We are back in our favourite country for two weeks over the New Year period, and what a festive mood the whole of Japan is in! National holidays are officially from 31 December to 4 January, with many shops and restaurants closed till the 5th or even 6th. This is the most extended and important holiday for Japanese people, as they will be visiting shrines and temples throughout the nation to pray for good health and fortune for the coming year, as well as going back to their respective hometowns to catch up with family and close friends. Street food fairs on the grounds of some of the major temples and shrines also add a much needed warmth and vibrancy amidst the harsh winter cold. We actually touched down in Tokyo on New Year's Day, and the sheer crowd at the famous Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district was truly one to behold.
However I shall start this flurry of holiday food blogging with a delightful restaurant in the historic city of Kamakura, just an hour away from Tokyo by local train. A popular day-trip destination, Kamakura is home to the iconic Great Buddha statue (the second largest Buddha statue in Japan) as well as many other ancient Buddhist temples, and the large central Hachimangu Shinto Shrine where most of the locals gather for New Year prayers.
It is a Japanese tradition to have soba (buckwheat) noodles over the New Year, as the thin and easily-broken strands signify a clean break from the previous year and all its attendant troubles and misfortunes, and with that, hopes for a better new year. I do love good freshly-made soba, so when I came across this place Matsubara-an, highly regarded by locals and tourists alike, in the course of planning for the trip, I knew I had to visit. Most reassuringly, I had also gathered from its website that it would be open throughout the national holidays till 10 pm daily.
And now for the best part of this day trip: we had my friend Mino, from my postgrad days in London and a Kamakura native, accompany us throughout! There was no stress about getting lost in the city's many little winding streets, as she took us round the major sights effortlessly and with the kind of knowledge that only a local could possess.
Matsubara-an is located in an obscure residential area and is not the easiest to find despite its proximity to the Great Buddha. Perhaps that's also what made it the perfect lunch spot for us after experiencing the crowds around the Great Buddha - the grounds of the restaurant are surprisingly large, sparse and tranquil, a true oasis of calm. The main building itself is very traditionally Japanese but there is also a spacious Western-style café and terrace extension, where one can sit during warmer seasons. It is a very tasteful juxtaposition of architectural styles. Passing through the noren, I already had a good feeling about this place.
Please come early if you don't have a reservation, or be prepared to wait for at least 30 minutes! (as we would hear from the front-of-house telling customers who arrived later) We were there by 11.20 am and already there was a short queue forming as the service staff went about getting the tables ready first. Fortunately, it took us only about 10 minutes before we were admitted.
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| Love these Japanese New Year ikebana. |
As the calligraphy below suggests, this restaurant is also famous for its duck - both roasted and infused into the soba's accompanying broth.
The main dining area was rather small and cosy, though the ceiling did feel somewhat low and oppressive - probably due to the height of the tables and chairs (usually one expects to sit at or close to floor level in such traditional Japanese settings).
Soba restaurants are usually a very basic affair, but Matsubara-an also offers two multi-course options to complement their noodles. For just 3,800 yen at both lunch and dinner you get 5 courses plus a drink of your choice (this is the 'Matsubara' menu we chose); there is also a 3-course option with no drinks at 2,700 yen (the 'Yui' menu). A steal at any rate, I think you might agree.
＜松原＞コース：彩り七種盛り合わせ（鮮魚のカルパッチョ、彩り野菜のバーニャカウダ、茄子の南蛮漬け、揚げ蕎麦の豆腐味噌添え、鴨ロースのたたき、信州豆腐の醤油豆がけ、七殻餅の揚げだし）
Starters: a platter consisting of flounder carpaccio, seasonal vegetable bagna càuda, eggplant nanbanzuke (Chinese)-style, fried buckwheat cracker with a touch of tofu miso, seared duck loin, Shinshu tofu with a topping of red beans marinated in soy sauce, and a lightly battered and fried multigrain bar in a dashi-based broth, with chopped spring onions.
This was a smorgasbord of different culinary styles, and everything was so fresh and crisp. A feast for both the eyes and the tastebuds indeed. The grilled eggplant marinated in a mildly piquant sauce was very creamy and tasty; the lightly boiled broccoli and raw purple radish with an aromatic minced garlic and anchovy bagna càuda dressing were delightfully crunchy; the fish carpaccio was succulent with a refreshing hint of acidity from the dressing; the buckwheat cracker's nuttiness was well enhanced by a strong tasty touch of miso; the duck was tender and moist; the tofu was incredibly rich in taste and texture, a sure sign of its purity and the quality of local water; and last but not least, the multigrain bar which was crispy on the outside and firm on the inside, with the occasional crunch from whole grains. Despite being fried it also felt surprisingly light, and the surrounding dashi broth made it really tasty. The last two morsels described left a particularly deep impression.
