tokyo food file

Return visit to Matsubara-an

I always love stepping through this gate.

On this side of that long white noren curtain you are looking in from the quiet backstreets of Kamakura...

 

On the other side, you have arrived at Matsubara-san. Into the little garden with its patio tables (it's getting a bit chilly for dining al fresco now)… 

Across the paving stones to the front door... 

 

Down the corridor… 

 

…and we are at our favourite table. It's the one in the tatami room at the far end, overlooking the garden.

 

Matsubara-an is a soba restaurant. But I defy you to go there and ignore the side dishes. One not to miss is the creamy homemade sukui-dofu...

 

It's prepared from a variety of green soybeans called hitashi-mame, which are grown in the Nagano uplands. Besides the distinctly green tinge to the thick curds (just about visible in the close-up), they have a really lovely delicate flavour.

 

Although the easiest option is to order one the lunchtime set meals (¥2,800 or ¥4,000), we prefer to scan the menu of seasonal specials. That's where you find the grilled duck. It is given a good sprinkling of black pepper and comes with some grilled negi leek, aromatic shiso leaf and a wedge of lemon on the side. The duck is free-range — a variety called Cheribari — and outstandingly tasty.

 

Time for our noodles. Kamo-nan soba is Matsubara-an's take on the classic kamo-nanban recipe: slices of duck (this one is ordinary aigamo) with negi in a warming, nourishing broth.

The goma soba is served cold with a thick, savoury dipping sauce of creamy sesame. It comes with a saucer of finely slivered oba (green shiso) which I sprinkled on top for the photo.

 

The soba-yu is served in a handsome black lacquerware jug in the traditional square form with spout and handle set at an angle. Like all the serving dishes and tableware, it feels refined without being delicate.

 

In fact, like everything at Matsubara-an.

  

 

It's been almost four years since I first posted about Matsubara-an.

Here's a new map link…

There's more in my Japan Times column (which for some reason is only on the JT "legacy" website).

And the Matsubara-an website is here…

 

first al fresco of the year: lunch at Matsubara-an

There's no better indicator that spring has really arrived than a nice open-air lunch. This was our first al fresco meal of the year. The setting: Matsubara-an in the quiet, leafy (well, they are most of the year) backstreets of Kamakura.

It really is a bit special: not just the restaurant itself, a converted old wooden minka (private residence) but also the menu. There aren't many places where you can have your soba in the open air. And none that I know of that serve side dishes of this quality.

This is the irodori ("colourful") starter plate: seven little tidbits, featuring plenty of Kamakura's renowned vegetables. This platter alone is worth the price of admission.

 

Next up, a tempura plate. Mixed vegetables — eggplant, carrot, sweet potato and nanohana greens — closely followed by our soba (here seiro, but kake is also an option).

 

This was the ¥2,800 "Yui" menu. There is also a more elaborate set meal ("Matsubara," ¥4,000) which includes roast duck, dessert and a few other tidbits.

 

Since the last time I wrote up Matsubara-an, they have installed an espresso bar in the garden, which has become a popular stop-off for the local dog-walkers.

Blankets are provided and there are also space heaters, but they won't be needed for too much longer.