Behind the Counter at a Japanese Soba Izakaya Restaurant

this is behind the candidate hidden Japanese soba Izakaya restaurant [Music] okay so I'm back here in shimbashi Tokyo one of the most favorite place for saladmint to drink at night this one is gonna be a little bit different from the series because we're going behind and Izakaya that focuses on soba well like always before we start if you want to see what I'm doing on the daily check out my Instagram account if you guys want to help me with the channel then definitely check out my Tokyo and Japan merch if you have any questions about Japan or Japan travels then check out my Discord Community alright let's do this here we go just a one minute walk from chimbashi station's hibia exit you'll find a local Japanese soba noodle shot Skai opened in 1975 it's become a salary man's favorite for its large serving sizes and quality oh that's a store manager Fuji morissan good morning I guess he's the first one to arrive today so where are the other workers so how long have you been working here what did you do before this is first thing he does is to carry all the deliveries in all delivered at the door just as the day starts quite a workout going back and forth first thing in the morning foreign I guess those Japanese City crows don't mess around oh one of the workers is here so the shop bites are fished directly from the Toyota fish market he still has about two hours before opening but he already prepares the star signs the shop itself is tucked away in one of the areas of back alley streets so the science help attract passerbytes and notify them that the store is open [Music] oh he's using different oils hey what's the difference interesting oh snap that's a soba gamma it can cook up to 10 noodle servings all at once [Music] now the work is ready the soba dipping sauce that they started the night before apparently serving speed is extremely important in busy sober shop so storing it in smaller bottles makes serving faster and more efficient [Music] and before using the bottles the shop washes it with the actual sauce that goes inside this is a traditional Japanese cooking technique called gri which helps prevent other ingredients taste and Aromas from contaminating the sauce it's being used for hi how old are you I decided cool how long have you been working here oh really dope now he cooks the rice foreign oh cool it's gonna be a little more International than other videos now the workers prepare various sauces served in the shop like the tempura sauce and so on [Music] okay so while the workers are busy on the sauces and other prep fujimori-san starts cleaning the fresh fish he says that since he was originally a Chinese food chef he didn't know how to prepare and cut fish but from the looks of it now it seems like he's mastered the technique so how did you learn what's the hardest thing when preparing and cutting fish for example with a chewy texture tastes better cut thin while a soft fatty tuna tastes better cut thick understanding the characteristics and textures of each fish is a critical skill required to prepare it in Japan so do you get days off wow congrats how old is your baby what's his name I see how long did you go out before Mary is a go-to soba noodle lunch spot for locals at night it becomes more of a traditional Japanese Izakaya drinking restaurant offering a variety of menu items and this fresh fish is used for their sashimi and shimay Saba how long have you been in Japan got it how do you like it oh the worker came in hot diggity he's preparing the poor katsu hitters one of my favorites so because the shop gets so busy during lunch time the workers must get each item on the menu as ready as possible so it can be quickly cooked or fried at the time it's ordered [Music] now he's gonna prepare the soba you which is served after finishing the soba noodles sober you is known to be the actual water he used to cook soba noodles but many Japanese restaurants today simply mix a soba flour with a hot water to create the nutritious soup do you have a hobby I play 10 is in high school were you really good that's amazing how fast can you serve damn do you play with your wife at all what did she do oh pots and pans that kitchen love huh now he prepares the agedama which are like tempura scraps used as a topping for their Tanuki soba which oddly directly translated means raccoon soba [Music] so what do you do on your free time I see what's your hobby guitar you can play What genre interesting before we continue on I want to tell you guys about the awesome people at books who who also sponsor this video I know that many of you have already signed up which is awesome but for those of you that don't know they provide a gourmet experience of Japanese snacks and tea pairings delivered to your front door they also work with traditional Japanese factories some over 100 years old provide you with authentic Japanese flavors first time users will get a Seasons of Japan box and after that you'll get a theme box like this one this month's theme is Hokkaido Wonderland celebrating