Kanda Matsuya

Kanda Matsuya has been making soba since 1884 and is one of a cluster of long-running restaurants in the Kanda Sudacho area that came through the wartime bombing that destroyed much of old Tokyo. Its wooden building is recognised by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a historic building, and eating here gives a real sense of the city's everyday dining culture before the skyscrapers arrived.

The dining room is simple and busy, with shared tables and staff moving briskly between them, and watching the noodle-makers rolling and cutting the dough by the entrance is part of the appeal. Start with morisoba, cold buckwheat noodles served plain on a bamboo tray with a dipping sauce, which shows off the texture and flavour of the noodles. At the end of the meal, staff bring sobayu, the hot water the noodles were cooked in, to mix with the remaining sauce and drink. In colder months, kashiwa nanban soba, a hot bowl with a generous helping of chicken and leeks in a slightly thickened dashi with a hint of yuzu, is a comforting alternative. Many regulars order a beer or warm sake with small side dishes before the noodles.

Hours are 11:00 to 20:30 on weekdays, with last orders at 20:00, and 11:00 to 19:30 on Saturdays and national holidays, with last orders at 19:00. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. It is busiest at lunchtime on weekdays, when office workers queue outside, so arrive before noon or in the mid-afternoon to avoid a wait. Reservations are not part of the culture here, and sharing a table is normal.

It suits anyone interested in traditional food, solo diners and small groups, and prices are modest for such a historic restaurant. There is no pork on the menu, although no special halal arrangements are made. Vegetarians should note that the dipping sauces and broths are made with fish-based dashi.

The restaurant is at 1-13 Kanda Sudacho in Chiyoda-ku, a few minutes' walk from Awajicho Station on the Marunouchi Line and Ogawamachi on the Toei Shinjuku Line, and around ten minutes from Kanda and Akihabara. Other long-established restaurants, including the anko-nabe and sweet-shop specialists of the same block, are close by, as is the Kanda Myojin shrine.