well with the tempura. There is also miso-chilli oil (I think?) paste on the table and that went well with the fish tempura. Tempura is definitely a must-try!!

Soba: noodles were cooked to aldente and were served with tofu/mushroom side dish and salad. As for tororo soba, the chef grated nagaimo and filled a rice bowl with freshly grated nagaimo. As for mushroom soba, there were different types of mushrooms that were fresh and juicy. Both soba dishes were delicious!

The chefs served us soba water and soba mochi as dessert. The chefs were so friendly and we very much appreciate their hospitality!

Oh they take credit card. We will be back if we are in the...

AMAZING! Do not miss the chance to eat at this place. The food was some of the best we had in Japan, and we ate at some incredible places. And the hospitality is everything you’d expect and more.

We walked here on a Saturday afternoon while strolling around the lake. The place is indeed small but there was only one other couple. We were welcomed so warmly and thanks to google translate there was no language barrier. We ordered the Autumn special of tempura, soba and rice. The mitake tempura was so light and crisp and the flavor combined with matcha salt was wonderful. The soba was perfectly comforting. As someone who doesn’t eat meat I was so excited to finally have soba with a non-meat broth (it’s made with kelp and bonito flakes so still no go for vegan/vegetarian but everything else on my plate was). Coupled with iced brown rice tea and some sake, this meal was enriching to the body and the soul. My only regret is that we only found this place on our last day in the area and couldn’t do a repeat visit.

As a side note, this place is a 8min walk to the 7c vineyard tasting room so you can have some nice local wine...

Grated yam over hot soba soup, paired with a special local ingredient from Yamanashi (totally forgot the name 😆) sooooo smooth and comforting. The nice chef customarily made the egg perfectly half cooked for me ❤️

The dessert was on the house! A Yamanashi based buckwheat sweet with a light and soft texture, very delicious. The veggie tempura… absolutely crispy, not greasy at all, with leafy bits like delicate chips paired with matcha salt, and the pumpkin was creamy and soft 🎃

The chef and staff were so kind too, even kindly translated for me the right way to enjoy soba noodles and buckwheat tea. It really maximized the Japanese food experience… very shokunin spirit 🌿

On the way back to my stay, one of the staff (I think?) saw me walking and kindly offered me a ride. I was a bit shy about it but sooo Yamanashi warmth 🥹

#YamanashiEats #SobaLove #TempuraHeaven #ShokuninSpirit #JapaneseHospitality #FoodieInJapan...