Handmade Soba [Shinsuian] / 手打ちそば 「深水庵 （しんすいあん）

A couple of months ago when my days off were still during the week, my wife amazingly had the day off as well so we decided to go take a short trip to Chofu (and Jindaiji in particular).  We wanted to cool off from the hot summer sun and all that green at Jindaiji seemed like a good plan.  Before walking around, we decided to have lunch and as Jindaiji is known for its handmade soba, that was what we were going to have.  But what you must know is there are over 30 different soba shops.  Choosing which one to go to can be a chore in itself.  The last time we were in Jindaiji, we went to a place a friend of mine recommended called [Tamon] where I also discovered Jindaiji Beer.  We liked the looks of this place from the outset and made our decision - [Shinsuian] it would be.  We both ordered the teuchi zaru soba with tempura which costs ￥1300.

二ヶ月前、まだ自分の公休日が平日だった時、珍しく自分の妻も休みを頂いた。せっかくなので、夫婦でデート。調布の深大寺まで行ってきました。この暑い夏に緑の多い所が良いんじゃないと考え、深大寺に決定。深大寺に着いたら昼食の時間でした。深大寺と言えば、もちろん手打ちそばでしょう。と言っても手打ちそばの店は３０件以上がある。どこにするのが大変。以前は友達のお勧めで「多門（たもん）」に行きました。そこで深大寺ビールも発見！今回はこの店の外見が気に入って行くことにした。店の名前は「深水庵（しんすいあん）」。もちろん手打ちのざるそばと天ぷらを頼みました。ま、天ざるですね。値段は￥１３００です。

The lady had forgotten to top our soba with nori when I had taken this picture but she came to our table shortly to remedy that situation.

写真撮った時にのりは乗ってませんでしたが、店の人がそれに気付き直ぐに持ってくれました。

Our assortment of tempura included shrimp, eggplant, sweet potato, and shiso (perilla, or formerly beefsteak plant).

天ぷらの盛り合わせは海老、ナス、さつま芋としそ。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！



We also share a bottle of beer and was served a spicy side dish to go along with it.  I'm not sure what it was but it was spicy and delicious!

瓶ビールを注文したら、サービスで辛い漬物らしいものも出された。なんだったか分からないけど、辛くて美味しい！

A view into the shop.  We ate outside because it was such a beautiful day.  It felt like we were a long way from Metropolitan Tokyo.  The staff of elderly ladies were entertaining and a pleasure to talk to.  Great service as well.  Oh, and I got that, "Wow, you can speak Japanese so well" which hasn't happened to me in a while.  By the way, I'm not one of those foreigners living in Japan who gets upset every time some new Japanese acquaintance or restaurant server says "You use chopsticks very well".

天気が凄い良かったので外の席で食べました。テブルから店内を覗いてみた。東京都内に居るのを忘れさせられるの雰囲気です。店のおばさんたちも可愛いし、面白いし、なんだか癒された。あっ、あと“日本語上手ですね”と久しぶりに言われた。何年も日本に生活しても、そう言われるとちょっと嬉しい。あと“お箸の使い方上手ですね”と言われも、僕は腹立ちません（何人の日本在住の外国人たちと違って）。