Exclusive
Mashiko, Tochigi
1 hour
Min 1, Max 3
Stone Milled Soba Making Workshop
What you can expect
Learn about the soba making process and techniques
Make your own soba, from milling and kneading to cutting using traditional tools & equipment
After you have made your soba, the restaurant will boil your soba for you to eat!
Soba that you have made to take home with you. If you're staying the night in Mashiko, you can also come back the next morning to have your soba for breakfast!
Location & how to get there
The easiest way to get here is by car which is around 90 minutes from Tokyo and free parking is available outside the restaurant
Read our guides on Driving in Japan and Renting a Car in Japan for more information
From Utsonomiya Station, take the bus (益子駅～ベルモール～宇都宮東武) from Platform 14 for 57 stops (54 minutes) and get off at (道祖土下) which will be right outside the restaurant
Description
Did you know that the soba noodles made from buckwheat flour originated in Japan in the 1600s? This gluten free noodle has been enjoyed both hot and cold and is considered one of Japan's first fast foods although is considered one of the healthiest noodle options.
Traditionally, soba has been made with 100% buckwheat flour with no other flours used for binding, however this was incredibly difficult to make and required very skilled soba makers. As the number of these craftsmen decreased, modern soba incorporated flour as this was easier to make.
At Takakuno Kamosoba, you can enjoy 100% buckwheat flour soba at the restaurant and in this soba making experience, you will get to make Nihachi-soba, which is soba made from 80% buckwheat flour and 20% flour, learn the recipe and techniques and get to taste your very own homemade soba!
Other things to note
This experience is suitable for children (aged 5 and above)
The soba making experience itself goes for 1 hour and this does not include the time to eat the soba after
Please come 10 minutes before your experience start time
Experiences will be cancelled after 15 minutes if you do not show
The soba served at the restaurant is gluten free, however the soba you make in this experience contains regular flour and is not gluten free
Meet the chef
Chef Taka is one of the few soba chef's in Japan that still make soba with 100% buckwheat flour
Since moving to Mashiko, he has set up his soba restaurant there where he also runs the soba experience as he always struggled to find a place to learn soba when he was training
He also runs a female only hostel above the soba restaurant which can accommodate up to 8 people! If you're a mixed group or family you can also book the whole hostel (email bookings@dokodiscover.com to enquire).
