Rolling in dough

It's the cutting of the noodles that I find fascinating. The precision and speed are really something

These guys do well financially. They are really rolling in the dough.

Best place for soba in all of Nagano and indeed all of Japan is Togakushi. For anyone who is a fan of soba, that's where I recommend. its a small village of about 2000 people on top of a mountain just out of Nagano. The hamlet's streets are just lined with soba shops everywhere..

I find watching soba being made mesmerizing.

@wontond: Then you'll probably love this video I found on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0b-QYFQTuc

im getting hungry.

Like Aly, the best soba I've had was at Togakushi. The best shop (from the one's I've tried and by reputation) is on the corner by the Chusha shrine. The queue will be a giveaway.

When you are there, also go to the Okusha shrine. It has a long straight approach lined with massive sugi trees, starting from a thatched gate with all kinds of ferns growing out the roof. It's one of the most famous views in Nagano.

I find any queue for any restaurant a dead give away that it is not very good, overcrowded, food hastily made, and gets you pushed out quickly...and the smoking unbearable.

I love soba noodles with spaghetti sauce.

I once helped make soba at a Japanese family's home. We had to stomp on the dough to knead it, like pressing wine.

It was interesting to do once, but when my girlfriend asked me to join her and her European friends to make soba on another occasion, I said, "Nah. Have a good time, though." She was pissed off, like it was some kind of slap in the face that I didn't want to partake in such a trite tradition.

Jalapeno: I once helped make soba at a Japanese family's home. We had to stomp on the dough to knead it, like pressing wine.

In bare feet, like pressing wine? ...

turbo - a thick plastic sheet over the dough, though it would have been more interesting without the sheet - could have added more "vitamins" from the bottom of my dry, cracked feet to the soba dough.

Yuck ...

Like Aly, the best soba I've had was at Togakushi. The best shop (from the one's I've tried and by reputation) is on the corner by the Chusha shrine. The queue will be a giveaway. When you are there, also go to the Okusha shrine. It has a long straight approach lined with massive sugi trees, starting from a thatched gate with all kinds of ferns growing out the roof. It's one of the most famous views in Nagano.

Hello mate! Its called UZURAYA. The master is a firend of mine and one of the girls who works there goes drinking with us whenever we visit. You are better off making a reservation one day in advance. It may be the best soba shop in all of japan..