Simple pleasures are best, and shuko in season with soba is one of them. Tempura is almost too beautiful for a soba restaurant—no wonder so many customers order it. As befits a soba restaurant, however, ‘Tennuki’, tempura without the noodles, a favourite of true Tokyo-ites, is also on offer. Some wait longingly for the arrival of seasonal dishes like soba with pepper flowers, eggplant soba or burdock soba. The serving vessels represent the tasteful discretion of the owner-chef.