Sobakatsu
Soba noodle shop · Japantown ·
Fresh handmade soba noodles served hot or cold
Fresh handmade soba noodles served hot or cold
"Sobakatsu is the only restaurants in the city specializing in both cold and hot soba. You should do anything you can to tear yourself away from any midday tasks and hop in line—the soba coming out of the 11-seat shop is phenomenal, and tends to sell out before they close at 7pm. The cold version, which comes with your choice of shrimp tempura, fried scallops, or kakiage, is the way to go. The light soy dipping sauce clings to every noodle like a thermal coat. You’ll clear the heap of noodles in about 5% of the time it took you to get a seat." - julia chen 1, lani conway
"Sometimes, the best thing to do after Venmoing the month’s rent to the wrong person is to be alone with nothing but your thoughts and a bowl of noodles. Head to Japantown, where Sobakatsu’s phenomenal hot and cold soba await. You’ll probably have to wait in line for one of the 11 seats inside, but that’s just more time to reflect on the benefits of two-factor authentication." - julia chen 1, patrick wong
"This tiny Japanese restaurant gained a cult following after its opening in 2024, with diners charmed by both the small space — there are just 11 seats — and the promise of fresh soba noodles. Despite the lack of a website, social media, or a phone number, as the Chronicle noted, locals managed to find this restaurant and often line up to get in. Whether you get your order of soba hot or cold is up to you, and while the tonkatsu side of the Sobakatsu menu isn’t quite up and running yet, the vegetable tempura is a worthy distraction." - Paolo Bicchieri
"There are only 11 seats at Sobakatsu, and no reservations or a phone number, so you’ll have to do the old-fashioned work of showing up and waiting in line. Bring a book to read both while you wait and while you eat—a trip to this Japantown counter means banishing your phone into the depths of your tote and spending quality time with a pile of noodles. Sure, you order on a tablet, but once you’re sat in the musicless dining room, you'll join the meditative chorus of all the buckwheat-slurpers around you." - ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1, patrick wong
"It would be a dream to live within walking distance of this 11-seat soba shop—one of the few that does both cold and hot soba. When we slurped a buckwheat noodle that tasted like it just went down a waterslide of sweet soy. The cold soba (even when it’s 60 degrees out) with fried-to-order kakiage. Add a side of inari if it’s on the menu. Firm noodles, gluten-free dipping sauce, and a quick lunch." - julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez, patrick wong, patrick wong, ricky rodriguez, ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1, julia chen 1, julia chen 1, julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1, julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez, julia chen 1
