Tabelog ratingUzura Ya (うずら家) is the soba house most visitors to Togakushi queue for. It occupies a traditional house opposite the gate of the Chūsha shrine. The buckwheat is milled at peak season and frozen, and the noodles are made by hand every day, so they keep a new-harvest aroma all year. They arrive as bocchi-mori, small hand-coiled bundles, and you can watch the elderly chef shaping them behind glass. The tempura is fried in sesame oil. The restaurant has been selected for Tabelog's soba "Tabelog 100" list repeatedly, most recently in 2025.
Reviewers praise the staff almost without exception. They apologise for the wait, greet early sign-ups and give good advice on what to order. The light, crisp tempura is the other constant, especially the thick-cut sweet potato, the maitake and the wild-vegetable platters. The soba-gaki, a soft buckwheat dumpling served with kinako and miso, is often called the best reviewers have eaten. Many also mention the thick soba-yu poured at the end of the meal and the view of an ancient cedar from the second floor.
The main complaint is the wait, often three hours or more. A few reviewers found the soba merely good, the dipping sauce thin or the wasabi weak. One 2026 English-language review says a brown-skinned couple was told the restaurant was full while Japanese and Chinese guests were still being added to the list. It is a single account, and many other foreign visitors describe a warm welcome.
Uzura Ya serves lunch only, at a typical spend of ¥1,000–1,999 per person. There is no dinner service. Between 2024 and 2026, reviewers paid around ¥1,000 for zaru soba, ¥1,200 for a large portion, ¥2,000 for ten-zaru (cold soba with tempura) and ¥2,200 for the double-large daigongen-mori. Soba-gaki and each tempura platter cost about ¥1,200, and miyama oroshi, soba topped with wild vegetables and tempura, about ¥1,950. Reviewers consistently call this good value, and one tempura platter is enough for two to share.
- Getting there: from Nagano Station, take the Alpico Togakushi Line bus bound for Togakushi Campground and get off at Togakushi Nakasha. The restaurant is a 2-minute walk from the stop. The ride takes about 64 minutes, and buses run only every 1–2 hours.
- Booking: reservations are not accepted. It is walk-in only, through a sign-up board outside. Sign-up starts around 4–5am and can close by 8:30–10:30 on busy days. Write your name, then visit the shrines. If your name is called while you are away, you keep your place when you return.
- Hours: opens 10:30. The soba often sells out by mid-afternoon.
- Payment: cash only. No credit cards, electronic money or QR payments.
- Children: welcome.
- Seating: 70 seats, including a tatami room. There are no private rooms and no private hire. Solo diners may share a table.
- Smoking: non-smoking.
- Parking: available. Follow the road in front of the restaurant away from Nakasha; the car park is on the right.
- Language: an English menu is available. Staff speak little English but are helpful.
- Drinks: a considered sake selection.
