Shimbashi Japanese Soba & Sake Bar

I guess this place is… alright. The waitress was Japanese so I’m guessing this place positions itself as an «authentic» dining experience given the plethora of fusion Japanese places around.
Ordered the salmon sashimi soba salad. There were only 4 – 5 thin slices of sashimi. The soba itself was good (duh), but the sauce was overly salty and strong. Would’ve liked it a lot more though — if the sauce was less sodium laden!

Yum! I didn’t know if I would truly embrace soba as a viable alternative to ramen. I mean, egg noodles in a pork broth? Come on!
Then I came here. Ordered the lunch special with tendon (mixed tempura on rice with special sauce) and warm soba noodles in broth with seaweed and crunchy tempura flakes. Plus togarashi and it was divine!
The broth was lighter than tonkatsu but still so flavourful. It also complemented the handmade noodles so well. The special includes a small salad of cabbage, lettuce, and tomato with a great ginger vinaigrette. It’s a good deal for lunch.
The small shop was soon full of customers, one community table and a handful of tables for two, plus limited outdoor seating. They boast an impressive sake menu in addition to beer. The real reason to come here is the soba — warm or cold, it’s fresh and tasty. Ramen is still my first love, but I don’t mind the occasional fling with soba. :)

I just can’t get enough Japanese food in my life right now. So after I ate at Shimbashi I was pretty dammed pleased let me tell you Unilocalers.
I always like to order something different when I go out. So, on my 1^st visit I chose the Tempura Egg Soba, amaze. I liked the different textures of the tempura vegetables, the egg and of course the soba. All washed down with an icy cold beer and a cheeky sake.
Next time was for lunch so I went with the Sansai Soba & Sushi Set, perfect. Delicious Sushi and a Warm soup soba with vegetables.
The staff are so friendly but more importantly the food is really really good guys. If you’re in the mood for some tasty Japanese, you really need to check out Shimbashi.

I normally prefer Udon to Soba noodles, but it isn’t called Shimbashi Udon now is it…
Ordered the Takoyaki, Gyoza and duck & mushroom hot soba soup (X had hot chicken soba soup).
Takoyaki was nice, but nothing special, same goes for the Gyoza.
The soup was really really tasty. Could’ve done with more duck & mushroom, and less tofu & eggplant, but I’m nitpicking here.
Service was lovely, not your cheapest place ($ 16+ for soups), cute, comfy décor, they’ve got a communal table for 10 too. I’d consider going back, if only for a really quick hot soba noodle soup.
Fun fact — cocktails are named around music — «Spice Girls» «stairway to heaven» amongst others

Some bloody good soba served in a typically tiny Japanese bar.
With the buckwheat used in the soba proudly advertised as hailing from Tassie you get some early insight into how good these silky smooth, al dente noodles are going to be.
Comfortingly familiar is that the menu comes in sets. I ordered the salmon teriyaki set which came with… you guessed it, salmon teriyaki on rice with a side of pickles, some mystery fried fat like crackling and of course the pièce de résistance the warm soba (you can also have them cold).
The soba broth reminded me of Vegemite, in a good way, Japanese salty, restorative goodness. I am sure everyone dining at SS&SB felt the same as there was barely a spare seat and plenty of happy slurping happening at each table.
I would recommend reserving a table if dining with more than 2 people. Otherwise there is one large communal table as well as outdoor seating.
A casual place to get your slurp and sake on for a reasonable price. Check out the interestingly named cocktail list on the blackboard too.

