Soba fresh in a Torrance hideway: Bamboo Inn

I love hole-in-the-wall restaurants with good food and one of my favorites is the humble Bamboo Inn. Located in Old Torrance, they make their noodles (udon and soba) once a day and when it's gone, you are out of luck. So get there early if you want to avoid being disappointed.

If you don't speak Japanese you might be put off. The people at this place are generally friendly but most of the staff I've seen (usually only one person up front) do not speak English well. That may be the price for authenticity.

The soba and udon served at the Bamboo Inn (also known as Ichimi An in Japanese) is made from flour shipped directly from Japan in refrigerated containers. Then the buckwheat is milled daily and the chef uses the flour to make the daily batch of noodles. The freshness is what makes these soba noodles so chewy and fragrant.

I love the unagi soba for $8.50. The serving is respectable but don't expect leftovers. In any case, soba like most noodles doesn't do well the day after.  The nishin soba ($8) has fish that has a light touch with the sweetener.

There's tororo which refers to yam puree. It's gooey and a bit stringy, but has a light taste. Once mixed with the broth (you can order hot or cold noodles), tororo acts as a thickener. Nishin soba is soba topped with migaki nishin (dried Pacific herring slightly sweetened with sugar and seasoned with soy sauce). There is a whole vocabulary list for Japanese noodle dishes. If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask or better yet...just order it and see if you like it.

If you don't like noodles, you can always have something like mentai rice ($2.75) or maybe two pieces of inari sushi ($1.50). Mentai rice is rice with mentaiko (marinated pollock roe ).  Thin slices of nori are  sprinkled on top. You mix them all up for a tasty, slighty salty savory treat.

Other rice dishes include donburi. For the less adventurous, there's always oyakodon (chicken and eggs cooked over rice) for $4.60.

Bamboo Inn currently has two locations, but the second newer location in the Rolling Hills Plaza has a different menu and goes under the name: Ichimi An ( An means hermitage).   Don't be fooled by the humble Old Torrance storefront because inside are gourmet treasures.

Old Torrance

1618 Cravens Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501
Tel: 310-328-1323

Hours of Business:

Mondays, Wednesday - Fridays: 11:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Saturdays-Sundays: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed on Tuesdays