厚切り鴨ロース肉の炙り焼き
Side dishes: thick-cut grilled duck loin.
Done Western-style, these slices were so very tender and bursting with juices despite their generous thickness, and the full-bodied gamey flavour of duck was evident with each bite. Grilled leeks underneath enhanced the aromas of this dish and gave it a lovely sweet edge, while a very Japanese touch of shiso and lemon garnish refreshed the palate effectively. This was probably better than some of the duck roasts I have had in fine Western restaurants. I could see why this restaurant prides itself on duck dishes as well. Like the previous starter platter, this side dish also showed how open the kitchen was towards different culinary influences, thus transcending the usual mould of soba restaurants and creating a unique and convincing brand all their own.
旬野菜の天ぷら（薩摩芋、牛蒡、ピーマン、蓮根）
Seasonal vegetable tempura (sweet potato, burdock root, green pepper, lotus root).
Shortly after the duck, our accompanying tempura for the main bowl of soba noodles arrived. This vegetable tempura had a wonderfully light and crisp batter, giving each piece a nice initial bite whilst not drowning out the delightful natural flavours and textures of the vegetables that lay within, with excessive greasiness. The sweet potato was particularly memorable for its creamy and surprisingly non-starchy mouthfeel, while the lotus root stood out for its fresh crunchiness and mild earthy sweetness.
海鮮のあられ揚げ（海老、イカ、大葉）
Seafood tempura (prawns, diced squid, shiso).
For a supplement of just 290 yen, you can upgrade to a seafood tempura consisting of generous amounts of prawn, diced squid, and fragrant shiso leaves - why not! This was my choice and I did not regret it one bit; the prawns were firm and juicy, the diced squid surprisingly tender and not the least chewy/rubbery, and a first for me, shiso in tempura batter, which was incredibly light, refreshing and tasty. The best Japanese chefs do have a way of making deep-fried comfort food feel utterly guiltless!
かけそば
Mains: warm soba in a soy-based dashi broth.
Finally for why we came here in the first place - the excellent noodles garnished simply with finely sliced scallion. The fragile noodle strands were smooth and possessed a good bite, great for slurping - in fact they went down almost too easily and the bowl was emptied before I knew it! The mild nuttiness from buckwheat was very well complemented by the surrounding full-bodied broth and aromatic scallion. How could something so seemingly plain be so good? It was particularly satisfying to be having this in the midst of winter; I had to drink that tasty warm broth to the very last drop.
鴨煮そば
Warm duck soba with slow-cooked duck wings in a duck-based dashi broth.
Mino had a smaller appetite so she hadn't gone with the multi-course option; this was her only order, combining the two signatures of this restaurant within the same bowl. What a punch it packed! If we had thought the plain soba was already very good, this was even more indulgent. To begin with, the duck-based broth was even richer and deeper in taste, as it had been derived over long hours of simmering with the meat and bones, thus concentrating all their flavour like in a good stock. In addition, duck wings, so soft and tender that the meat just fell off the bones effortlessly, generously topped the noodles. Garnishes of fresh sweet baby leek and fragrant mitsuba (Japanese parsley) completed this picture of perfection. Limited number of bowls available daily!
自家製和菓子（黒糖わらび餅ときな粉）
Dessert: homemade brown sugar warabi-mochi (soft bracken root starch cake) with a dusting of kinako (toasted soybean powder).
These morsels were pleasantly chewy and had an unexpected melt-in-the-mouth softness. I've had countless warabi-mochi by now, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that this could be the most delicate texture I've ever experienced from this snack. Its sheer lightness belied a deep (but not cloying) sweetness from the addition of molasses into the starch mixture. A further drizzle of brown sugar syrup and dusting of mildly sweet and nutty soybean powder completed this classic Japanese dessert.
More sweet endings: my glass of grape juice below. (For the final drink you get to choose between hot/iced coffee, Oolong tea, orange/apple/grape juices, Cola and ginger ale.)
This had been an excellent meal in lovely restful surroundings, and the service, as always in Japan, was attentive and polite. All things considered, it had been an extremely good value-for-money experience. A very convenient lunch/dinner spot in Kamakura after visiting the area around the Great Buddha, which I cannot recommend highly enough.
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