I really wanted to like this place. Vibe is cool - mostly bar and some tables. 4/5 Service was not great. We got there right at 12 - opening time - but had to keep waiting til they were "ready." We were in a bit of a rush so was hoping the food would come out. It took over 35 minutes for the food to come out and when I asked for it to-go, they still brought it in the in-store dining bowls and they expected us to just pack it up ourselves. 2/5 Food - nothing to write home about. The smallest of portions... let's just say I ended up eating a second lunch when I got home. 3/5 I may return at dinner time for a different experience. read more

This restaurant specializes in soba noodles or cold dipping noodles. The menu features a selections of different dips for your noodles. You can also add sea salt or matcha salt for free. I think this place is fairly new, so they are trying new things. Spicy sesame (4/5): for some reason, I thought this was going to be light,; but it was pretty heavy. It wasn't too spicy, but the spicy took the flavor away from the sesame. I think a non-spicy sesame sauce would be great. I also did not like how there was not enough sauce for my noodles to dip. Shoujin Tsuyu (5/5): very sweet and refreshing. The perfect soba dipping sauce. Shrimp tempura: this was very solid and made-to order. The tempura sauce was one of the best as well. read more

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Was really excited to try this soba place! I love soba and this restaurant had amazing reviews and pictures. We showed up just before 9pm on a Friday and the staff told us they already did last call (they close at 10pm). The young lady told us they usually do last call early when business is slow. Not sure if the owner is aware the staff is doing this, but the restaurant definitely lost some paying customers. read more

Disappointed with this spot. Felt it was way too overpriced for what it was with some things being off with the interior. $18 for plain soba noodles with a simple dipping sauce that tasted the same as premade sauce you can get at H-Mart. The noodles didn't taste as if they were made in house either but rather a packet. I got the veggie tempura as well which was better. The batter was crispy and hot. Unfortunately it was too greasy and the sauce for that as well lacked flavor. The interior threw me off too. It looks good in pictures but there is the main sitting area where you face strangers across from you but it felt WAY too close. It works at Kazunori because the chefs are cooking in the center, and it's a bigger radius so you aren't that close to the people across from you along with being dim. Here, you're face to face with a stranger in very bright lighting. We asked to move to the wall (which thankfully one was spot was open). Will not be coming back. Food: 2.5/5 (for the price and what it was) Service: 2.5/5 (servers were nice but seemed inexperienced) Ambience: 2:5 read more

SOBAR - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Super cute soba noodle bar in Culver City. We made a reservation for lunch when they opened at noon. There was one person running the front of house and the bar who is extremely attentive and friendly. We ordered one of the traditional lunch set (zaru), one lunch special with hot soba and tempura and one ribeye niku soba. We really enjoyed the noodles and noticed the zaru noodles were different from the others (both were delicious). The lunch set came with a tempura hand roll and some additional smaller dishes like salmon and duck that were amazing. While the prices are a bit high for soba, the quality and service match. I can't wait to go back. read more

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When we go back to Japan, we always make a point to stop by our favorite soba restaurants. There's something special about starting with small dishes like Dashimaki-tamago (Japanese omelet), grilled duck, or tempura, paired with cold sake, and finishing with perfectly made soba noodles. When I saw the menu at this restaurant, I was thrilled--it offered a lineup of small dishes that pair wonderfully with sake and homemade soba, making it a promising spot for an authentic sake/soba experience. We enjoyed the tempura and karaage, and the soba noodles were perfectly cooked and delicious. However, the Dashimaki Tamago (Japanese omelet) was disappointing--it lacked the dashi flavor and saltiness we were expecting. (For context, we recently did a taste test of Dashimaki Tamago at Kyoto's Nishiki Market, which is an amazing place to experience authentic flavors.) The service could use some improvement. All the food arrived before our drinks, which interrupted the ideal pace of the meal. They have a great sake selection though. Another issue was with the soba dipping cups. We ordered two servings of cold soba to share among four people, but they only provided two dipping cups and gave us bowls to share. This felt awkward and inconsistent with how this would be handled in Japan. Typically, everyone should have their own dipping cup with condiments, especially when sharing noodles after drinking. The decor is clean and modern but not comfortable. Also, it looks uninviting from outside. Overall, the food quality and flavors were decent, but I wish they paid closer attention to these finer details, which are so essential to the authentic soba dining experience. For soba and sake lovers in the U.S., it's worth a visit. That said, my family told me that I can make better Dashimaki Tamago, tempura, and soba at home. read more

