Sobaya — Restaurant in New York

Noodle bowls come in 3 sizes - 100, 150, 200; 150g is good size for a regular meal and ends up $10-15 depending on what you get, and there are more toppings for add-on price. You can choose between hot or cold varieties. You can also choose between soba or udon.

Food: Tofu App: Nametake Yakko - two cubes of fairly soft tofu, topped with grated ginger on one and bonito flakes on the other, with scallion and small round mushroom heads on the side; It was okay - a bit plain, but tastes better with a little soy sauce. Soba - hot with kitsune, spinach and fish cake. I though broth was a bit too sweet, perhaps from the kitsune. Otherwise it had a slight sour taste (from sake?) for the fried tempura version of the soup. Noodles were fine. Udon - I tried a long time ago and remember it being pretty good

The lunch box special is pricey overall $21, but a good deal for this place, and for what you get. Everything is preset, you only choose your noodle and hot or cold. I'd come back for the lunch. -- The cube of of rice with tamago, roe and sesame, nice to look at but a bit annoying to eat, flavors were fine, but a bit bland -- Salmon was tender and not dry; salmon is not hot, so I guess pre-prepared since they only have 25 lunch boxes a day -- salad (had some soft tofu cubes on it too) were good, but dressing a bit more on the oily side than I'd prefer -- the veggy box was quite tasty -- a couple of shrimp, and a shisito tempura both were good -- Cold soba done well, slightly al dente; hot water given towards the end to go with the soba dipping sauce -- a small cup of almond pudding with jammed strawberry on top

They also have a lunch set which is choose a rice dish (small size) and a choice of soba or udon. -- oyako don - chicken was tender but not as moist as I've had at some other places.

Service: Quick and polite

They had some interesting looking desserts which I would go back...

An amazing experience. I went early (around 6), so there was still plenty of room for everyone. The atmosphere is cozy, with this plain, simple wooden atmosphere and dimmer shade of light. Service was friendly, props to the attentive waiter and waitress who served me and never left my glass of water empty (always a tell for me whether service is genuinely good or not since I drink a lot). I ordered the Ika Meshi, squid with sticky rice in the middle. Amazing. Flavorful, tender with just a bit of chew squid and soft, tasty rice in the middle. It came out rather quickly and I was starving that day, so they sure are able to push their food quickly.

Then, I had the cold soba with duck (name eluding me right now) and it was delicious. A flavorful, savory broth with pieces of duck and these perfectly made noodles on the side. I dipped and drank, warming my stomach and entering this flavor explosion. The broth had yuzu peels, spring onions, more duck than I expected (around six pieces, 4oz worth of duck Id say?) So good. At the end, they give you the soba-ju, if I’m not mistaken about the spelling, or the soba water that was used to cook the noodles piping hot, used to mix with the sauce or broth served with the noodles. I’ve heard (from Ootoya) that it makes your skin beautiful so... I drank it! But, diluting the broth slightly made it so tasty. I was so warm and happy.

Finally, I ordered the anmitsu, one of my favorite desserts, and the matcha creme brûlée. Both are so good. Anmitsu has plenty of ingredients and a large portion was given to you (their sesame ice cream is really good) and the matcha creme brulee was delicious. Beware, this brûlée has strong, earthly, borderline bitter flavor, such is the effect of using tons of matcha to make it, but I loved it. Rich, smooth, and a satisfying crack on top. Highly recommend.

Great meal, worth a visit, a bit expensive, but i don’t regret...

I can see why this place has very mixed reviews in terms of expectations.

I would say my rating of Sobaya is a fair 4 stars out of 5, with an explanation of the breakdown.

Ambience: I came in and was greeted immediately and service was very attentive. Service is not chatty but will immediately refill your food or take away plates. This overall contributes to the already quiet peaceful dining experience. I went to the restroom after my meal and I definitely can see the care in the amenities given in this restaurant. They have a nice bidet that automatically warms up your toilet seat. Great quality toilet paper (lol I'm serious) and paper towels.

Food: I didn't have the soba this time because I was really craving Ten Don today and wanted something more homey tasting.

I had the Tuna Yuba Maki $17 as my appetizer which is chopped tuna, avocado, shisho leaf and wrapped in tofu skin. The presentation was beautiful and it was placed on top of a nearly cut banana leaf. I felt like the avocado was a little out of place and overpowered the shiso but it was still pretty good.

I had the Ten Don $22 for dinner. The Ten Don came out on a nice platter with a cup to pour my sauce over the tempura. Tempura was crispy and they used good quality rice.

Overall I feel like Sobaya suffers from issues with pricing that everyone talks about because of the location. This place definitely serves homey Japanese comfort food if that's what you're looking for in the area. But the price tag doesn't give homey Japanese comfort food, but it's due to the location higher pricing has to be put into consideration for the establishment. I would say that a lot of small attention to details in amenities are included in this price tag from food presentation to ambience. I would come back here if I was in the mood for a Japanese comfort meal and only if I'm in the area. But not a place I expect...