Sasuga

Hmm. Normally I’m ecstatic about michelin starred locations (this place touting a one-​star), especially any in Tokyo due to the culinary magic the city cultivates, but this place really fell on my expectations. Despite reviewing about two months after my experience, this place was very unmemorable compared to some other great eats I had in Tokyo.
First, the place is hard to find like a white rabbit in the artic during a blizzard. It’s in some dark, empty alley. Then, you’ll have to go up some stairs with no signs (at least English friendly signs) indicating it’s existence. Lastly, you’ll entry through a hallway on the second floor, where you see some curtains that may or may not be the place you’re looking for. Again, disclaimer, this may be due to the fact I don’t read Japanese, so this review would be based for tourists (which seems to be the majority of Unilocal reviewers in Japan as of this date).
Second, the dishes. We ordered a couple of other dishes besides the main soba dish (all buckwheat inspired of course), but again, it was nothing amazing, as I literally can’t remember what I ate. Luckily I took pictures (see below) but as I’m staring at these pixels, I still can’t remember how they taste nor what they really are. I do remember being fairly disappointed when eating it, hence my lack of memory. The actual soba luckily wasn’t that bad. It was fresh, and per my research (as I probably wouldn’t have the best table conversation with the waitress), is hand-​pulled, an extremely time-​consuming process. The taste was bland, but I was prepared for that, as that’s what happens when soba is hand-​pulled vs. machine-​made. It brings out the buckwheat taste, which if you’ve never tried, is bland. Overall, fresh, but IMO, nothing outstanding. The whole meal itself was also fairly overpriced for what we got (4 dishes for 6,000+ YEN).
The staff however was super friendly and willing to help with our lack of Japanese. Service, A+. Unfortunately, the venue is smalllllll, but on a Friday night, was also fairly empty as we got seats easily, and there were still empty tables by the time we finished and left.
Overall, one of my more disappointing michelin starred experiences. There are two other michelin one-​starred soba places in Tokyo, and I would recommend scoping out the other two places first.

Dinner at one Michelin star soba-​ya Sasuga was a perfect ending to our meal. With our limited Japanese and their limited English, the wait staff graciously helped us in navigating their amazing soba noodle menu. Having reservations seemed to be fairly important as it seems like this place gets fairly popular at night. We started off with some marinated soy sauce chicken, followed by cold soba noodles with a side of shrimp tempura. Unlike your traditional shrimp tempura where it’s one large shrimp that’s been battered and fried, the tempura served with the dish at Sasuga was closer to a shrimp fritter that battered and fried a whole bunch of tiny shrimps into one large fried piece of awesome. Since we had missed the opportunity to go to a tempura restaurant, we also ordered a side of vegetable tempura to share. My husband’s favorite soba dish is one that comes with a hot soup that has pieces of duck breast and green onions as its dipping sauce for the noodles. We both absolutely loved our food, and couldn’t have asked for a more satisfying last dinner in Tokyo.