The soba shop Marutake on the basement first floor, closed since May, reopened on the 11th with a new name, Marutake An (Iori). Besides a stylish washitsu-modern interior—parts of the ceiling and walls left as exposed concrete—the shop switched entirely to domestic buckwheat flour and renewed the menu, taking thorough care with the taste as well.
With COVID-19 measures in mind, seating was cut sharply from the old shop and distances between seats were widened. There are also private and semi-private rooms at the back, suitable for a small dinner. The buckwheat comes from Horokanai, Hokkaido, known as “soba country” for having Japan’s largest acreage of buckwheat fields. New set menus such as the “egg donburi set” and “shirasu donburi set” (1,000 yen each, tax included) have appeared, and more items will be added going forward.
Expectations are high for the “new Marutake.”