Tohakuan Karibe

As an unassuming soba restaurant near Chitose-Karasuyama Station, Tohakuan Karibe fits right in among the collection of small, cosy eateries along the main street. Stepping through the door, guests are greeted with the eclectic sight of Japanese utensils and tableware, such as traditional seiro serving baskets, atop decidedly European-style dark wood furniture. Though it is decidedly Japanese in its culinary offerings, this East-meets-West philosophy is one of the restaurant’s central tenets. For instance, the restaurant has a revolving selection of wines — no less than 10 at any given time — atop its shelf. Every week, a professional sommelier visits the shop to give new recommendations, which are then personally tried by the chef to ensure that the wines are suitable matches for the aroma and flavor of the house soba. Speaking of soba, Chef Karibe Masakazu takes to the kitchen to grind buckwheat sourced from Nagano Prefecture’s Kurohime region, one of Japan’s most renowned soba production regions. Karibe’s soba is of the juwari variety — that is, 100 percent buckwheat, with no wheat flour added. But as fine as the noodles are, the roster of seasonal tempura is what keeps guests coming back. In summer, conger eel is the highlight, while winter brings plump, juicy oysters from Hiroshima. The tempura completes Karibe’s perfect trifecta: the crunchy seasonal seafood or vegetables, fried golden brown, followed by a mouthful of soba noodle, and then washed down with a sip of wine. Michelin Guide: 2022 - Bib Gourmand