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Our experience at Sobar was pleasant. The staff were prompt, welcoming and extremely willing to answer questions. The soba itself had a nice bite to it but the dipping sauces (we tried four amongst our party) were slightly lackluster with the exception of their house dipping sauce. The spicy tuna rice appetizer was tasty. read more

SOBAR - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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SOBAR was clean and modern. The aesthetics was Japanese modern. We ordered many dishes including: 1. Salad: 5/5 2. Eggplants:4/5 3. Karage: 4/5 4. Soba:4/5 5. Albacore sashimi: 3/5 (could have been sliced into thinner pieces and they tasted a bit dry). 6. Mushroom appetizer: 5/5 The restaurant was short-staffed. There was only one server. She was friendly and tried her best to get to all the customers. There is metered parking outside and in the area. The food was mostly beautifully presented and I loved the salad. The salad was my favorite dish. It was light, flavorful and refreshing. I am not an expert on soba. So the soba noddles just tasted like soba noodles to me. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the soba. read more

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First impressions: What a cute place! Stylish, minimalist decor; chopsticks perched on river pebbles in each place setting; professionally graphic designed descriptions hyping up the artisanal meal I'm about to eat on the wall. My wife was already planning a second trip here with her girlfriends before we even sat down. I really wanted to like this place, but boy was the food a disappointment. I ordered their most popular dish, the ribeye zaru soba, and waited long enough for the couple next to us to receive and finish their entire dinner to be rewarded with a sad plate of cold, clumped together noodles with a poached egg and a tiny serving of beef that ultimately left me about 20% less hungry than before I started eating. At $26, it costs significantly more than a loaded tsukemen from Tsujita or the deluxe mazemen from Mogu Mogu. Granted, not an apples to apples to comparison, but both legendarily good Japanese noodle spots situated in west side real estate. Before that, we shared 3 appetizers: seared salmon sashimi, a squid tempura, and a tiny platter of otsukemono. The pickles were fine but the portion was barely more than the free ones you get as a side in the Mitsuwa food court. The tempura was soggy and flavorless. The salmon was the only thing that made this meal even remotely redeemable, but now I'm wondering if it was just because it was the first thing we ate after ravenously waiting for our food to arrive (service-wise, they seemed more understaffed than inattentive). With no drinks, our bill came out to a frankly astonishing $120 including tip, and I left feeling about as full as I would feel after a single slice of pizza, except it was nowhere near as delicious. read more

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This is a nice restaurant that really elevates their soba noodles. From the cozy & elegant interior to the displays of food, this spot is a good place for something light and delicious. Worthy of a small date night. I definitely recommend calling first to make a reservation as there are limited seatings. Food: good! The soba noodles are really nice and springy. Although the items are a little pricey, the flavors are good. Very light and easy to digest. Their inari sushi is definitely worth! Service: good! They are all so patient and kind. They care about the people and helped us out with all of our questions. Thank you! read more

SOBAR - Soba + Spicy Chicken Tori Kawa (warm) Inari Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Food was great. Real sake drinkers selection of choices. they pull off 100% soba wheat noodles. Which I was told isn't easy without them being chewy. read more

An okay restaurant. Good vibes, friendly staff. I had the Spicy Garlic Enoki Soba and the karaage. The soba wasnt spicy nor as flavorful as I would have preferred. The sake sampler was quite enjoyable. read more

