{"id":1741,"date":"2025-08-13T22:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2025-08-13T22:00:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:00:27","slug":"a-visit-to-the-birthplace-of-kobes-other-famous-food-sobameshi-to-try-it-bokkake-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=1741","title":{"rendered":"A visit to the birthplace of Kobe\u2019s other famous food, sobameshi, to try it bokkake-style"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The giant robot statue wasn\u2019t the only surprise on our trip to Kobe neighborhood where its famous everyday dish that isn\u2019t Kobe beef got its start<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

As an example of just how famous its representative regional cuisine has become, mention \u201cKobe\u201d<\/strong> to any foodie and they\u2019ll immediately think of beef. So when our Japanese-language reporter Takuya Inaba<\/strong> took a trip to Kobe to meet up with a friend who\u2019s recently moved there, his stomach was already stirring in anticipation of getting a luxurious Kobe beef steak.<\/p>\n

Instead, though, Takuya\u2019s friend said \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta try this awesome sobameshi place while you\u2019re here!,\u201d<\/strong> and so they hopped on the train for a ride to Shin Nagata Station<\/strong>, on the southwest side of downtown Kobe.<\/p>\n

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So, before we go any further, we should address the proverbial elephant in the room\/literal 18-meter (59-foot) tall robot<\/strong> in the photo. This part of Kobe is where famous manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama<\/strong> grew up. Yokoyama is the creator of a number of multiple landmark series, including Giant Robo<\/em> and Sally the Witch<\/em>. His biggest hit, though, is Tetsujin 28<\/strong>, also known as Gigantor<\/strong> in some of its overseas releases, so there\u2019s a gigantic statue of the titular robot just outside the station, and the nearby covered shopping arcade is called Tetsujin Street<\/strong> too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But the Shin Nagata Station neighborhood is also the birthplace of sobameshi<\/strong>, which gets its name by being a plate of mixed yakisoba stir-fried noodles and fried rice (meshi<\/em> in Japanese). While Kobe beef is the city\u2019s premier, must-eat food for deep-pocketed diners and splurging tourists, sobameshi is the city\u2019s second-tier, of-the-people local comfort food<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u25bc A sign proclaiming sobameshi (\u305d\u3070\u3081\u3057) as the pride of Shin Nagata<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear which restaurant in the neighborhood was the first to start serving sobameshi, but according to Takuya\u2019s friend, Ikari<\/strong> is one of the best, and that was where he wanted to take him while he was in town. Even though it was well past the regular noon-1 p.m. lunch rush, the place was still so full of customers that they had to wait a while before they could get seats.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It took considerably less time to order, though, since Ikari keeps its menu very simple<\/strong>. Really, it only consists of two dishes: sobameshi and regular yakisoba noodles, each of which can be had with toppings of pork or \u201cbokkake.\u201d<\/strong> Obviously, Takuya selected the sobameshi, and at his friend\u2019s recommendation, opted for both toppings on his plate, which came out to 900 yen (US$6.10).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And yes, that\u2019s bokkake<\/em>, not to be confused with the bukkake style of splashing broth over noodles (and especially not to be confused with yet another meaning of the term<\/a>). Though it\u2019s not a word most Japanese people are familiar with, bokkake is yet another Kobe culinary specialty, beef tendon and konnyaku (konjac gelatin) simmered in a sweet and spicy broth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean that Ikari\u2019s bokkake sobameshi is a soggy mess, though. Taking his first bite, Takuya was met with perfectly fluffy rice, which combined with the tempered chewiness of the noodles made for an intriguing and engaging texture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the table were a variety of condiments, including a bottle of bara sauce<\/strong>, a Kobe favorite that\u2019s a local version of the Worcester-like sauce often put on hearty fare in Japan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Its mix of sweet and savory notes paired very nicely with all of the sobameshi\u2019s ingredients and toppings, including the bokkake wagyu beef and konnyaku.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But then it was time to get sauce-serious with the mysterious \u201cdobe\u201d (\u3069\u3079) sauce<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not sure how accurate this urban legend is, but fans say that dobe sauce is made from sediment that forms during the production of regular bara sauce. In other words, it\u2019s an extra-thick version of the sauce with a super-concentrated flavor<\/strong>, and squirting some into a spoon for a quick visual inspection, Takuya could see that it\u2019s much denser than standard bara sauce.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Dobe sauce (top) versus regular bara sauce (bottom)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

All it took was one taste to convert Takuya into a dobe fanatic<\/strong>. The combination of spices and flavors was mind-blowingly delicious, and now that he\u2019s tried it, he\u2019s a little worried he might not ever again be able to be fully satisfied by a sauce that\u2019s not dobe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But as you can see from his thoroughly cleaned plate, while ignorance of the deliciousness of dobe sauce may have been its own sort of bliss, eating Kobe\u2019s other famous food in the part of town it originated in is also something that\u2019ll make you feel very happy.<\/p>\n

Restaurant information<\/strong>
\nIkari (Nagata Station Tetsujinfukin Ashiyuyoko branch)\/\u30a4\u30ab\u30ea\uff08\u65b0\u9577\u7530\u9244\u4eba\u4ed8\u8fd1\u8db3\u6e6f\u6a2a\u5e97\uff09
\nAddress: Hyogo-ken, Kobe-shi, Nagata-ku, Wakamatsucho 5-2-1
\n\u5175\u5eab\u770c\u795e\u6238\u5e02\u9577\u7530\u533a\u82e5\u677e\u753a5-2-1
\nOpen 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Photos \u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The giant robot statue wasn\u2019t the only surprise on our trip to Kobe neighborhood where its famous everyday dish that isn\u2019t Kobe beef got its start. As an example of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}