I was going to go to a crab shack somewhere on Victoria Street but after six hours of geomorphology I was quite predictably irritable and befuddled by all the random nouns in my textbook (like vicissitude… I mean really?). I needed some comforting (foodwise) so we had a change of plans. I was not up for peeling and cracking large hunks of crab and then getting the flesh smushed in a fit of piqué because i was feeling impatient. So I dragged a friend off to my favourite noodle shop in the city. I love japanese food. It’s a weakness.
I’ve been to Shimbasi Soba and Sake bar multiple times, located just off Bourke Street in an alleyway called Liverpool Street. I’d been reminiscing about these handmade soba noodles for a month or two… ok maybe since last year. For those of you who have had soba from the packet in the supermarket that you cook at home, that’s rubbish compared to this. They grind their own buckwheat flour right in the middle of their tiny shop floor, you can see it as you walk in the door. For those of you who’ve yet to try soba, its a pale greyish, nutty noodle that is usually served cold with a dipping sauce (I know, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s good stuff… really).
This place is authentically Japanese, all their staff are Japanese. One of the main waiters has a tendency to serve you with this total look of bemused vagueness like he’s silently laughing at you as he wanders about, he’s fine, it creates character. In saying that, all of them are efficient and informative. The space is small, with the usual Japanese flourishes, there are chalkboards of specials and drinks hung up on the walls and a communal table when it gets a little crowded. As a little taster, they serve you a tiny potato mash salad while you decide on drinks and dinner. There is quite an extensive sake and umeshu list as well as some cocktails. I decide that we’ll start with an entrée special the Ebi fry and some edamame beans. The Ebi fry is some scrummy deep fried prawns with lemon, its perfectly golden and salty with that after tang of the lemon, we finish it in record time wanting seconds. It’s like a perfectly orchestrated symphony of food offerings, the mains come come out as we polish off the last of the edamame beans.
The mains of course are soba, that delightfully handcrafted noodle thats silky and nutty at the same time. This time we ordered a tempura soba that is served in a shallow dish with its warmed sauce at the bottom with the noodles and an assortment of finely sliced vegetables and prawns that have been tempura battered and fried then placed on top of the noodles to prevent it from getting soggy, oh and this perfectly cooked poached egg (you know, oozy yellow yolks) that we eagerly slice open and mix the noodle and tempura with. The egg creates the silkiest sauce to coat the noodles and the crispness of the tempura pieces makes it one of my favourite dishes that I’ve tasted here (note to self: remember to order this again). The soba sauce is soy based but there is this umami type of flavour that just makes you want to keep eating. Our other main is just simple soba served with a beautiful duck broth/​dipping sauce that is redolent with tofu, enoki mushrooms and slices of duck, I add the ground chilli flakes and sliced spring onions to it. That robust burst of flavour from the warm broth and a bite of the duck combined with the slightly pungent but fresh spring onions rounds it off perfectly.
So we sit there just eating away happily in silence, quietly noticing that the food is finishing far to quickly for our liking. What do we do? Order another round of Ebi fry of course! Chris spots another special, braised beef tongue (I’m having issues. Yes, I’m a little conservative when it comes to eating any other «extras»). She orders it, the prawns and the tongue comes out quickly and it looks… good. It’s tender and succulent, served with a beautiful teriyaki style sauce. I like it, its sliced up in case you were wondering. The prawns? Well no complaints there, it’s all gone pretty quickly. We are full, nothing a brisk walk in the cold won’t cure… in the hunt for dessert… hmmm maybe gelati primavera on spring st…

Really nice and authentic little Japanese place tucked down a very unassuming lane way. Great soba (made by them I believe!) and well priced, their sashimi was also very fresh.
The staff were very friendly, and the atmosphere comfortable. Wasn’t overly noisy so great to catch up with friends over a meal :)

Yum Yum Yummy! Perfect delicate sushi shimbashi rolls that melt in your mouth and handmade soba chicken noodle soup. Comfort food for sure!

Despite living directly across from it for some time, it was not until two weeks ago that my boyfriend and I ventured over to Shimbashi for a Saturday eve date.
The first thing I noticed was that all the other diners present were speaking Japanese (tick for authenticity, tick for nihongo no renshu!) The first thing Ashlin noticed was their incredible sake, shochu and beer list (I’ve not seen the stubby-​shaped beers they offer anywhere else in Melbourne, not even at Izakaya-​Den or Hihou).
We ordered a range of entrees (edamame, chicken karaage and gyoza) and then a soba dish each (their soba is handmade on the premises). What arrived at our table was some of the freshest and authentic J-​fare I’ve had the pleasure of feasting on outside of Nippon.
And reasonably-​priced to boot — our return last night with two friends cost $ 105 (with around eight sake /​shochu /​umeshus factored in).
Finally, these guys are just so, so nice — Shimbashi has a really cute, mama-​san feel. Our new favourite for Japanese in town. Itadakimasu indeed!