it's been a while since our last visit and apparently the recent NYT write-up

is pretty effective since now we have to wait for seats to open in an already-tiny

place (which explains the weird crop of photos above - couldn't zoom out!)

but it's definitely worth the wait (and i never wait at places).

we each got a cold sesame soba, cold natto soba, and a warm chicken soba.

sesame & natto sobas came with a little mortar & pestle to grind our own sesame seeds!

everything in there (including food) is so cute and well-thought-out that it's hard not to fall in love.