the north Most Japanese prefecture known for its delicious Dairy and produce and beautiful wintertime activities my favorite this month is the white milk Boucher made with real deal Hokkaido milk which you can try for yourself or even send the box to a loved one as a special gift this season so get 15 off your own authentic Japanese subscription snack box from boxu by using my code Apollo 15 and Link in the description [Music] alright here are the noodles they're freshly made in their Central Kitchen since they have a few different soba shops in the area so what's the ratio of your sober [Music] and another worker has arrived good morning oh the shop delivers as well how many do you sell a day you must be super busy on rainy days I see before the store opens the shop prepares samples for today's specials is set out in front and it seems that the shop is making tempura today with dried green seaweed called alnori oh he's finally cooking the soba I guess this will also be used in the food sample [Music] dang look at him go unlike pasta soba noodles don't have the same elasticity and it quickly becomes sticky in hot water so washing and cooling them down is an important process to create the perfect firmness perfect soba noodles fresh on the boat all plated and ready to be set out in front for the customers to view when they come in [Music] 11 30 the shop is finally open the first customer is here I guess he ordered the seaweed soba since the workers completed a lot of the prep in the morning they can quickly make the orders apparently they usually get about 150 customers during lunch on a sunny day and on rainy days it can go down to about 50 so we'll see how the day goes the restaurant is starting to fill up so the workers must follow suit and keep Pace one cooked with sob and tempura while another finishes the plating which then gets brought out to the customers by the servers they almost work together as a team in order to meet the hungry lunchtime crowds that katsudon Rice Bowl looks phenomenal it's a rather quite common for soba noodle shops in Japan to also offer donburi rice bowls like katsudon and then put it on on their menu I usually order in Michael's ordering the soba noodles they seem busy so let's go talk to the customers excuse me do you come here often oh how awesome do you have any recommendations [Music] what's special about this place thanks hi can I talk to you hi are you a regular customer service what did you order today [Music] what do you like about the shop thank you [Music] it looks like the lunchtime Rush is hitting its peak so the workers must work seamlessly as they not only have to prepare orders now but they also need to watch the used dishes to cycle back through [Music] so interestingly most of the workers have the weekends off which is unlike most restaurants in Japan but the shimbashi area itself is unique in that it's a heavy business district so most regular customers are from local businesses who are also off during the weekends since it's slowing down a bit let's talk to one of the servers how long have you been working here [Music] how's it working in a more International shop awesome hi how long have you been working here cool what did you do before this so how'd you get this job nice how old are you and what do you like about this job thank you what are you doing since it's slowing down now one of the workers is able to take the break early so fujimorizan is preparing the makanai early lunch provided by the shop and today he's making fried chicken in a chili sauce which is a Chinese inspired dish hey so growing up did you think you were going to be a chef how did you learn to cook and what's your favorite food really oh I ate gyoza last night it's amazing though how much time and effort he puts into making the makanai for his workers I guess it's his own way of saying thank you foreign oh he's got his food [Music] so what now [Music] um seems that the soba noodles are cooked after the delivery guy arrives to ensure that their customers receive their precious noodles possible [Music] and that's another one in the books if you want to check out this Izakaya sober shop yourself I'll be sure to leave a link in the description okay so that's behind the counter at asoba Izakaya I hope you guys like this video if you want to see more videos like this or anything related to Japan hit that subscribe button and the bell button and I'll catch you guys in the next one

Channel: Paolo fromTOKYO

Views: 1,384,717

Keywords: Paolo, Japan, Japan guide, Japan travel, tokyo, tokyo guide, tokyo travel, tokyo food guide, tokyo hidden gems, japan travel food, japan food documentary, japan behind the counter, japanese food eating noodles, food, japanese food, japanese restaurant, udon, izakaya, izakaya tour, izakaya food, japanese drinking restaurant, izakaya soba, japan travel food guide, japanese cuisine, what to eat in tokyo, tokyo food, japan food, japanese restaurant cooking, udon noodles, sukehei, 寿毛平

Id: 74HUmrWKDBU

Length: 14min 47sec (887 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 02 2022