We ordered Maze soba $21 and Ribeye soba $26. In short, so overpriced for its quality and the portion we got. Soba was decent but served too chilled makes me even wonder it could be frozen before? Very small portion, veggies/meat were so little too (more like a garnish..),felt like I could eat 2 more orders of those! (I weigh 110 lbs) Also, there was only one server for the entire restaurant made impossible to pay attention to anything. I give 2 stars for the cool Soba + Bar concept and the ambiance but these don't mean much without a quality food, fair pricing and good service. I will not recommend this place to anyone, especially people who knows what's the authentic soba like. read more

Excellent food! Cool ambience. Get the sake flight and anything on the menu is delicious.

I love soba so I was excited that there was a soba restaurant nearby my brother's apartment when we were in town. There is some street parking out front but is limited. We came on a Sunday evening for dinner and the restaurant was completely empty. Throughout our stay there were a few other patrons that trickled in. I had the kakiage soba (warm soba in a savory broth, topped with crispy shrimp, scallop and mixed vegetable fritter and a poached egg). Hubby had the ribeye niku soba (cold soba with savory broth. topped with seasonal ribeye and poached egg). There is no kid's menu so we got the shrimp and vegetable tempura for our child (3 pcs of shrimp tempura and 2 pcs of seasonal vegetables). The kakiage soba broth was decent but I wish the fritters were placed on the side instead of on top of the soba. The fritters quickly got soggy and were pretty gross by the end of the meal because they were so mushy. It wasn't quite like tempura and I didn't care for the amount of fried food I was consuming from the fritters. I mostly got fried vegetables and didn't taste the shrimp and got maybe a few small pieces of scallop. My sister in-law got the same thing as me and she hardly touched her dish too. Hubby thought his niku soba was fine and I would have gotten that if the broth was warm instead of cold. Overall, the food was okay but could have been better prepared/presented for amount they are charging. read more

LA doesn't have many places to get legitimate soba, but we now have a new option in Sobar. I have been following this place for a few months now since word of mouth has been hyping up this place recently. I finally got the chance to try it today and I'm impressed. I tried the Kamo Yaki appetizer and Ju Wari Soba with Shiso mentsuyu. I've heard a lot of hype about their Kamo Yaki and it's well deserved- it was the juiciest duck that I've ever tried. The portion is perfect for sharing as well, or solo if you're hungry. But the true reason why you're here is their soba, which I found amazing. There's a variety of cold soba and mentsuyu to try, ranging from traditional to fusion. I had the Shiso Mentsuyu which had a very strong and zesty taste. Overall service was fairly quick and helpful, and the ambience is beautiful and perfect for solo and groups. read more

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Cute casual lunch/dinner spot on the West side. I was really excited to try this place since there aren't a lot of restaurants on the West Side that specialize in Soba noodles. To start, the decor is very well thought out, I like the wood detailing a lot. The food on the other hand was a bit of a let down. We ordered a yuzu mushroom dish which was way too oily and bland, I did not taste any yuzu nor flavor same goes with the miso cod we ordered. The tempura batter was a bit too thick for my liking, I found it hard to finish as it was so heavy. The table next to us also mentioned the batter being undercooked. I also wish they provided grated radish as part of the tempura sauce. The soba noodles were good, and filling, but the dipping sauce was way too salty The service was good but I was caught off guard by the mandatory 18% service charge. read more

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Suchhhh good soba on the west side. Got the spicy garlic soba that's warm and it's got such a deep tasty broth. The service was good even tho there were 2 groups and a fun ambiance. Parking is kind of difficult but there's street parking. read more

The soba and the tempura were both good quality but for the price a little hard to justify. Would have liked the soba and tempura to come out at the same time but there was at least a 20 minute wait in between even though when we got there, there was only one other table. After we were done, my wife and I were both still hungry and we were walking by the coffee shop a couple doors down and the table that had been next to us we're all sitting in the window with huge whipped cream coffee drinks and muffins and sweets. So seems like we weren't the only ones to leave hungry read more

The dip is toooooo salty. Soba souse should be more umami and less salty. I had to pour water into the soup to finish.

