Miyako Soba may not be what we’d expected for the oldest standing soba chain in country, but maybe it should have been.

Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa is a serious soba noodle fan. In particular, he’s made it a goal in life to eat at as many different stand-and-eat soba restaurants as he can, keeping thorough records of his impressions of them.

So imagine his surprise when he recently found out that, while growing up, he walked right past branches of the oldest standing soba chain in all of Japan.

Miyako Soba was founded in 1962, earlier than any other chain in its class. It’s an Osaka-based chain, and while Seiji was growing up in the city he got so used to seeing branches here and there that he never suspected they had such historical significance.

In Seiji’s defense, his lack of awareness is a testament to how great a job Miyako Soba has done becoming a part of the fabric of daily life in Osaka. But now that he did know about the chain’s place in history, Seiji felt that it was time for another visit on his next trip back to his hometown, and so he stopped by the chain’s Tsuruhashi branch.

Miyako Soba hasn’t used its pedigree as leverage with which to charge ultra-premium prices. Bowls of basic soba or udon noodles still start at 400 yen (US$2.70), and the sign out front showed plenty of things you can get for less than 1,000 yen, Japan’s smallest denomination of bill.

However, there was something that seemed strange to Seiji. One of the items on the sign was the Jo-tendon (上天丼), or “Deluxe Tempura Bowl,” but it sure didn’t look very “deluxe” to Seiji.

With only a single shrimp and one kakiage (a disc of sliced vegetables and tiny shrimp), this might not be the most basic tempura bowl he could imagine, but it was pretty close. The sign did boast that the shrimp is “3L” size, but Seiji wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, since it’s not a term that people use in ordinary, everyday conversations in Japan.

On the other hand, at just 550 yen, Miyako Soba’s Deluxe Tempura Bowl is lower priced than a lot of other restaurants’ standard tempura bowls, so Seiji decided to give it a shot and see if maybe the real deal would look more impressive than the photo.

It did not.

The lack of any sauce for the tempura also felt odd for a “deluxe” offering. For many tempura bowl fans, the rice at the bottom of the bowl that soaks up all the sauce drippings is a finale they look forward to after finishing off the pieces of tempura themselves, but that wouldn’t be happening here.

However, we have to admit that while the name might seem like a mismatch, Miyako Soba’s photo is completely upfront about what its Deluxe Tempura Bowl is and isn’t. Moreover, just because it’s basic doesn’t mean it’s bad, as the tempura was nicely cooked and plenty tasty, especially considering its affordable price point.

And it’s not like Miyako Soba doesn’t have other, more special-feeling items on its menu, like their curry soba (780 yen).

Curry soba is something you can find at soba joints across Japan, but Miyako Soba’s take on it is a little different from the norm, since it adds strips of beef and egg to cook in the broth. This makes it especially hearty and fortifying, and the broth itself has plenty of character too. Soba curry is made by mixing curry roux into soba broth, which is itself a mix of soy sauce and dashi (bonito or kombu [kelp] stock). Miyako’s broth puts the balance a little more on the kombu dashi side to begin with, so there’s an appealing amount of complexity to its curry soba broth.

Also worth remembering when visiting Miyako Soba is their Gyufuwattamadon (680 yen), or “Beef and Fluffy Egg Bowl.”

In Japan, beef and egg bowls are often called itokodon, or “cousin bowls” (as opposed to chicken and egg bowls which are called oyakodon, “parent and child bowls”). Miayko Soba’s version of the dish is of the fluffy-egg philosophy, as opposed to some other restaurants that go with a runnier egg and soupier texture, and with some sliced green onion sprinkled across the top, it’s very satisfying, and also feels more “deluxe” than their Deluxe Tempura Bowl.

Oh, and as a side note, while Miyako Soba started out as, and primarily still is, a standing soba restaurant, some branches do have stools too, which can come in handy if, for instance, there’s a mikoshi (portable shrine) procession going by, like there was while Seiji was eating.

When talking about restaurants that have been in business for a long time, some people might imagine beacons for deep-pocketed gourmands, or maybe tourist traps that thrive by drawing in out-of-towners for a meal that’s fun to have once in a lifetime, but not something you’d want to make a regular part of your diet. Miyako Soba, though, is the exact opposite, a place that’s utterly devoid of glitz or glamor, but which has stayed in business by staying true to its original goal of offering good food at reasonable prices. It’s a plan that’s kept loyal locals coming back again and again, and so even if one of their “deluxe” items doesn’t quite feel worthy of the description, we’ll give the place a pass when it does basic food this well.

Restaurant information
Miyako Soba (Tsuruhashi branch) / 都そば（鶴橋店）
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shi, Higashinari-ku, Higashiobase 3-16-5
大阪府大阪市東成区東小橋３丁目１６−５
Open 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

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