I went here last sunday for the first time in 3 years. I am shocked as to why I haven't been back more often! noodles are so fresh you can tell they were made in house. Must order their tofu. it's so smooth, like silk and so FRESH! I'm definitely coming back more often. read more

There is almost always a wait here (for dinner especially) but the food is delicious. I love their sweet potatoes, braised duck and pork belly dishes. Their yuzu soy cod is also excellent. I have not tried their soba soups, but the dipping sauce for the cold soba is good and you can add however much wasabi and scallions you'd like. They do give more broth; however, I've almost always been close to finished with my soba by the time they've delivered the broth. I'm not sure if it's still around, but I used to get the milk pudding dessert a couple years ago and it was great. Very light, not heavy at all. It is a bit expensive, hence the 4 instead of 5 stars. read more

Authentic Japanese food. I was surprised to find several of the menu items, for example umeboshii (pickled plum -- beware, you won't like it!), outside Japan. Soba can be ordered hot or cold and is top notch. Try the bentou (lunch box) if you're lucky enough to get one before the day's supply of 25 runs out. The tempura was a little disappointing compared to the excellent other dishes. read more

Okay my biggest problem with this place is that they don't offer sauce for the tempura if you order it with soba or udon. I think that's just simply unacceptable for a place that calls itself "authentic." I asked the waitress about it and she was just like yeah just dip it in your soba sauce! Soba sauce and tempura sauce are TOTALLY different things!!! Apart from this minor kinda MAJOR detail the food is good, a little overpriced I would say, considering that you could walk two blocks and get 10$ set with udon and rice or st-marks.... read more

Loved it Coming from California where Sushi and fish is as fresh as you can get it, I have found my go to Japanese Spot in New York. I had their chopped Salmon and avocado over rice bowl and a side of Soba and it was delicious. The Salmon tasted really fresh and their rice was on point. I like their soba since it wasn't the harsh buckwheat flavor you normally get at other Soba spots in NY. Definitely worth a try if your in the lower part of Manhattan. read more

One of our favorite Japanese joint in east village, and my favorite soba/udon place on Manhattan. Must to try are the black cod with citrus sauce, curry udon and tempera. read more

Soba-ya - Uni soba - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Been here twice before, once for dinner and once for lunch and although dinner was good, their lunch box is really good. comes with shrimp and peper tempura, choice of cold or hot soba, a salad, cooked marinated salmon, and rice with fish roe on top. After the meal, there were little dessert custards (really tasty) that came along with the lunch box. I usually get ice cold water, but you should get the hot tea (which is really good - has a roasted rice taste to is) as well. The place is nice and clean. I will definitely be back for more lunches. read more

I got there Saturday around 8 and the wait was about 30 mins so we went to the bar across the street to get some drinks. I got the duck and it was pretty good. I tried both the cold and hot noodle and I prefer the hot. read more

Soba-ya - Duck - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Tried the lunch box and lunch set set but it was not too good or not too bad. I dont know whats TOO special about this place but overall it was OK. The broiled fish was a little cold which disappoints but tempura was warm and tasty. Their service is very welcoming though! read more

Soba-ya - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

I had dinner special. The soba was great. Good place to eat by yourself. Service was very good there. I defiantly will go back again. read more

Soba-ya - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Great ambiance. Great attentive service and Great Food. What more can you ask for?? The only dilemma i experienced is deciding what to get.. like you have to get the soba noodles..(got the duck one because that's their forte) then you have to get the tempura because it just pares soooooooo well with the broth.. then.. you just have to get some salmon and ikura because that combination CANNOT be ignored! Can't you tell how happy I was eating here ^______^ read more

Came here for lunch and got the eel rice bowl set. Everything was delicious! Also got the edamame, seaweed salad, shrimp tempura as appetizers. Portions were large enough for me to have leftovers to take home. read more

