Kanda Matsuya

Founded in 1884, Kanda Matsuya is one of Tokyo’s historic soba restaurants. At its Kanda location, noodles are made by hand in the tradition of Edo, the city’s former name. The Japanese-style building, recognised as a historic structure by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, adds another reason to visit: the architecture and the cooking tell different parts of the same story.

Mori soba offers a straightforward introduction to the noodles. For a hot meal, kashiwa nanban brings together soba, chicken and a slightly thickened dashi broth scented with yuzu. These are two different ways to explore the restaurant’s speciality without building the visit around a lengthy menu.

Kanda’s longstanding soba shops and small restaurants share the area with bookshops and musical instrument stores. A meal at Matsuya fits naturally into a day exploring Kanda and Jimbocho: browsing books in the morning, followed by a stop for one of Tokyo’s established culinary traditions. This profile covers the Kanda restaurant in Kanda Sudacho.