I live not far from SOBAR and was absolutely stoked to finally stop in a few days ago for a project meeting with my colleague. We were greeted by incredibly kind wait staff and were instantly blown away by the small, yet mighty menu with fantastic lunch combo deals! I tried the ribeye niku soba lunch combo with a tempura bowl. The tempura came out right away and was incredibly crispy. The drippings seeped into the rice and made for an excellent bowl! The soba was great -- SO fresh, and topped with delicious rib eye and a *perfectly* poached egg (they're not joking -- it's per-fect-ly poached). Delicious. I can't wait to try more dishes on their menu! I need to have a separate paragraph to praise SOBAR's lemonade, which is made by the owner. It's tangy, it's sweet, it's served with the perfect amount of ice. I would come back JUST for the lemonade if it's all they had -- but it's not, and I get to come back for the lemonade AND the excellent food! I can't wait to return with my fiancée and a bunch of my friends. Absolutely excellent! read more

We came here for lunch. My husband had the Shiso Scallop Maze Soba, and it was so delicious that I might order it next time! The service was great, too. I'd love to come back and try their dinner menu. Very satisfied with both the food and the service! read more

I was in there the other day. This restaurant is very dirty. They have hearts hanging there are cobwebs there. The walls had food on them. I was not impressed with the food at all. read more

Delicious. Get the Shoujin tsuyu dipping sauce with zaru soba. The spicy sesame was a bit too heavy for me and you don't get to taste the delicious texture of the soba. There may also be mori soba options that are daily menu options which can also be delicious. Mushroom side dish was very small and was a cold dish - I thought it would be hot. Agesaahi tofu was solid. Karaage was solid. Green tea and soba tea were both great. Ambience is vibey and clean. Service is great. Staff are kind and attentive. Street parking is available. read more

I always have love this place the service and foods.This my third visit,and I feel welcomed all the time. Thank

Great place, if you like soba, or if you haven't tried it yet. Lots of non-soba items to complement, and the sake service is great too.

Service and beauty and tempura were excellent! I'll be back for the tempura! Waitstaff were lovely!

This experience and meal was awesome. I don't know much about soba so take it with a grain of salt but it seems ultra authentic. I tried to have the most traditional experience and from what I've read and seen, it really nailed everything. During my visit, it didn't seem that busy but food took a little longer than I would have expected. Service was really friendly and nice. They helped me through the menu. They have tons of options for all different types of flavors. A little more expensive than I would have guessed but nothing crazy. Will definitely be back if I'm craving soba read more

SOBAR - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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I love this place so much. The food is great and i love sitting at the bar. It's consistent and everything is good. Highly recommend!

Bit expensive for soba but they also have other stuff. It's a small place and very cosy and casual.

Came for lunch. Not busy. Sat around for a little over 5 minutes without being helped and left.

I appreciate more japanese restaurants opening up, however this one missed the mark for me. Flavors were watered down, felt low value and overpriced as the portions for proteins and vegetables are small. Left still hungry after spending $122 for two people on food alone. Didn't want to try other dishes so we went elsewhere to eat more. Hopefully they can reassess the craftsmanship and portions of some of the food. read more

the ambiance and decor is 10/10. so chic and modern. as an appetizer, we tried the pumpkin cooked in dashi - it was pretty yummy but nothing that special. gave me a good idea tho to make it from home. we got two orders of zaru soba with 3 different dipping sauces. original, tororo, and shiso. the sauces tasted all good. everything tasted quality for sure. the noodles were firm and fresh. we also got the tempura with shrimp and veggies. the sweet potato was undercooked :( what i don't get is how we spent 81 dollars (granted that's with the 18% surcharge - which also is a tip deterrent in my opinion...) and still went really hungry. soba should not be this expensive..... i won't be back.. it's not justifiable. at least make it a set with a couple karage or something. i know eating out is exorbitant these days but i was still so hungry after the meal and that is just so disheartening read more