Soba-ya - rice bowl - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

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Food - Mediocre Service - Excellent As soon as you walk in, everyone greets you and it suddenly feels like you just took a step into Japan. A quick look and you see the beautiful wooden furniture, savory aromas, and the colorful kimonos all the servers wear. But that basically ends the illusion. Ordered the kitsune (aged tofu) with soba noodles. The broth tasted really salty and earthy, almost herbal-like. Nothing impressive or outstanding. Would give it a 2/5. My friend ordered the curry seiro dip soba noodle, which was basically fried chicken with green onions in curry sauce. The curry wasn't thick like most, really runny and topped with an unappetizing layer of oil. Also 2/5. Extra star for the super friendly service. Food is salty, not very flavorful, unimpressive But service is top notch. read more

This place serves great hot and cold udon/soba noodles. We order a mushroom hot soba noodles and a cold uni soba, both tasted delicious even though the coldness of the noodles might be weird for some people. The staffs and the environment is very nice and has an authentic Japanese touch to it. However, the matcha creme brulee was not as tasty as we expected as the top sugar layer was too burned. Overall, it's a good lunch place and have a super cute entrance to take some Instagram-worthy photos. read more

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Really authentic Japanese cuisine! Sunday brunch is delicious here. Pricing is great as well. Coming here for years now. Very consistent food. read more

Great traditional japanese place!great food and very clean!we got the lunch special ($21) it came with a cute dessert as well.

Was here this weekend with two of my friends. We ordered the Uni soba, shrimp tempera soba and sake don. All of us enjoyed our food. Definitely recommend ! read more

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This is a popular soba place that is nearly always popping. It is a pricy restaurant but it is worth it for me to go. I love japanese food. I recommend going for lunch because the prices are lower and they have nice little lunch specials for you to try a different variety of things like soba and tonkatsu. You should get cold soba not hot soba. read more

Great place for the Una Ju and soba! Cold uni Soba is one the best I have had in places

It's a cute little shop, I always liked all things Japanese. Their culture is just beh minimal which is cute. But I'm not a fan of their udon. Soba might be better! But I would go back and try other things! Love their server anyway! read more

I used to frequent this place so much because I loved the food & service was always great. I came back for the first time in awhile and my food wasn't as good as before and extremely over priced. $16 for 6 pieces of salmon sashimi?!? $13 for shrimp shumai? Rent is insane in NYC, I get it but for what I spent, I left hungry and unsatisfied. Such a bummer to see such an amazing place turn into this. read more

This restaurant really serves mediocre Japanese food and yet it's super expensive. We ordered duck, soba and unagi over rice. The duck which only has 6 small slices, tasted like simply boiled and salted, nothing much. The soba (I don't quite remember its name, but it starts with 'chi') also looks plain with too much soy sauce. The most disappointed one is unagi over rice; it literally has only unagi and rice and it's 25 bucks! No any other thing, not even one slice of radish or soup ( they charge you 3 or 4 bucks extra for soup)! Unbelievable! My girlfriend says the unagi didn't taste any better than other restaurants she has ever been to and the normal price is only 14 bucks. I began to love soba after I tried once at Jo sho in Somerset, NJ. I thought the city must have even better soba, so I decided to try this restaurant especially it's name is Soba-ya. It just turns out that the soba here is worse than Jo sho's. Ironically, I don't think I paid more than 12 bucks at Jo sho. I felt so disappointed. read more

Love it! Best shrimp tempura I have ever had and the lunch specials are always delicious and huge portions. A little bit pricey for noodles, but I would go everyday. Some times there is a long wait, but its worth it. I have tried the box special, pork katsu don, and the hot duck soba soup. My favorite is the pork katsu don. It's like hot fatty pork with the right amount of eggs and onion. You wont be disappointed here! read more

