Aburasoba Nekomata — Restaurant in Kyoto

I should start by saying that my wife and I just decided to get a ramen brunch at 10:30 on a Sunday morning and lo and behold, there's a place open and only a few minutes walk from our hotel.

It's a small place, cat themed obviously given the name, and simply laid out. We ordered and paid at the counter, the bowls of ramen are delivered to your table and you're supposed to bring the bowls back to the counter after you're done.

We both got a large bowl (1000 yen; small bowl is 900) of soup ramen. The stock seems to be shoyu and mackerel so quite tasty and the ramen itself is the thin type, very much like Chinese noodles. Unfortunately also with the alkaline taste from making the noodles. If you don't mind it then it's fine, but with the clear soup, the alkaline taste is evident. The char shou is thinly sliced and fatty so gives some additional richness to the broth.

Overall, I don't mind eating there but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there (unless it's another Sunday morning and nothing else is open again). I give it 4 stars for the availability though it's probably closer to 3 stars...

I've only had aburasoba once before where it was called mazesoba and didn't realize it was the same thing. It seems to be an uncommon type of noodle dish (a travel pamphlet for noodles wrote that Nekomata was the first of its kind in Kyoto, opened in 2013) but I think it's becoming my favorite - I liked this more than any ramen/udon/soba I've been to so far. I think the noodles are a type of chewy ramen and the toppings were standard ramen toppings (chashu and bamboo), but it's a dry noodle dish with flavorful oil instead of broth. The chicken karaage was also unique (with a thin crispy exterior rather than the usual thicker batter) and excellent. Everything is also very well priced and a meal for 2 with noodles + gyoza + karaage + a drink came out to...

Perfectly cooked soba, a Kyoto hidden gem!!!💎 only $3300 yen for my partner and myself and we both ordered larges!

I ordered a bottle of Coke, miso, and a large spicy soba and it was AMAZING. 🔥 This soba has the perfect balance of heat and savory flavor. I highly recommend this place and reservations were not required. (We were even here during a Japanese holiday weekend)

This place was away from the crowded areas of Kyoto but still close to the shrines and shopping area. The owners and employees were accommodating and helpful. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and energy. Rub don’t walk to this soba joint if...