Wallingford – December 31, 2019

This particular visit was our second to Kamonegi. The first was over a year ago, and we sadly forgot to capture photos and notes, but we didn’t make that mistake this time.

Kamonegi opened in late 2017 by Mutsuko Soma, a nationally renowned chef who is repeatedly recognized for her amazing handmade soba noodles, which is no easy feat. Chef Soma stepped away from a previous post at Miyabi 45th in early 2016 when she was expecting. After having a baby girl and some time off, she returned to her soba roots and opened Kamonegi.

Kamonegi is usually open for dinner-service only, but throughout the year, they make certain exceptions and open for lunch. One of these exceptions is New Year’s Eve which we thankfully got to partake in. In addition to offering lunch service, Kamonegi offered take-home toshikoshi soba, which is a traditional Japanese soba noodle dish eaten on New Year’s Eve. Toshikoshi is known as the year-crossing noodle. Although we didn’t take any toshikoshi home, we certainly celebrated the new year crossing with some delicious soba.

Let’s talk about the…

SPACE

As the restaurant describes it themselves, Kamonegi is a “pocket-sized space specializing in handmade soba noodles, tempura, & other Japanese specialities.” It comes as no surprise that where Kamonegi lacks in space, they make up for in flavor and taste in their food, but we’ll get to that.

The restaurant is small with a capacity of about 40-50 persons. There’s a mix of table and counter seating spread throughout the restaurant. On our first experience, we sat at the counter that faced the open kitchen. It was a special treat to see all the chefs cooking and interacting. This second time, we also got counter seating, but in the back in the small bar area.

The building that Kamonegi is housed in is a bit of an odd triangular shape, so some of the tables and seating may seem a bit tight, but you can still make your way around.

• 

• 

SERVICE

The servers are very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. When asked questions or to provide recommendations, they really know their stuff. We’ve had a great experience both times we’ve visited and have no complaints.

FOOD

We ordered two appetizers and two noodle dishes. We were extremely full afterwards and didn’t finish one of our soba orders so we’ll likely cut back to just one soba dish next time instead of two. We ordered:
Appetizers

• Teres Major Beef Tataki (chanterelle mushrooms, ponzu, wakame, horseradish): The meat was extremely tender. The first couple of bites were a bit heavy on the horseradish but otherwise a tasty dish.
• Shrimp tempura: While Ray is not a huge fan of tempura, I definitely am and also a huge fan of shrimp. It seemed like a good day to order shrimp tempura so that’s what I did. Taste-wise, nothing was super exceptional or jumped out. I did enjoy the fact that the tempura wasn’t super greasy (which it can so often be), so that’s a leg up that Kamonegi has over other restaurants and tempura I’ve had.

• 

• 

Entrees

• Oshogatsu Bukkake Soba (shrimp tempura, fried mochi, avocado, nori, daikon, cucumber): This dish was a special, New Year’s Eve dish that Kamonegi was offering. There were a few things that I was not expecting when receiving and first eating this dish. First, I wasn’t expecting it to be a cold soba dish. Second, upon receiving it, I mentioned to Ray that it was an interesting and odd mix of ingredients, not something that I would have thought to go into a soba dish. That being said, it was a good dish overall. And Ray made the good point that all the seemingly interesting ingredients were made to create a refreshing dining experience, to help encourage a refreshing start to the new year. After hearing this careful interpretation, I appreciated the dish a lot more and do have to agree it was a refreshing dish that didn’t make us feel super heavy or bloated. Lastly, had I been paying more attention to the menu and dish description when we ordered it, I probably wouldn’t have added the appetizer order of the shrimp tempura, as this dish came with it.
• Kamonegi (Nanban (soup version) – duck breast, tsukune, leek, mitsuba, yuzu, zest): This was a repeat order for us because it’s just so dang good! The Kamonegi is the establishment’s staple and signature dish. It has different iterations of duck meat including a couple slices of cooked duck breast as well as handmade duck meatballs. The soup is not super salty and the noodles hold up to the hot broth. It’s a nice hot noodle soup to warm you up on a cold winter day.
• Sous vide eggs (added to each noodle dish): As an extra add-on to our noodle dishes, we put in a sous-vide cooked egg atop each dish. As we mention in our bio, Ray is a huge fan of sous-vide and the experiments you can do with it and I was in a curious mode, so we both agreed to try it. The egg itself had a very interesting texture and not much flavor. While intriguing, I don’t think that we will order or add it on again the next time we visit.

IN SUMMARY

Kamonegi is a renowned spot that is worth all the hype. We’d definitely recommend a visit there to try the delicious and well-made, handmade food. While you’re there, enjoy a cup of sake or visit Kamonegi’s sister sake shop, Hannyatou.

Space and ambiance – A little tight, but what the restaurant lacks in space, they make up for in flavor. Plus, if you’re lucky to get one of the counter seats facing the kitchen, you can see the hardworking chefs at work, creating delicate dishes.

Food – Just as good as the first time. Variations of different handmade soba noodles to enjoy, as well as some well-crafted tempura and other Japanese specialties.

Service – Always great and super knowledgeable staff to help you make the right choice.

Price – Appropriately priced for the quality of food you’re getting.

Next visit – Looking up available reservations as we speak and seeing which friends we’re going to bring with us to enjoy the deliciousness that is Kamonegi.