As a lover of soba noodles and japanese cuisine, I am sorry to report that I did not have a good dining experience here. I really wanted to like the food at Soba-Ya, it had such a wonderful reputation and I had expectations of enjoying delicious soba- but it was not to be. My husband and I ordered the ika meshi, tuna tartar, hot soba with tempura and the cold soba with a shirasu & mitsuba leaf tempura fried cake (the exact name of the dish escapes me). Appetizer breakdown: The ika meshi (sticky rice stuffed squid) had an unpleasant, artificial smoke flavor- my husband couldn't choke down more than one piece, I didn't think it was quite that bad (it was edible) but I'd never order it again. The tuna tartar was mediocre: while the freshness was fine, the tartar mix wasn't particularly flavorful and the large chunks of mountain yam inside didn't compliment the flavor of the tuna but added an awkward texture that made for unpleasant eating. Entree breakdown: My husband enjoyed the tempura, but didn't like the broth that came with his soba. My husband is very picky, but I tasted it and was in full agreement. I was taken back with how terrible it was. The flavor was that of a cheap soy sauce mixed in with instant dashi from a packet, with an indescribable chemical afternote. The dipping sauce for my cold soba tasted like a cold version of the same broth. I was pleased with the shirasu (baby sardine) and mitsuba tempura, this was delicious and crisp, I just wish the broths that came with our soba was palatable. We were considering complaining but felt it wasn't worth the trouble if the rest of the food was so lackluster we'd never return to dine again. The soba was the greatest source of disappointment in my experience. If this is what "GOOD" soba is supposed to taste like, than I don't think I'm such a big fan of soba after all. It was not terrible, just bland like paste. To be honest, the dried soba noodles in my pantry have a more complex, earthy flavor than Soya-Ya's fresh soba. On a bright note, the service was very good even on a busy night. It was entirely the food that let us down. I sincerely hope that we attended this restaurant on an off night, but the food was so inconsistent and lackluster that we will not be coming back. There are better places to dine in the East Village. read more

If you are in NYC, you have to come here for lunch. The lunch set is a good deal. Plus the dessert in the lunch set is my fave. The handmade soba is their specialty so make sure you order this. read more

They have really weird toppings for the soba. I thought I wanna try something new but urgh - weird. Maybe the traditional zaru soba is good. maybe. read more

Soba-ya - Seared tuna belly with ponzu. - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

It was a dark and post-stormy night and my intestinal tract was recovering from hyper-spicey curry so what seemed ideal was warm Japanese noodles. As is my habit, I got there at the 5:30 opening so getting in was no problem/no wait. I ordered soba topped with a tempura trio of shrimp, a chili and some kind of leaf, and also some oshinko (Japanese pickled veggies) on the side. The oshinko was mild but good. The tempura pretty standard. The soba itself was nice but I can't say it was in any way special. It was the broth in which the soba were served that requires comment. It tasted beefy. Beefier than beef, actually. So beefy it almost tasted artificially beefy. That's not necessarily bad--I quite liked it and drained the bowl. But some people might find it too intense (and, yes, kind of salty). I just wonder what accounted for that flavor intensity 'cause I don't want it to be just a double dose of commercial stock. read more

My new favorite place! Great food! Noodles are great here! I don't have anything bad to say about this place. I like their lunch sets and lunch box sets. And the seared tuna is really good too. You have to try it for yourself! read more

Yum! I can be pretty picky when it comes to soba, but this place was quite good. We had the karaage, tempura zaru soba, stamina seiro, and manju with green tea ice cream. The food: Everything was very delicious. Karaage was a great start to the meal. For the mains, the only thing I would have liked was for more variety in my tempura since it only came with shrimp, shiso leaf, and a pepper. I have to say, though, the pieces of shrimp were nice and large and tasty. I also tried a bite of the stamina seiro and that was quite good if you're looking for something a little less traditional. Dessert topped off an excellent meal and I'm glad we went for it. The green tea ice cream was more bitter than I expected, but it paired well with the azuki manju made with soba flour. We also had a citrusy cocktail which was very good. It was on the pricey side, but perhaps worth a try for how good it was. Probably would be able to make this for cheaper at home though. The service: Very good. Our waiter was very nice and my water was always topped off. Overall: This restaurant made me very happy and I would definitely return. It's not the best soba I've had, but I got used to eating soba right after it was rolled and cut in small town Japan. That said, it's pretty darn close to that small town Japan flavor I crave. read more

