Soba Tuesdays

[KhaoSanRoad]

Went yesterday to Ichiriki for super fresh, amazing soba.

I still prefer his 100% canadian breed, but Ted is now experimenting with a 50/50 blend with japanese. when asked which he prefers, he described "its like coffee" and preference depends on mood and sometimes blends are preferred.

He recently went back to Hokkido to aquire japanese buckwheat seeds. He then transported them to his grower in Northern Manitoba to have sown this past summer. It wasnt an ideal growing season so he only planted half the seeds. so, for now, the japanese buckwheat is for limited use.

Its a shame that his passion and skill is not appreciated in this city. he makes top notch soba, competitive with only the best in japan, but was serving to a nearly empty restaurant last night.

please keep soba alive in toronto! we have lost many great restos over time and i would hate to lose this!

check him out here: http://bit.ly/uPzwGW

[helenhelen]

is he open for lunch or only dinner?

[KhaoSanRoad]

dinner only.

[theel]

Went as a party of 6 just before x'mas. I wish I lived in the neighbourhood and could become a regular. I can't remember all the specific special ingredients (too busy eating, sorry) but everything was delicious. Service was very friendly although the food did take a little while to come. Pics attached.
1. Zarusoba with crab leg
2. Zarusoba with tempura and warm dipping sauce
3. Cold broth with housemade tofu
4. Cold broth with seaweed (can't remember what kind) and grated daikon
5. Fried soba in warm broth with crab leg

[kerwintoronto]

+100 in agreement.

We may end up becoming regulars since it is just once a week. We tried (from above) #2, #5 and hot broth soba with tempura.

Cold is definitely the way I will go next week!

[littlelam]

All of this talk is making me very curious. I'll have to check it out next week!

[Googs]

I wonder how this affects their liquor licensing.

[Pincus]

Can you get a completely vegetarian version?

[KhaoSanRoad]

i believe most of the menu is vegan actually. (only exceptions are the crab and salmon roe add-ons)

[Notorious P.I.G.]

They may add Bonito flakes to the broth. Maybe check on that unless you're alright with fish.

[helenhelen]

they will make you a veg broth if you ask in advance when making your reservation. it's easy to make a veg version of dashi - seaweed would be used instead of fish.

[autopi]

Any more details on what this actually is? The site linked above just says that there is a soba Tuesday, and then sends you to the Ichiriki website, which does not appear to have any information about a soba Tuesday. What's on the menu, how much does it cost, is it a set meal or a la carte, etc.?

[KhaoSanRoad]

its a short menu. maybe 5 different soba dishes. prices range. cant recall the prices but very fair for the quality of the product.

[helenhelen]

they use the ichikiri restaurant as a venue for soba tuesdays, but it's not run by ichikiri.

you make your reservation by calling and just show up that day. there will be a menu and you select what you want from the menu. tasty soba, but it won't be super filling so be sure to not go while uber hungry!

[jennjen18]

So does that mean you can only do Tuesday Soba and not order from the reg menu, if reservations are made?

[T Long]

According to Ichikiri's website, it is closed on Tuesday and as I understand it, the Soba people take over the restaurant and menu. I think they use to have a similar arrangement before at Hiro's. Any info on an approximate price point would still be helpful....and it's puzzling that they don't put more info (like the menu) on their own website.

[aser]

When I went back in the hiro days, it was around $20 for the combo option, excluding tax & tip.

I should go again, it's good.

[jennjen18]

Hmm, please explain what a "combo option" is!! Thank you.. :)

[aser]

before they had a combo option that allowed you to have snow crab, oroshi (grated daikon) and one other I forget w/ the soba.

Alas I went tonight and they don't have that anymore. I got a zaru soba (plain) for $13, got a side of snow crab for $5 more. Other sides include ikura, oroshi, tempura, etc....

The more expensive soba options were at $21 (ie. tempura, etc). Tofu was at $19.

[childofthestorm]

That's pretty expensive, at Cocoron in NY you get zaru soba for like $7. I'd pay it, mind you, cuz I love soba, but boy do I wish someone would open a spot like Cocoron here. Not to mention a good yakitori spot.

[pinstripeprincess]

making soba noodles is an art, no one in toronto is making them fresh the way ted is. i don't think the appreciation is out there to get the production up enough to bring the price down.... at least not for him to maintain his standards.

[aser]

It is, but it saves me a trip to nyc as his soba is comparable to the big boys (soba ya, koh, totto, 15 east etc). Can't say that for most things in Toronto.

The $5 sides for snow crab, ikura, etc is a bargain, so you make up for it in that.

[Wino In Training]

I miss the days when he would do slices of duck. He stopped in the Bird Flu days. Oh well.

Haven't been in so long... but I also liked the big bowl with daikon, nori, bonito flakes and tempura bits. His homemade tofu is killer, too.

Even the buckwheat-based desserts were yummy. Need to go, and soon.

[sweetie]

I think mountain yam was an option in the early days

[aser]

yeah they still have tororo as an option.

[Wino In Training]

Yes, there was an option of tororo or daikon. Memory still failing on what the third bowl in the combo was. I think one option was ikura, the other option was....???

[szw]

I forgot all about this place. I'll be there next week.

[JennaBean]

That's correct. Soba only and no regular menu. It is a space sharing arrangement as it was while they were at Hiro on Sundays.

[Notorious P.I.G.]

I agree with this. The soba is great there and you can usually walk right in on a Tuesday at Ichiriki. I always grab a soba with a couple sides of king crab legs. We're truly lucky to have a place like this in Toronto.

I don't know if his Soba is up there with the best in Japan but it truly is on par with the top guys in North America and is definitely up there with Soba Totto, Cocoron, and Soba Koh on the East coast. Better than Totto I would say.