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Everything about this diminutive spot is transporting, from the crammed-corner-of -Tokyo feel to the super-authentic, and delicious, food. Soba noodles are the specialty, for slurping at a dark-wood L-shaped counter or perched at one of three tiny tables. To start there’s sublime housemade tofu, creamy and cold in a simple soy-based sauce with ribbons of seaweed and bonito; meanwhile, strangely named chicken “ham” turns out to be just cured slices of breast meat with a side of wasabi mayo. The cartoon-bedecked menu endearingly touts the nutritional properties of each soba preparation, but ignore these and go with your gut. Most varieties come hot or cold, for dipping or as a complete soup. Choose the soup route unless you enjoy a challenge, but if you do, you might opt for the yuba – housemade tofu skin that you cook yourself in broth with noodles you’ve also cooked. On the side you can add delicate ceramic plates of bright-orange kimchee or vividly purple coleslaw, both of which are worth grabbing by the chopstickful with your noodles for added crunch. And if you’re still hungry at the end, there’s a sweet version of that killer tofu. — Jenny Miller

Soba, $8; house-made tofu, $5

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Best of New York Awards

• Best Soba (2011)

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