Hirobun: Riverside somen noodles in Kibune
One of the most fun and interesting lunches we had during our honeymoon in Japan was at this catch-your-own-noodle 🥢 restaurant in Kibune.
Kibune is a little mountainside town ⛰ that’s 2 hrs + from Kyoto. It is kind of tricky to get to because there are a few transfers and 2 hrs one way is a long time, but it was so cute there – like a town out of Studio Ghibli 😍! So I recommend you to check out this area as a half or full day trip for fun.
In Kibune, there is a restaurant my husband wanted to take me to. The restaurant is called Hirobun and it went viral years ago for customers to catch their own noodles that flow down these bamboo chutes. This sounded super unique and I was excited to try it – here’s how our experience went.
Hirobun
87 Kuramakibunecho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, 601-1112, Japan
The vibe
There are a lot of riverside dining options in Kibune as you walk up the main street (it is uphill). Alot of the restaurants are situated alongside the road but you walk down stairs so that you are actually sitting on top of the river and can almost dip in your feet 😮. Honestly, it’s a really cool vibe and I’ve never experienced a setting like this before.
Hirobun actually offers full set meals with traditional Japanese food, but a lot of these options are expensive. The somen noodle is only around $19 per person. Once you pay at the front counter (cash only), you will be directed to go down the stairs. I was told sternly by a man not to film but I think that was more for safety as the stairs were quite steep.
Once we get to the bottom of the stairs, we are ushered into a mat area that is like a waiting room. While you sit there with your shoes off, you can see the next 2 seatings ahead of you. The first row on the next mats are waiting for their turn (they are next). The seating ahead of them are seated at this counter-like bar seating in front of these bamboo chutes.
My husband said the last time they came here, they waited a long time but we only waited around 20 mins and it was nice to relax by the river.
Food review
A somen meal is around 2,000 yen per person.
How does it work?
As you can see, there are bamboo chutes and there are these lanes with water flowing through them. Is it river water? No idea 🤷🏻♀️, but I just assume their is due diligence and the water is clean.
Everyone gets assigned a lane and every now and then, they will send a clump of noodles down your lane. When you see the noodles coming down, you have to catch it with your chopsticks 🥢! You only take from your lane and they time the noodles so they don’t all come down at once for everyone.
If you miss your noodles due to poor chopstick skills or you are just too slow – too bad 😂! The noodles just keep going and flows right past you into somewhere else. You can’t really get up and chase after the noodles because everyone is seated in a row and you will get in someone else’s way.
You keep catching the clumps of noodles until you see a clump of noodles that are pink. The pink symbolizes your last serving so after you finish the pink noodles, they will not be sending any more noodles down your way.
The meal comes with 3 cubes of matcha mochi and a dipping sauce for you to eat the somen noodles with. Overall, I think the noodles tasted pretty plain, even with the dipping sauce, but it was quite refreshing.
The mochi was soft and yummy! Nice little dessert at the end.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am debating between 3 or 4 stars for Hirobun. 3 Stars because the food was pretty plain – like it didn’t taste like much, but 4 stars because it’s a really unique experience and for less than $20 CAD they do deliver on what they promise – a simple somen noodle meal. Portion wise, I was full by the end of the experience, which took around 15 mins.
Since this is such a special restaurant and I didn’t see any other restaurants offering this type of experience (a lot of other restaurants had kaiseki style multi-course meals that were expensive), I will end this post with 4 stars. But note that I would only eat here once to try the catching of the noodles (fun for kids too). I would not recommend waiting 1 hour for this spot.
Sincerely, Loewe