Honke Owariya

Kyoto’s oldest soba restaurant began life in 1465 as a confectionery store. Gradually, its sideline in soba became more popular than the sweets, with a fanbase that included local temples and the imperial family. The secret, as always, is the soup - a rich, complex broth of Kyoto well water, three kinds of dried fish and top-grade Hokkaido kelp. The menu is unusually extensive, but the top picks here are the Hourai soba, with egg, mushrooms and shrimp, and the rikyu-fu, deep-fried, soy-flavoured wheat gluten. Thanks to its history of serving monks, Owariya also knows how to knock up a tasty vegetarian soba.