Ishimame Soba — Restaurant in Makkari

❄️ Winter Soba 💯❄️

Deep in the snow covered fields of Rusutsu, far from city life, Ishimame Soba is one of the highest rated (top 3) restaurants in the Hokkaido ski region and a notable (to me) soba restaurant even among the many throughout Japan (top 75)

It is not as internationally acclaimed or formal as Niseko’s Raku Ichi Soba from the summer but the experience was just as memorable

A 25 minute drive may seem like a stone’s throw distance but with partially paved roads, snowy conditions and on a pre-Xmas weekday, who knew whether the outing would even be fruitful

We passed by a 7-Eleven on the way and briefly thought about abandoning our quest, but we decided to proceed until Google Maps directed us to a snow filled 120° sharp turn that looked like it went nowhere

As we completed the sharp turn, a small building appeared with one car in a snow filled parking lot. Ishimame is self-described as a house restaurant with beautiful views

Ishimame was open! Inside a Japanese elderly couple were finishing their meal as the proprietress welcomed us in

It is a Japanese only affair with no English menus, no pictures to point to, and almost zero English spoken

Luckily, my Duolingo lessons paid off (and Google Translate camera for written words!) as I was able to order and ask for water

The order we chose was the dipping soba noodles served with a hot broth cooked with chicken. The proprietress recommended we enjoy half the broth and then add the minced ginger

The soba tasted divine with the ginger changing the flavor completely. Noodle texture clearly differentiated soba spots amongst each other

We paid our bill (cash only) and set on our way back, our adventure complete. As we left, a second couple arrived and we smiled knowing they were in for a treat

A holiday weekday. A handful of customers. Most places would have closed. Ishimame would turn out to be closed the next 3 days, opening only Friday to Monday weekly. It was indeed a lucky day

Tabelog 3.73 Google Reviews 4.4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📷 ¥1100 ~ Dipping Soba served with minced Ginger and Hot Broth with Chicken

📍Ishimame (Rusutsu,...

The handmade soba noodles were absolutely delicious. I was deeply moved, realizing that this is what authentic buckwheat soba truly tastes like. We had the Hanamatsu soba, and the broth had an incredibly rich and deep flavor. It’s a small shop, and although there was a bit of a wait, it’s completely understandable since it's run by just two people. We happened to visit on our special anniversary, and it made us so happy. We would love to come back...

★予約不可、開店前に並びましょう★ ★店前の車が少なくても、呼出ベルを受け取って外出の可能性あります★ ★現金オンリー★ 開店前に到着したところ、車で並んだ順に1組ずつご案内すると記載がありました。なお、4組しか入店出来ないため、開店すると呼び出しベルを手渡され、何人前食べるか聞かれます(量は普通のお蕎麦屋さんより気持ち多めで2人で3人前だとお腹いっぱいになります)。おおよその時間を聞いて、近場で買い物巡りしたあと駐車場で待つのがよいと思います。土曜日にうかがいましたが、最近は11:15着で15番目。待ち時間は2時間(以前は11:45頃の到着で12番目くらい。実際に食事できたのは13:00頃だったと思います。日曜日に行った時は開店10分くらい前で9番目、1時間ちょい待ちでした…が、最近はこれだと間に合わないと思ったほうがよいです。並んでる間の13時以降に来店される方がいましたが、かなり無理ゲーと思った方がよいかと💦 (はじめてGWに行きましたが、10:30到着で6組目。オープン時間の11:30には完売でした。車が少ないからといって入れるとは限りません) 1日の提供数は40食ほどとのことですので、行列＆待ち覚悟で行くべきお店ですが、並ぶ価値ありですよ！！

とにかく美味しい···食べるなら、絶対冷たいお蕎麦です。 鶏ごぼうと山葵おろしそば(夏限定)を頼みました。 鶏ごぼうは熱々のつけ汁の中にふっくらやわらかな鶏肉と細切りごぼうが入ってて、そばをつけていただきました。半分食べてから味変用に(？)すりおろししょうがが薬味として用意されてましたが、すごく合う！ 個人的には、しょうが入れた後のビリっとしたつけ汁がめっちゃ好き✨ 夏限定の山葵おろしは辛味がそばにあうし、夏にピッタリ。 そばを食べたらそばの香りがして、つぶつぶして見えるのにザラつかず、のどごしいいし、ほんっとに美味しかったです。 蕎麦つゆは甘すぎないので、かなり好き系です。 とろろそばと限定5食のそばがき食べることができました！...