Hidden little gem in Culver City with authentic Japanese Soba. Lunch special was a perfect amount of food and super tasty! Going to come back for Happy Hour to try some of the food and cocktails. Chill music and vibes. Service was great and server was super friendly. read more

Located between Culver City and Marina Del Rey, Sobar is the new Japanese buckwheat noodle (soba) bar in LA. There's only a handful of soba restaurants in LA, most of them are gathered in the Torrance area. The ambience is very modern and the wooden interior gives it a welcoming and Japanese feel. The restaurant does get pretty loud since the space is small and you're sitting in close proximity to other diners. The service was good, the servers seemed to still be getting used to the system and menu which is understandable for a new restaurant. Food: - Kamoyaki: the grilled duck was my favorite, so tender and juicy with a hint of Sansho peppers. - Zaru Soba: the noodles had a nice strong buckwheat flavor but I prefer firmer noodles. The dipping sauce was flavorful with bonito broth. - Dashimaki Egg - egg souffle was fluffy and light, I enjoyed the subtle dashi taste. - Sudachi Chu (Lime) and Koishi Shochu (Shiso) - refreshing alcoholic beverage options. The pour felt a bit on the lighter side. The portions were fair and we were pretty full after our meal! However we spent around $70 per person after gratuity (already included in bill). Personally felt that the price wasn't worth the food, and you can find great soba for half the price in the Gardena/Torrance area (Inaba, Otafuku, Tempura Carlos Jr to name a few). read more

SOBAR - Soba with traditional dipping sauce - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Among many Japanese options to choose from in LA, I had just flown in from NY that day and wanted a simpler yet high quality meal. After some research, decided on Sobar as it seemed like it would deliver. My colleague and I shared a few appetizers - scallop sashimi, karaage, tempura (all very good)- and each got a soba. For him, he never had soba certainly not one with dipping sauce so it was a good first experience. For me who enjoy this kind of dish appreciates the care Sobar puts into preparing such a simple but high quality meal. read more

SOBAR - Soba + yam sauce - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Beautiful little soba bar with interesting dipping sauces and lovely, well-made side dishes like sashimi and chicken karage. The gluten-free soba noodles are delicious, just the right texture! Everything was very aesthetically pleasing. Portions are small, so even though most dishes are under $20, you can easily spend over $60 for two people eating lunch here, without alcohol and ordering only three tiny things, in our case one order of soba, five chicken nuggets and a tiny plate of sashimi. This is a place for delicate dining and appreciation, and for beautifully made food as an experience. Along those lines, the microscopic dot of wasabi and few shards of scallion that came with my "special" dipping sauce was barely noticeable, and I didn't want to seem uncouth by asking for more. That said, the food is so lovely, we have been here several times already, and will certainly return. For gorgeous little dishes, Sobar is a treasure. read more

SOBAR - Sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Los Angeles, California

The food may be good but the hostess is incompetent. We made a reservation for 4 but upon our arrival, we were shown to a tiny table for 2. The hostess explained that she had given the larger 4-top but to a smaller party bc they had "chosen" the larger table. WTF? So we walked out. read more

We went there for lunch with a party of 5. We were seated and given menus. After waiting for the waitress to return and after everyone had decided what to order, she informed us that they were out of rice and were not able to serve most of what was on the menu. It seems that a Japanese restaurant that runs out of rice should have informed us as soon as we walked in that they had a vastly diminished menu. We chose to stay because we needed to eat and get on with our day. They did not offer to substitute other side dishes or anything else to compensate for the inconvenience. The food was only average and the service was very slow. They were unapologetic and seemed to be totally unconcerned about providing decent service. We will not be going back. read more

Super cute atmosphere and delicious food! Had a ribeye cold soba lunch set and it was delicious. Try the house made lemonade soda! It's perfectly refreshing. read more