Kyoto and Osaka, located in the Kansai region of Japan, are well-known for their delicious udon noodles. However, you can also enjoy delightful soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) in Kyoto. Let us introduce you to Kawamichi-ya, a soba restaurant on Fuyacho-Dori Street in Kyoto. Steve Jobs and David Bowie were also regular patrons of this soba restaurant.
On day 2 in Kyoto, I woke up early and visited Nanzen-Ji Temple and Honen-in Temple. For breakfast, I ate bread at Sanjo-Kawaramachi Shinshindo. After breakfast, I played along the Kamo River and saw the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. I returned to Kyoto City for lunch.
I returned from the Kyoto Botanical Garden to Karasuma Oike via the subway. For lunch, I walked around Kyoto looking for a restaurant and found an old-fashioned soba restaurant on Fuyacho-Dori.
Misoka-an Kawamichi-ya
The Misoka-an Kawamichi-ya is a soba restaurant run by a long-established Japanese confectionery store called Kawamichiya. They are known for their “Soba-horu” (buckwheat flour cookies).
I arrived at the store around 1:00 p.m. and was able to be seated without reservation. I entered the restaurant through the white shop curtain hanging at the entrance, which had the name “Misoka-an Kawamichi-ya（晦庵 河道屋）” written in black letters. The interior of the store had a relaxed atmosphere.
Soba restaurant frequented by Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was fascinated by Japanese culture and often took his family to Kyoto. On his last visit to the city before he passed away, he tried out a soba restaurant that he had never been to before. Oshima Hiroshi, who served as Jobs’ driver and tour guide during his time in Kyoto, recalls how it went.
“I once tried taking him to a different place but he didn’t finish the meal,” Oshima says. “He asked me to take him to his usual place to eat again.”
Steve Jobs in Kyoto – quoted from NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
When Oshima asked Jobs what he didn’t like about the restaurant, Jobs replied, “The nori on the soba rolls doesn’t taste the way it should. So I want to eat again at my usual soba restaurant.” For Jobs, the “usual soba restaurant” was “Misoka-an Kawamichi-ya,” where he had his last “soba roll” in his life.
Grated radish and buckwheat noodles
Tea soba noodles served with grated radish. These noodles were made by kneading matcha green tea into buckwheat flour.
You would smell tea and buckwheat in your mouth when you eat these noodles.
Grated yam and colander buckwheat noodles
The buckwheat noodles were served on a colander.
The sauce for Soba was grated yam soup. Quail eggs and wasabi were served with the sauce.
Tempura and colander buckwheat noodles
The buckwheat noodles were served on a colander and garnished with chopped seaweed.
Tempura ingredients were two shrimp, one green shiso, and one shishito pepper.
Rice cooked with bamboo shoots
Seasonal rice was served with your order of soba noodles. We had rice with bamboo shoots.
The soba noodles were delicious, but the seasonal “rice with bamboo shoots” was also delicious.
Kyoto is a city full of delicious food. If you can visit Kyoto, enjoy delicious soba noodles and old Japanese architecture at Misoka-an Kawamichi-ya.
