On a summer day, I visited Matsumoto City in Nagano Prefecture and enjoyed a delightful breakfast near Matsumoto Station. It was peak tourist season, and the city’s famous restaurants were packed with visitors. Anticipating long lines at the popular soba shops I initially planned to visit, I decided to avoid the crowds and opted for a standing soba shop frequented by locals instead. That’s how I found Ogiso Seifunjo (小木曽製粉所), a local chain that’s recently become one of my favorites. Exploring regional chain restaurants is my latest hobby !
Ogiso Seifunjo Matsumoto Ekimae (Station Front) branch is conveniently located within the premises of Matsumoto Station, outside the ticket gates. Exit through the “Castle Exit” and turn right—you’ll see the entrance.
The menu is displayed on a touch-panel ticket vending machine to the left of the entrance. After purchasing your ticket, the order is automatically sent to the kitchen, so there’s no need to hand it over. Simply stand at your preferred spot and wait for your soba. Since there were no other customers ahead of me, my order was ready in about a minute. In the meantime, I grabbed a glass of water from the self-service station.
Here’s the menu for the Matsumoto branch. One of the delightful features of Ogiso Seifunjo is that the prices for small, medium, and large servings of zaru soba (cold soba) are the same! This flexible system lets you choose the portion size that suits your appetite without worrying about the cost. They also offer a variety of tempura toppings.
Some menu items are exclusive to the Matsumoto Ekimae branch. (Please ignore the oddly blurry ghost-like figure in the photo…)
As a standing-only soba shop, there are no seats inside. However, shelves and baskets are provided to store your belongings. The shop can accommodate around 20 people standing at once.
I was tempted by the “Everything on Top (トッピング全部乗せ)” option (a Matsumoto Ekimae branch exclusive) but decided against it since I wasn’t keen on the pickled wasabi leaves. Instead, I went for the Mountain Vegetables and Tororo Bukkake Soba. On a hot summer day, I craved something cold and refreshing, so this chilled bukkake soba with its light toppings was perfect. It featured an assortment of mountain vegetables like kinpira, tororo yam from Shinshu (Nagano), and sliced green onions. Extra green onions were also served on the side. The soba here is “ni-hachi soba,” meaning it’s made with a ratio of 80% buckwheat flour to 20% wheat flour. This blend creates the perfect balance of firmness and elasticity.
When my soba arrived, it looked fresh and appetizing, with vibrant mountain vegetables and smooth tororo adorning the noodles. Despite being thin, the soba had a satisfying chewiness. One bite revealed its smooth texture and the distinct fragrance of buckwheat. The slight bitterness of the mountain vegetables provided a pleasant contrast, while the creamy tororo brought everything together harmoniously.
The dipping sauce was well-balanced—not overly salty—and complemented the thin soba noodles perfectly. The flavors were surprisingly rich for a standing soba shop, with a nostalgic, rustic quality that made the meal feel special. I finished it in no time!
One surprise was the individually packaged wasabi—it wasn’t what I expected. I could’ve used an extra packet for the perfect kick.
Soba-yu (hot water from cooking soba) was available from a self-serve pot, a nice touch to end the meal.
When visiting a tourist destination, it’s easy to get drawn to pricier restaurants targeting visitors. But enjoying meals at local spots like Ogiso Seifunjo offers a unique and satisfying experience. I look forward to revisiting this shop on my next trip to Matsumoto.
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Name Ogiso Seifunjo (小木曽製粉所)
Open Morning through night
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