I really liked here. The place was nice and cozy. The servers are great. I tried the soba beer which was light and with nice wheat flavor. Had the una ju box with warm soba. I really liked the texture of their soba. read more

Actually, the food would be one-star, but the ambiance and setting bumps it up to two stars. Which is a huge letdown from what the reviews had led me to believe. I went here for dinner, ready to love the place from the reviews I'd read. When we sat down, I loved the decor, and I looked the presentation of the soba bowl. Everything fell apart with the first bite, though. The "broth" was like watered-down soy sauce, just salty with a tang to it, and none of the texture I usually expect from a noodle place. I was in an even easier-to-please mood too... I came in starving for dinner, after only eaten a banana all day. And I still couldn't eat more than half -- that's how bad I thought it was. Also had the duck appetizer, and was not impressed. Tough and salty. On top of all that, it's pricey for what it is. I'd much rather stop at any divey noodle place than come here again. That said, great decor and good service. read more

My hot soba was ok, had a bit of a hunky aftertaste due to the amount of oil. Started the meal with squid stuffed with sticky rice. I ordered the soba with tempera and the tempera was one of the best I've ever had. Flaky and cooked to perfection, shrimp, shishito peppers, it was great. Interior is quite pleasant and creates a nice atmosphere for dining. read more

Had heard about this place for a while before finally being able to make it, and I'm glad we did - even if the food and service weren't up to expectations, at least now we know. Tips: arrive with a party of 2, they seem to get seated appreciably faster (lots of 2 seaters) and be very clear about hot or cold, maybe repeat yourself. We arrived around 8pm on a Saturday, and were given a wait time of 30-40 min for a party of 3. Fine, understandable for a popular noodle place in the east village. Come 9:30 we were finally seated, and ordered two hot sobas and one cold, expressly so - my friend pointed at the name on the cold menu. Unfortunately the waiter came back with 3 hot, prompting my friend to apologetically ask that he bring a cold soba instead, upon which the waiter stood there and argued while the rest of us backed our friend up. Ultimately we did get the cold soba we wanted, but it was an unpleasant interaction to start off the meal. The noodles themselves were decent - broth a little salty for my taste but I did enjoy the options for small / medium / large as I usually get too full for the entire bowl. A little disappointing overall given the hype, but a decent meal. Would probably go again if a friend wanted to, but won't be seeking it out myself. read more

Soba-ya - Wakame hot soba - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Came here for Soba, it was delicious, but I was surprised by their tempura!!! The best one I've never Had before

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! My friend and I came here in the middle of a snowstorm, and this was exactly what we needed. We came in just 10 minutes before the early bird dinner special ended. The entire experience was wonderful from beginning to end, from the hot towel to the delicious appetizer sampling of various pickled vegetables to the very end with, quite possibly, the creamiest ice cream I have ever tasted. I do have to say that it is a little price-y for an average college student's budget, but sometimes you have to treat yo self. read more

Absolutely beautiful interior - salmon don was delicious and very fresh. Soba was not too salty, but very refreshing. A beautiful place that I am definitely coming back to! read more

Ambience is okay, Servers are kind, Nice and calm music. Food is just okay but too expensive(Seaweed salad is 10 bucks) so thats why I give them 3 stars. read more

I love the concept- hand made soba noodles in a cute and modern Japanese resto. But tbh, who would pay $20-25+ for a bowl of soba? Not me lol- wayyyy too overpriced for what you get. The noodles didn't seem hand made to me, and the portions were SO small. I had karage along with my soba and I was still hungry by the end of it :( read more

This was recommended by my hairstylist, who is Japanese. I've been coming here for a few years and this place is so authentic. Fantastic food. The menu does get changed up so don't be surprised if your fave dish disappears. No worries though because you'll find a new fave! Love the "dons" & the lunch boxes. Phenom service too. Can be very busy during lunch time so best to go after 2. I haven't been here for dinner, only lunch. read more

Wouldn't come back. The soba is very so so , it is something you can buy at the supermarket. The best thing was the sweet potato side. The eel didn't have enough sauce. Very sad for the price that we paid for everything. read more