Nihonmatsu is a small city thriving among the beautiful mountains and rice fields of Fukushima Prefecture. It's a short distance from the bigger cities of Fukushima City and Koriyama City, but a completely different atmosphere from the bustling cities. Located down the street from Dake Hot Springs is Soba no Sato Hanaki, a restaurant which prides itself in delicious handmade buckwheat noodles called soba.
Accessible by car, Hanaki is off the main road. A short trip down a gravel lane will open up into a small restaurant that looks recently built and made to look modern and stylish. One would think the restaurant would look out of place in the middle of a forest, but the architects designed it with the surrounding nature mind. The walls are painted a mellow color and decorated with plants, flowers and fountains on the exterior, while large open windows allow diners to enjoy the beauty outside.
Seating inside includes both western-style tables with chairs and Japanese-style seating on the floor. Regardless of where you sit in the restaurant, large open windows make you feel as if you are dining outside with nature. A small connected room doubles as a quaint souvenir shop. Here, locally painted and produced items such as bowls and plates can be purchased.
Since Hanaki is a soba restaurant, most of the food on their menu offers this buckwheat noodle dish served hot or cold with a variety of toppings and side dishes. I tried the zara soba, which is soba served cold with sauce to dip the noodles into before eating it. On the side I had pickled vegetables and tempura, which is fried vegetables and shrimp. My friends ordered hot soba served in soup with tempura on the side. For the average price of 1,000 yen per dish, the soba left us feeling stuffed but happy.
The staff were friendly and attentive, making sure our mugs of tea were always filled. It's a pity that Hanaki is only accessible by car, but if you have the opportunity, I recommend visiting this hidden gem. They are open from 11am to 7pm and closed on Thursdays. The owner of the soba shop also runs a western bar called Bar Dream in the nearby city of Nihonmatsu, if you want to stop by for a drink and a chat with the sweet owner.
